As the Kyrgyz Republic continues the process of transition to a market system, proper handling of rights in immovable property is essential for its development. Until the start of the Land and Real Estate Registration Project, information on land and real estate had been collected and maintained in an uncoordinated and incomplete manner by a number of different agencies, thus making it difficult to access, retrieve or use information pertaining to property rights.
- Building on previous efforts by the government and other development agencies, support the development of markets for land and real estate, along with the introduction of a reliable, well-functioning system for registration of rights in immovable property.
- Support the capacity development of the State Agency for Registration (GosRegister) established in 2000 just before project inception.
Property rights are more secure, access to credit has increased, and the functioning of lease and sales markets has improved.
Highlights:
- Rights on virtually all land and real estate properties are now or will soon be secure, and backed by appropriate registry records. Registration of real estate units in settlement areas (i.e., with buildings) is basically complete; in total almost 1.2 million real estate units, of which almost 600,000 have been regularized.
- Over 570,000 real estate units outside of settlement areas (without buildings) have been incorporated into registry, and work is underway to include the remaining 630,000 units by the end of 2007.
- Registry transactions are efficient by international standards, as demonstrated by current service standards of completing most transactions within three days for individuals and four days for enterprises.
- Access to credit has improved substantially–the number and value of mortgages have increased from 15,437 (US$84.8 m) in 2002 to 43,001 (US$723.7 m) in 2006.
- Land and real estate assets are being distributed and used more efficiently in response to market forces as demonstrated by the increased sales and leases. The number of registered sales went from 25,901 in 2002 to 39,957 in 2006 and the number of registered leases went from 3,184 in 2002 to 5,030 in 2006.
- Access to cadastre information has improved, creating an enabling condition for improved governance of public lands.
- Fiscal impacts have been very positive, with all 50 local registry offices now self-financed. Although it is not feasible to measure indirect impacts at this time, it can be assumed that tax revenue has also significantly increased as a result of the broader economic growth stemming from the registry establishment and operation.
- IDA provided catalytic support to a significant organizational reform–establishment of single agency responsible for registering rights as well as maintaining the cadastre. IDA was used to fill the financing gap associated with the development of this agency and the establishment of a system for handling land and real estate market transactions. This project has been recognized worldwide as one of the best examples of how to establish a land administrative system.
- The total project cost is US$11.84 million, of which US$ 9.42 million was IDA financing and the remainder came from the government.
The Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) has provided significant complementary support for technical assistance and training. Complementary support in legal aid funded by several other donors including USAID, SDC, and DFID has helped to ensure social inclusion and due process.
GosRegister, the implementing agency, would like to receive follow-on support from IDA starting in 2008 to further scale up registry operations, upgrade the quality of geospatial information, establish the capacity for valuation activities, and further improve overall governance. With the encouragement of the central government, GosRegister is developing a proposal along these lines.
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