The process of buying and selling property is about to become more streamlined, writes PAT IGOE
WHEN THE PROPERTY market does revive, selling and buying will be more streamlined. Rectifying title problems will also be easier.
A lot of seriously ancient legislation has been jettisoned and replaced with modern laws for our times. This is good for sellers and buyers, and, indeed, all property owners.
Major new property laws mean that we can expect more effective legal work from solicitors and State agencies alike. Sensibly reduced legal fees and costs are also a possibility.
The whole process of buying and selling property will also be more transparent.
The significant drop in numbers of houses and apartments being sold has led to a similar drop in transactions passing through the State agencies, including the Revenue Commission and the Land Registry. Applications to the Land Registry fell from 264,000 in 2007 to 145,000 last year and these were at greatly reduced prices.
The Land Registry, part of the Property Registration Authority, has accordingly had greater opportunity to make major progress on Government plans that go back some years to bring Irish property registers into line with those of other modern economies. Efficient transfers of ownership of houses and apartments, by electronic and entirely paperless procedures, which was once in the realms of fancy, is now a key objective.
“From the 19th century straight through to the 21st century” is one way the changes that are afoot have been described. About 150 pre-Independence Acts of Parliament have been repealed.
The repealed Acts constituted a colourful array of legislation, ranging from the Forfeiture Act of 1639 to the Crown Lands Act of 1845 that, incredibly, remained cluttering up the statute book of this republic, unbeknownst to most of the populace.
They have been replaced in effect by three major pieces of modern Irish legislation, including the much-praised Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009, which owes much to reports from the Law Reform Commission under full-time Commissioner Patricia Rickard-Clarke.
The Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 is the second piece and then there is the less well-known but also seminal Registration of Deeds and Titles Act 2006.
Electronic access to a huge bank of information about land in Ireland is already in place.
The Property Registration Authority’s website is well worth a visit. Electronic stamping of all deeds of sale in the Revenue Commissioners is also already a reality as is electronic cancellation of mortgages once they are paid off.
The end objective is a streamlined and paperless system of both conveyancing and then registration by the State – a modern property transfer system for a modern economy. It will cover the purchase of houses and apartments, farms and offices, shops and industry. Individual purchase prices and other details will also be publicly available.
So, from being at the bottom, Ireland is moving quickly to the top of the class. People selling and buying will benefit from quicker transaction times, reduced costs, and a greater ability to directly check progress. Registration is important because, as noted by John O’Sullivan, deputy registrar of the Property Registration Authority, it is only when a purchase is registered that the purchaser obtains legal title.
Complaints about the sale of a house or an apartment being held up because of “legal problems’ are likely to be heard much less often.
The new property laws enable both solicitors and the State agencies to resolve problems without recourse to court.
Up to now, we have had two registration systems in Ireland. They are the Registry of Deeds in historic Henrietta Street in Dublin, which has been registering deeds since 1707, and the Land Registry, which has been registering full titles since 1892 with State guarantees. Both are now under the Property Registration Authority. The Registry of Deeds is being phased out.
In relation to apartments, the Multi Unit Developments Act was signed into law by former President Mary McAleese last January. It gives greater control to apartment owners and their management companies and is still in its infancy.
Even if developers have failed to comply with deadlines to transfer the common areas, the Law Society is anxious to note that there is no question of apartments thereby being unsellable. Rather, the Act improves the powers of apartment owners and their management companies and their right to see the developers off the estate without delay.
Very significant progress continues to be made behind the scenes that will be helpful to sellers and buyers alike of houses and apartments. The benefits should be waiting when the clouds roll back.
Pat Igoe is a solicitor in Blackrock, Co Dublin
