Land Registry

Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs

Who We Are 

The Land Registry of St. Kitts and Nevis is a Department, within the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs, which is responsible for registering and recording ownership of land in St. Kitts and Nevis. 

 It was established under the Land Registry Act No 10 of 2017 which provides for the establishment of a dedicated national Land Registry with a main office in St. Kitts and a branch office in Nevis; the staffing of the Registry; the converting of hard copy records to and the maintenance of records in an electronic format and the availability of direct and remote access to registry services.  This represented a legal separation from the High Court. 

The department consists of a main unit on the island of St. Kitts and a branch unit on the island of Nevis. The office operations are led by a Registrar supported by administrative and clerical staff. 

Mission Statement 

To provide prompt, efficient and customer friendly land registration and information services by leveraging technological advancement in order to guarantee and protect property rights in St. Kitts and Nevis. 

What We Do 

Our responsibilities include: 

• All activities pertaining to registration of Certificates of Title to land under the Title By Registration Act. 
• All activities pertaining to registration and execution of deeds, mortgages and wills under the Registration and Records Act and the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act.
• All activities pertaining to registration under the Condominium Act. 
• All activities pertaining to registration under the St. Kitts (Planned Community) Act. 

• All activities pertaining to registration under the St. Christopher and Nevis Vacation Plan and Time-Share Act. 
• The keeping of all records pertaining to registrations under the various laws as referred to above.  
• Compilation and maintenance of consolidated, current and subsequent volumes of all related registers; safekeeping and preserving the said records, and converting the said records to electronic format. 

 Accordingly, the operations and activities of the Land Registry Department and all related matters are performed in accordance with the provisions of the following legislations: 

• Land Registry Act N 10 of 2017  
• Title By Registration Act Cap 10.19  
• Registration and Records Act Cap 23.25 
• Conveyancing  And Law Of Property Act Cap 10.04
• Condominium Act Cap 10.03 

• St. Kitts (Planned Community) Act Cap 20.58 
• Saint Christopher and Nevis Vacation Plan and Time-Share Act Cap 10.22  

 How We Are Financed 

The operations of the Land Registry; are financed by budgetary allocations through the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs as outlined in the Annual Estimates and Budget of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis. 

 How We Serve the Public 

• By administering registration activities in keeping with the various requirements when individuals present matters for registration under the various applicable laws. 

• By facilitating physical searches of the Titles by members of the public, in response to specific search requests. Physical searches are also most frequently requested by Attorneys-at-Law on behalf of their clients when dealing with the legal processes associated with a variety of interests in property. Most searches are currently done by clerks from the various law firms. 
•  Clerks are available to provide assistance to persons requesting searches. 
• In the future, we will facilitate online electronic search capabilities for Attorneys-at-Law and the general public via the Land Administration Information System database. 
• The general public can initiate contact with the Department via correspondence, telephone or by visiting our offices.  
• Attorneys-at-Law interact with the Department on behalf of their clients in relation to registration procedures.  

 Special Note 

The establishment of a dedicated Land Registry on St. Kitts with a branch on Nevis is a historic event. In times past, legal transactions relating to registering land were dealt with in the High Court Registry along with all of the other High Court matters such as Probate, Deed Poll, criminal matters and divorce.  

The separation of the land matters from the High Court is not an unusual phenomenon. Most of the Land Registries in the Caribbean region emerged from the Registries of their high courts.  

One of the overarching benefits of the establishment of a dedicated Land Registry is that it can contribute to the improvement of the ranking of our Federation on the World Bank’s Global Reports on the Ease of Doing Business with regard to the registration of land in St. Kitts.  

 Projects and Programs 

The Land Administration Information System 

The Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs, in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) signed the Implementing Arrangement for the St. Kitts and Nevis Land Administration Information System (LAIS) Project in June, 2018. 

The LAIS being built will include a digital Land Registry Case Management module and an Online Search database for Land data. This will enable the Attorneys-at-Law and the general public to perform electronic searches of Titles, be notified of the status of land registration and be able to track the progress of registration from the point of submission to the point of collection of the documents.   

Furthermore, the LAIS will be integrated with the Inland Revenue Department, Ministry of Sustainable Development – Administration, Physical Planning, Lands & Surveys Department and the Accountant General’s Department to facilitate secure data exchange for a seamless land registration process. This system will also be compatible with the Land Folio System by Trimble which was implemented in Nevis. In this way, the land registration process will be simplified, secure, efficient and expeditious.

 Implementation of a Cadastral Mapping System. 

An integral part of the LAIS is the integration of the Cadastral Mapping System. In this regard, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Medici Land Governance Inc on 30th August 2019. In keeping with the MOU, Medici Land Governance Inc. commenced cadastral mapping in St. Kitts in early December 2019. 

The team from Medici Land Governance Inc. is using Drone technology to provide aerial imagery of the land parcels to create a Cadaster in St. Kitts. This will provide a comprehensive visual representation of land and property’s metes-and-bounds of St. Kitts.  

The benefits of the integration of the Cadastral System with the LAIS are: 

1. Providing security of tenure to land holders. 
2. Providing accurate identification of land. 
3. Positive impact on the ease of doing business. 
4. Helping to secure title to land expeditiously.

The Land Registry Department looks forward to providing prompt, efficient and customer friendly land registration and information services by leveraging technological advancement in order to guarantee and protect property rights in St. Kitts and Nevis.