Vic land titles office to be privatised

Victoria's land titles registry will be privatised to deliver more money to state coffers for infrastructure.

Victoria will commercialise its land titles registry to pour more money into the state's coffers for infrastructure spending.

An expression of interest will be issued for the privatisation of the land titles and registry functions of Land Use Victoria.

Premier Daniel Andrews says it is "no secret" the government wanted to outsource the office, as flagged in the 2017/18 budget, but will not say which projects will benefit.

"The allocation of funds on every asset recycling or indeed any revenue that the government receives ... that's what the budget is for and that's what the budget will do," he told reporters on Wednesday.

The registrar of titles will remain under state control, retaining an oversight role over the private operator.

The private operator will be responsible for land registry functions and transactions for 40 years, after which responsibilities will be returned to public hands.

During this period, the state will retain full control over prices for statutory land registry services and price monitoring of non-statutory services provided by the private operator.

Several other services will remain in public hands, including the offices of Valuer-General and Surveyor-General Victoria.

A preferred titles provider is expected to be announced in the second half of 2018.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy says he supports the partial privatisation.


2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



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