Land: Sri Lanka’s forgotten asset

By Dhananath Fernando

Originally appeared on the Morning

The headlines are full of talk about asset declarations of ministers. But while the political class debates what they own, the nation has forgotten its real asset: our land. If the forthcoming Budget is to mean anything for growth, it must finally prioritise the country’s most underutilised resource.

Sri Lanka’s land problem is not new. The Harvard Growth Diagnostics study and many others have identified weak property rights as a binding constraint on growth. About 80% of land, including forests and reserves, is owned by the State. Vast tracts lie idle in the hands of Government agencies. Even private land, though held by millions of families, is often locked away from productive use because it exists only in the form of deeds, not secure, State-backed titles.

This distinction is crucial. A deed records the history of a land transaction but does not guarantee ownership. Multiple deeds can exist for the same plot, leaving ownership contested. A title, by contrast, is conclusive proof. It is recognised by the State, cannot be disputed once registered, and gives families and businesses the security to invest, sell, or borrow against it.

The ‘Bim Saviya’ programme, launched in 1998, was meant to move Sri Lanka from deeds to titles. Nearly three decades later, out of 16 million land parcels, just over a million titles have been issued. At the current pace of around 50,000 per year, the process will take 300 years. By then, the world will have moved on, but Sri Lankans will still be queuing at banks, waiting months for loan approvals while surveyors sift through deed histories stretching back three decades.

The consequences are immense. Without secure titles, banks hesitate to lend. Businesses cannot expand. Farmers cannot unlock capital. Families remain vulnerable to fraud. As Hernando de Soto famously described, Sri Lanka is sitting on mountains of “dead capital”.

Why are we stuck? The law itself is outdated, modelled on Torrens systems that do not reflect Sri Lanka’s complex co-ownership, religious, and customary land arrangements. Institutions are fragmented, with responsibility split between the Survey Department, the Land Title Settlement Department, and the Registrar General’s Department. No single body is fully accountable.

Capacity gaps are crippling: more than half of surveyor posts remain vacant. Dispute resolution has collapsed, with only 11% of mediation boards functioning by 2023. Even where land has been surveyed and gazetted, hundreds of thousands of titles remain in limbo.

This is not simply a funding issue. It is a leadership issue. Unless the Cabinet elevates land titling to a national priority, progress will continue to crawl.

The 2026 Budget is the moment to act. Three bold steps can change the game.

First, modernise the law. A legal taskforce must redraft the 1998 act within 12 months, clarifying co-ownership, religious, and State land, and establishing a proper compensation mechanism.

Second, make conversion compulsory. Every sale, mortgage, or inheritance should automatically become a title transaction. Within 15 years, the deed registry could be phased out entirely.

Third, fill the gaps with private capacity and smart financing. Licensed private surveyors can be engaged under Government oversight. Modest registry surcharges and optional fast-track services can reduce reliance on Treasury allocations, while donor or Public-Private Partnership support can be tied to performance milestones.

These reforms would more than pay for themselves. Banks report that title-backed loans can be processed in as little as a week, compared to two or three months for deeds. That is not just about efficiency. It is the difference between a farmer missing a planting season and being able to grow, or a small business waiting months for credit versus expanding immediately.

Most importantly, titles provide ordinary citizens what deeds cannot: security, credit, and peace of mind.

While airtime is wasted on politicians’ asset declarations, Sri Lankans are waiting for their real assets, their land to be recognised and freed. Accelerating ‘Bim Saviya’ is not a technocratic exercise. It is a once-in-a-generation reform that can unlock growth, empower citizens, and give the economy the lifeline it so badly needs.

This budget should finally deliver it.