The Irish Times Property Desk answers some of your property queries. This week Ground Rent and Buying in Australia.
I bought out the ground rent
Some years ago I bought out the ground rent on my house for an agreed sum and registered same with the Land Registry. However, there was a further procedure necessary which I neglected to do. Please tell me what is now required to finalise the transaction?
The Land Registry administers a scheme under which owners of leasehold property can purchase their ground rent and enlarge their interest into a freehold. (A leasehold interest is for a fixed term of years and subject to a rent whereas freehold has the capacity to last forever.) The Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No 2) Act 1978 which came into operation on July 1st, 1978 provided a new method for the purchase of ground rents on dwellinghouses. Under the 1967 Act the purchase was a matter for the parties themselves to arrange, and any difficulty or dispute arising was referrable to the county registrar, whose award was appealable to the Circuit Court. The purchaser was liable for the landlord's costs of the transaction. The approach adopted by the 1978 Act is that, for a prescribed fee, the Land Registry undertake to do the legal work of completion of the purchase of the fee simple and the Registrar of Titles now administers the scheme. The registrar is empowered to vest the fee simple in tenants of dwellinghouses, provided an application is duly made in accordance with the Act. The fee simple is vested by way of a vesting certificate which operates as a conveyance of the fee simple and of any intermediate interests, free, in legal terminology, from "encumbrances". Since the scheme was introduced in 1978 nearly 70,000 applicants have availed of the service and have acquired a freehold title to their property. While your property is registered with the Land Registry it is registered, according to the Land Registry office in Dublin, as leasehold, which presumably was not your intention. You probably bought out your ground rent so that your house could be freehold. It is unclear from your letter what documents you supplied when you registered with the Land Registry, however it is clear from your leasehold status with the registry that the process to make your house freehold has not even been properly started. Do you have a vesting certificate? Are you registered with the Registry of Deeds? These are some of the issues that need to be sorted out in what can be a long process. It's a solicitor's job.
Can I buy down under?
I'm hearing reports from Australia about interesting new property developments down there. Can an Irish person buy there as a foreign investor?
The Rugby World Cup factor. Wherever Irish people go we can't help ourselves checking out the local property scene. Foreign investors can buy, but there are some rules. They can buy brand new, "under construction" property: apartments, flats, townhouses, and so on off the plans; new property that has not been previously occupied; residential land, providing a home is built within 12 months; new homes. No development may sell more than 50 per cent of the total to foreign interests. All residential projects must sell at least 50 per cent of the apartments to Australian residents.
Send your queries to Property Questions, The Irish Times, 10-16 D'Olier Street, Dublin 2 or e-mail propertyquestions@irish-times.ie.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to respond to all questions. The above is a representative sample of queries received. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.
