Almost every valuation for a lender needs two documents from the land registry: an official search and, for most titles, a registry index map. Both cost money and time, and on a busy month they are easy to lose track of.
What each one is for
The official search confirms who the registered proprietor is and what charges, cautions or restrictions are registered against the title. The bank relies on it, and your report should describe the property as the search shows it.
The registry index map shows where the parcel sits in relation to its neighbours, roads and other features. It helps you confirm, on site, that you are valuing the parcel named on the title.
How they are obtained
Depending on the registry, searches are applied for online, through eCitizen or, for registries that have moved to it, Ardhisasa, or in person at the registry. Maps come from the registry or the survey office that holds the area’s records. Either way, there is the statutory fee, and often a cost for someone’s time and transport to collect or follow up.
Why the cost goes missing
- The fee differs from registry to registry, and changes over time.
- The person paying it is in the field, and the receipt reaches the office days later, if at all.
- The cost is never added to the fee note, so the firm absorbs it.
A simple way to keep control
- Keep a schedule per registry. For each registry you use, note what the search and the map currently cost. Update it when a fee changes, not when someone remembers.
- Request the money against the job. A requisition for the search and map, linked to the job, tells you what each job really cost.
- Recover it on the fee note. Where your terms allow, bill the search and map as disbursements on the job’s fee note.
- Keep the proof. Attach the receipt or payment confirmation to the requisition.
How PropSense360 handles it
In PropSense360, each lands registry carries its own official search and map fees. When a valuer raises a requisition for a job, the registry is suggested from the title number and the fees fill in at that registry’s rate. The requisition goes through approval and payment, and a billable cost is carried onto the job’s fee note.
See requisitions and expenses.
Fees and application channels change. Check the current position with the relevant registry before relying on any figure.