Compulsory registration extended to Cork and Dublin

The Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Mr. Dermot Ahern T.D., has made an Order (S.I. No. 516/2010) extending compulsory registration of title to the counties and cities of Cork and Dublin.  The Order will come into effect on 1^st June 2011.

What does this mean?

In Ireland at the moment there are two sets of registries.  These are:

1.       The Land Registry

2.       The Registry of Deeds

Land Registry title is backed by State guarantee while the Registry of Deeds is not.

Government policy is to convert  all titles in the country to the Land Registry and to eventually shut down the Registry of Deeds.

The difference between the systems is that a person selling a Registry of Deeds title needs to provide the Purchaser with the Title Deeds going back to what is called a good root (that is a title document over 15 years old).  The Purchaser’s Solicitor must read and examine each Deed going back to the root of title.  This system is complex and does not always have a map of the property.  Additionally large bundles of Deeds need to be passed over to each subsequent Purchaser which creates a risk of Deeds being lost.

Conversely Land Registry title is evidenced by a simple Land Registry folio and a map and is backed by a State guarantee.  It is also  the case that the title deeds to a property can never be lost if it is registered in the Land Registry.

Persons buying a Registry of Deeds title from 1^st June 2011 onwards need to convert it to a Land Registry title.  The process involves the owner swearing Affidavits and making an application for “first registration” of the title in the Land Registry.  The process may also involve mapping the property on an up to date Ordnance Survey sheet.  A property that has been registered in the Land Registry will be more attractive to a purchaser.  Any persons considering selling or creating a lease over a property with a Registry of Deeds title should contact a  Solicitor to initiate the process to convert the title to a Land Registry title.    

Please contact Linda Harney or Neil Dineen at Donegans to discuss any aspect of the first registration process.