Real estate sector pushes for deeds office digitisation

LIVINGSTONE MARUFU

Zimbabwe’s real estate sector says the government should expedite  the proposed digitisation of the Deeds Office and the setting up of Companies and Intellectual Property Office of Zimbabwe amid revelations there is a rampant proliferation of fake title deeds in the market.

The Deeds  Office has not moved with time and remained analogue.

It takes a lot of time to locate documents at Deeds Office with some deeds misplaced.

In a recent report on the state of the real estate industry, Integrated Properties said the sector has failed to attract meaningful investment due to lack of transparency in the Deeds office.

“The title deeds should be (accessed) digitally. If information is made online this will deal with the current proliferation of fake title deeds in the country. If the information is readily available online it helps people to make smart decisions,” Integrated Properties said.

The report said in some developed nations where the title deeds office has been digitised,  real estate agents, buyers, sellers and investors just view the information online on the deeds office website.

It is believed that real estate attracts big investments in other countries like South Africa and Kenya.

The Zimbabwe government, therefore, should move with speed to make the sector a cash cow,  Integrated Properties said.

Experts say the real estate sector is instrumental and helps to grow the economy as it links with all sectors.

Last year, the Cabinet approved the setting up of the Companies and Intellectual Property Office of Zimbabwe.

The Cabinet noted that the scenario has remained rigid and unchanged for the past 40 years and can no longer keep up with the increasing obligations and modern business demands for real time service.

In the advent of the promulgation of the Companies and Other Business Entities Act, there is a need to operationalise this requirement to make the deeds transparent, it said.

Currently,  the Companies and Intellectual Property Offices are sections within the Department of Deeds, Companies and Intellectual Property.

Cabinet said it was critical to restructure and create a fully constituted Companies and Intellectual Property Office, devoted to dealing with companies and intellectual property matters.

This will go a long way in improving the ease of doing business in Zimbabwe, it said.

Cabinet also considered and approved the proposed transfer of the Office of the Master of the High Court from the Judicial Service Commission to the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs as presented by the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs minister.

In coming up with the decision, the Cabinet noted that Section 3 of the Administration of Estates Act (Chapter 6:01) which created the Office of the Master of the High Court clearly states that the office forms part of the Public Service.

On the other hand, in performing its functions of supervising insolvent estates, which activities involve administration of liquidation of companies, judicial management, corporate rescue and sequestration of estates of individuals, the Master’s Office does not perform those functions as a court but rather as an administrative board reposed with authority to supervise the winding up of insolvent estates as provided for by the Insolvency Act.

In addition, the Master of the High Court collects revenue in the form of estate duty and estate fees.

This executive function is performed  on behalf of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, consequently feeding into the fiscus.

This function constitutes the bulk of the Master of the High Court’s work as revenue is collected from all estates.