Ireland

Registering Property in

Ireland

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

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  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: EUR 1,415,321.56
  • City: Dublin

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
* 1 Obtain official certified copies of the property's folio and title map

Ownership of land in Ireland is registered in either the Land Registry (known as registered land) or Registry of Deeds (known as unregistered land). Both the Land Registry and the Registry of Deeds come under the auspices of the Property Registration Authority of Ireland (PRAI).

It has been a requirement in respect of any unregistered land sold or transferred in the Republic of Ireland outside the counties of Cork and Dublin to be registered in the Land Registry. This obligation has now become effective in Dublin from June 2011. Once the title to a property has been registered with the Land Registry, the Registry of Deeds has no further role in repsect of that property and all future transactions/registrations have to be with the Land Registry. Approximately 85% of titles are now registered in the Land Registry and the Registry of Deeds only deals with those properties where the title has not yet been registered at the Land Registry. The latter is the case of most properties in Dublin currently.

If the property is registered land, the register and registry map are available online via the landdirect.ie service of the Property Registration Authority of Ireland. If the property is unregistered land a search of the Registry of Deeds wil need to be ordered through a law searcher. This search can be completed within a day and the lawyer would typically charge EUR 200 for this service.

An official certified copy of the folio and title map are available online via the Irish Land Registry Electronic Access System (EAS).


Agency: Property Registration Authority of Ireland 		1 day EUR 200 for all searches
* 2 Conveyancing and standard requisitions on title ordered by the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland

The Incorporated Law Society of Ireland has a comprehensive set of conveyancing documents being standard requisitions on title investigating various matters including the following: services, easements and rights, obligations, outgoings, bankruptcy, taxation, building control and environmental regulations, fire services and health and safety, etc.

In the case of a commercial property transaction a solicitor might consider it prudent to have the physical boundaries of the property in sale surveyed by an architect to ensure that it correlates with the boundaries of the property as shown on the Land Registry Map. To get an architect to certify the identity of the property will take 5 additional days and cost about € 500. The cost is subject to 21 % VAT.

Agency: Incorporated Law Society of Ireland 		20 days paid in Procedure 3
3 Lawyer drafts contract and contracts are exchanged

Typically it will be the purchaser's lawyer who will provide the first draft of the contract, based on the findings of the searches and the standard requisitions. Once the parties agree on a draft of the contract, contracts are exchanged by the parties or their lawyers on their behalf.
1 day between 0.25% and 0.75% of property value
4 Submission of documents to Revenue Commissioners

This procedure involves submission of documents to Revenue Commissioners for payment of stamp duty & impression of “Particular Delivered” stamp. Since January 1, 2010, the stamping of deeds is done online. The stamp duty is submitted electronically to the Revenue Commissioners, which in turn sends a certificate of confirmation of stamping via email to the purchaser's solicitor.

Stamp duty for non-residential property as of October 15, 2008 (as established by the Tax agency- Office of the Revenue Commissioners of Ireland- on an administrative basis until the enactment of the Finance Act 2009) is:
Property Value Rate of Duty
Up to € 10,000 Exempt
€ 10,001 to 20,000 1%
€ 20,001 to 30,000 2%
€ 30,001 to 40,000 3%
€ 40,001 to 70,000 4%
€ 70,001 to 80,000 5%
€ 80,001 and more 6%

The title deed must be stamped within 28 days of the date of execution of the deed or penalties will be incurred.


Agency: Revenue Commissioners 		1 day 6% of the value of the property
5 Lodgment of application for registration at the Land Registry

Once the title deed to the purchaser has been stamped it can be registered in either the Registry of Deeds or the Land Registry depending on the type of title.

• If it is to be registered in the Registry of Deeds, the deed and the memorial (summary) of it, must be lodged for comparison. This is usually done by a law agent for the purchaser’s solicitor (56 days approx and € 44). Once the deed is compared and said to be in order it will go for registration in the Registry of Deeds. Application for registration is accompanied by the appropriate deeds and other completed forms and declarations and fee.

• If the property is being registered in the Land Registry a document called Form 17 must be filled in. A facility to make an application for registration electronically via the PRAI's Electronic Acces System is available. Ongoing computerization is contributing to increased efficiency. Supporting documentation will include the sales agreement and a receipt of the payment of the applicable fees (€ 650). Registration will take 7-21 days. After registration, it is common to check on the registration via the EAS with the request of certified copies of the folio and title map, which should show the change in ownership. This online check will cost €2.50 + €25 for the certified copy and will be delivered in 1-2 days.

The breakdown of the applicable registration fees is as follows:
EUR 25 (for a folio and map) + registration fee according to the following schedule:
Property value (in EUR) Registration Fee
Under 13,000 EUR 125
From 13,001 to 26,000 EUR 190
From 26,001 to 51,000 EUR 250
From 51,001 to 255,000 EUR 375
From 255,001 to 385,000 EUR 500
Above 385,000 EUR 625






Agency: Land Registry 		1 day (On line, by hand or by post) + 7-21 days of wait after lodgment EUR 44
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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