50 years of keeping track of Cayman land ownership

For over half a century, the Lands and Survey Department has been keeping track of who owns every single piece of property in the Cayman Islands.

Its Land Registry has records of every sale or lease of land, building or condo, as well as every mortgage and charge, and every change of ownership after a property owner dies.

To mark its 50^th anniversary, and to help people get a better understanding of the work it does, Lands and Survey is carrying out a series of town hall meetings across the districts.

Lands and Survey Director Uche Obi told the Compass in a recent interview that the meeting with the public “gives us an opportunity to explain what we do… We sit down with them and if they have specific questions, we would be able to deal with those.”

Meetings have already been held in Cayman Brac, East End, North Side and Bodden Town. The next meeting will be held in Savannah United Church Hall at 6:30pm on Thursday, 22 June. There will also be meetings in Prospect, George Town and West Bay at later dates.

Obi points out that the work of his department is probably more complicated than a lot of people think.

Noting that at Lands and Survey “we guarantee titles”, Obi says if the information it provides about the owner of a property is wrong, the buyer could potentially sue government over the matter.

“That is why we have to be extremely careful when it comes to these things,” he says.

And he adds, “It has never happened, touch wood.”

All land in Cayman is registered, and identified by a block and parcel number.

Cadastral survey

After the Registered Land Law was enacted in 1971, a cadastral survey was carried out in Cayman, which for the first time officially recorded the ownership of land in the Cayman Islands. Those records have continued to be updated ever since through the Land Registry.

“We have a very, very good registration system,” Obi said, adding that this gives confidence to people investing in property and banks giving loans and mortgages in Cayman.

An issue that is facing many property owners in Cayman, specifically those paying off mortgages, is rising interest rates, as Cayman’s rates have been going up in tandem with every increase by the US Federal Reserve. There have been 10 interest rate hikes since March last year, prompting Premier Wayne Panton to ask local banks to delay implementing the increases in a bid to protect local owners from being unable to pay off their loans.

Obi says Lands and Survey is not seeing evidence of an increase in mortgage defaults and subsequent property repossessions by banks at the moment, but acknowledges that is likely because there will be a lag before the true impact is felt.

“We’re also not seeing a lot of short sales,” he said. “Banks will not want to hold onto the property for a long time, it’s usually within two to three months, and we’re not seeing a lot of that at the moment.”

He added the same seems to apply in the United States, where there has not been a big increase in home repossessions following the interest rate increases there.

The real estate market in Cayman, he said, has been “quite stable” lately, and called the transactions for May 2023 “encouraging”.

In May, there were 229 transactions, with a total value of $121.6 million, compared to 143 in April, 173 in March, 205 in February and 202 in January.

50th anniversary events

Lands and Survey was established in 1972, but due to COVID delays and changes within the department, it put off marking its 50th anniversary until this year.

As a gesture in recognition of its anniversary, and to keep data as up to date as possible, the Lands and Survey Department is temporarily waiving the $50 fee to update the Lands Registry.

That waiver will last until 30 July, meaning people who own property who may have changed their PO Box addresses or other contact details can amend that information for free.

So far, there has not been a large uptake on that, Obi said. “It is a trickle at the moment. We recognise it will start to increase as people become more aware, especially as we continue with the town hall meetings.”

This will ensure that the property owners are notified of any planning permission applications that may affect them.

The department provides ‘buffer maps’ to developers or people who are building or modifying structures, so that the adjacent neighbours can be notified of the planned work.

Issue with notification

Inaccurate or outdated contact details can lead to registered letters of notification about proposed developments not being received by neighbouring property owners – an issue that is raised regularly at Central Planning Authority meetings.

Obi says having correct contact details is also important in situations where government is proposing to build a road and issue compulsory purchase orders.

“The notification is sent to the address on the Land Registry,” he said, so if it’s wrong, landowners may not find out about their land being used for the road until after the legal deadline for declaring their interest in a claim for compensation.

“If a Section 3 notice is issued, and there is an intention by government to take a piece of land, you have a 90-day window to signify whether you will make a claim for compensation on it,” he said. “After that, you have to then respond within a year after it becomes a public road and submit a claim for compensation.”

However, he added, the National Roads Authority does have discretion when it comes to accepting late claims from landowners.

One thing the Land Registry does not record is whether a property is purchased by a Caymanian or an expatriate.

Obi said his department has previously been asked if it has this level of data, but “we don’t have that information… no one does”.

The issue of property being snapped up by people applying for permanent residency in Cayman has been brought up as one of the reasons for a lack of supply of affordable homes for Caymanians over the years. Recently, politicians Kenneth Bryan and Dwayne Seymour called for a moratorium on certain types of status grants.

The government is considering revamping the permanent residency points system, which currently gives 30 out of a minimum requirement of 110 points for property investment.