THE enactment of Statutory Instrument (SI) 76 of 2025 (hereinafter referred to as the regulations), officially titled the Deeds Registries Regulations, repeals SI 236 of 2018.
Central and outstanding from these regulations is the transformation of the property registration system from the traditional paper-based system to a modern digitalised system.
In a world where artificial intelligence is already transforming every sector, the property industry’s heavy reliance on mountains of paperwork to conclude transactions was in dire need of an overhaul.
The enactment is a bold leap towards modernising the property registration security systems and aligns it with international best practices, constitutional principles and technological advancements.
This major shift in the property terrain comes at the opportune moment when the property sector is under serious attack from fraudulent transactions and rampant property-related corruption.
The changes in the landmark regulations present an applauded move in the protection of the constitutional right to property entrenched in section 71 of the Constitution.
Validation of title deed process
- All registered title deed personnel are mandated to submit a copy of the old title deed and valid proof of identity to the Deeds Registry.
- Verification of the authenticity of the original title deed by the registrar to ensure it complies with the requirements of the Deeds Registries Act.
- Request by the registrar and supply of further documents by the title deed holder to verify rightful owner if the need arises.
- Issuance of new securitised deed. Securitised deeds means title deeds have been validated, digitised and issued under a new securitisation framework.
In terms of section 41, securitised and validated deeds will be digitised and re-issued in electronic and securitised formats and this will replace the old paper system.
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Transitional period
In terms of section 40 of the regulations, this process of changing from paper to digitalised deed must be completed within 24 months, after which the registrar will issue secure, digitalised and certified deeds while retaining the original document.
After the transitional period (two-year period) only securitised deeds will be legally valid.
The 24-month period is calculated from the commencement of the regulations.
The registrar, with the minister’s approval, may extend the 24 months period.
Major changes brought by the SI
The goal is to move away from manual processes and replace them with digital systems for preparing, lodging, registering and storing deeds.
- Section 40 of the regulations provides for validation and securitisation of old deeds. The validation ought to take places within a 24-month period from the date of the publication of the SI. This step will eradicate the tampering of title deeds by insiders.
- Section 41 states that once the validation process is successfully completed, the registrar issues the securitised deeds to the respective owner.
- Section 42 speaks to destruction of obsolete records. Once the necessary information has be digitised in the electronic deed registry, the irrelevant records will be destroyed.
- Section 27 of the regulations requires notarisation, valid ID, precise property description and spousal consent. This prevents use of fraudulent agreements and forged power of attorney.
- On offences and penalties, fraudulent submission of documents during the validation process shall be punishable.
- Section 55 speaks to enhanced identity regulations. The juristic persons must be fully verified; no aliases or front companies and this prevents misuse of fake unregistered or registered companies.
Advantages of digitisation and securisation
- Effectively restores the long lost market confidence.
- Reduced risk in property fraud, hence reduction of property-related legal battles.
- It encourages foreign property investments
- Reduces bureaucratic delays
- It poses an easy and convenient process for due diligence in property sales.
- Verified and safely kept records will improve trust among investors, lenders and buyers as it enhances transparency in property security system.
Shortcomings of new digitised system
- The 24-month period might not be adequate considering that some properties are under legal contestation in courts and the issue of ownership can take more than two years to be resolved.
- Lack of public awareness in property registration system. The majority of properties do not even have titled deeds due to lack of knowledge, hence introduction of a digitised system wherein the majority have not even mastered the paper-based system can be problematic.
- Deeds Registry may face capacity constraints.
- Old properties with lost, missing documents may have to go through long and tiresome validation processes and are also subject to legal contestation.
- The majority of property owners, especially in remote rural areas, as well as diasporans may fail to comply with the new regulations within the prescribed time frame, which at some point will be punctuated by calls for extension.
This digitisation and modernisation framework was absent in the 2018 regulations.
SI 76 of 2025 is a timely and progressive step in this digital era.
The call to validate and obtain a securitised deed should be answered by all progressive homeowners with the urgency it deserves.
The rollout or implementation of this programme needs to be done with great precision and diligence to make the transformation process a great success.
- Nobuhle Maphosa is a registered legal practitioner, conveyancer and a member of the Law Society of Zimbabwe. She writes here in her personal capacity. She can be contacted on [email protected].
