Property Law

Q:    I want to buy a house, what are the legal fees involved?

A:

If you telephone solicitors seeking a quotation it will be explained to you that in addition to the fees which you will pay your solicitor there are items of outlay which must be paid by you. These items of outlay are as follows:

1. •Stamp Duty. Stamp Duty rates are changed from time to time in the Budget. At present for purchases less than €1,000,000.00 the stamp duty rate is 1% of the purchase price.
   

2. •Property Registration Authority fees. In addition to stamp duty the Government charges you to register you as the owner of the property. There are currently 2 systems of land registration in Ireland, the Registry of Deeds and the Land Registry. Since the beginning of 2012 it is now compulsory that all titles will be registered in the Land Registry and accordingly over the years the Registry of Deeds will become less and less important. There is considerable difference between Registry of Deeds fees and Land Registry fees. If you have bought a house, which is a Registry of Deeds title, and you have taken out a mortgage the maximum fees will be €100.00. If however the title is Land Registry there is a scale of charges to register the transfer e.g. between €51,000.00 and €285,000.00 the Land Registry fees are €375.00; between €285,000.00 and €385,000.00 the Land Registry fees are €500.00; over €385,000.00 the Land Registry fees are €625.00. In addition the Land Registry fee to register a mortgage is €125.00
   

3. •Search fees. A solicitor will engage a firm of law searchers to carry out searches on the day you are due to move into the house. These searches include a Land Registry search or Registry of Deeds search to make sure there are no mortgages on the title, a Judgment and Bankruptcy Search against the Vendor to ensure that there are no judgments which could become mortgages. The cost of these searches will vary and an estimate will be given to you by your solicitor.
   

4. •Miscellaneous Outlay. There can be miscellaneous items of outlay. For example if you take out a mortgage your bank or building society will insist on a Family Home Declaration being signed by you before a Commissioner for Oaths. This is a sworn statement to clarify your marital status. The Commissioner for Oaths fees would on average be €20.00.
   

The amount of these costs will vary little from practice to practice. In addition you will incur the following costs which will not be dealt with through your solicitor:

- the cost of the bank or building society valuation

- the cost of a surveyor’s report.

Accordingly we would advise that when you have picked a house or an apartment you work out the items of outlay which would be payable as set out above. Accordingly when you are then seeking a quotation from a solicitor you need only be concerned to get the figure for professional fee plus V.A.T. at 23%.

Q:    I want to sell a house, what are the legal fees involved?

A:

When selling a property, again in addition to the solicitor’s fee and V.A.T. at 23% the following items of outlay may/will arise:

1. •Building Energy Rating Certificate fee. When selling a residential or a commercial  property every Vendor is required to produce a Building Energy Rating Certificate, which is a certificate giving an indication of the energy performance of a home. On the form the top rating is A and the lowest rating is G. Currently it does not matter how good or how bad the rating is, a Vendor simply has to produce a Certificate. The costs of obtaining a BER Certificate are negotiable
   

2. •Architect’s Certificate fees. It may be necessary to produce an Architect’s Certificate if an extension has been carried out to the property. The form of the certificate will depend on when the extension or development actually took place. Again fees payable to architects tend to be negotiable.
   

3. •Property Registration Authority fees. Generally an up to date Folio and Map are required and the cost of obtaining this is €25.00.
   

4. •Commissioner’s fees. Again to complete the transaction various documents have to be completed before a Commissioner for Oaths or Practising Solicitor. These include Family Home Declarations, Planning Declarations etc. A Commissioner for Oaths will charge €10.00 to witness each signature
   

Q:    What documents do I require for a Solicitor when I am selling a house?

A:

A solicitor will require the title documents to your property. If the title documents are held by your bank or building society on foot of a mortgage a solicitor will ask you to sign a form which will authorise the bank or building society to release the deeds to the solicitor on a promise given by the solicitor either that the deeds will be returned to the bank or building society or the mortgage will be paid off from the proceeds of sale.

In addition you will require the following:

1. •Note of PPS numbers. This will usually take the form of a letter from the Revenue Commissioners giving your PPS number and your tax type;
   

2. •Copy of your marriage certificate, judicial separation papers, divorce decree or separation agreement. These documents are required for a Family Home Protection Act Declaration;
   

3. •Receipt for the Household Charge;
   

4. •Receipt for the Non-Principal Private Residential Tax. This tax is payable if the property is not your principal residence;
   

5. •Receipt for service charges. This is only applicable if you are selling an apartment or a house in a managed development;
   

6. •Receipt for environmental waste charges. This relates to the waste collection charges payable to the local authority;
   

7. •List of the contents which you intend to leave in the house.
   

Q:    My Solicitor has told me that the title of the new house I want to buy is long leasehold. What does this mean?

A:

After you have chosen your house and paid your booking deposit the next step is to choose your solicitor. When you have agreed a fee with your solicitor the solicitor will confirm this to you in writing. At that stage there are 2 steps you should take:

1. •Mortgage. You need to proceed to finalise your loan application. While you may have had approval from a bank or building society for a specified amount it is now necessary to go back to that bank or building society and inform them that you have found this particular house or apartment. The bank will arrange to get their own valuation done and will then issue you with a loan approval document which will give the address of the house or apartment.
   

2. •Survey. You need to engage an architect or engineer to carry out a structural survey of the house or apartment. In this jurisdiction there are no guarantees with second-hand property. The legal term is “let the buyer beware”. Accordingly if you do not have a survey done and move in and buy the house and find a serious problem you have no come back. 
   

When the auctioneer has received the booking deposit he will inform the vendor’s solicitor and request the vendor’s solicitor to send contracts to your solicitor. On average this would take approximately 2/3 weeks. When your solicitor receives the contracts he/she will read the title and carry out preliminary searches. The solicitor will write to you to advise you on any issues concerning the contracts. On the basis that your loan approval has then issued and your survey is completed you will arrange to meet with the solicitor to sign the contracts. The contract is a binding legal agreement for you to buy the property. When you sign the contract you pay a further deposit which will then bring the deposit to 10% of the purchase price. A closing date is inserted in the contract which would normally be approximately 3 weeks after signing contracts. It is on the closing date that you move in.

Between the time you sign the contract and the closing date your solicitor will raise further queries on title and will draft the purchase deed and will make arrangements to draw down your loan cheque.

On the date of the closing your solicitor will advise you to do a pre-closing inspection. This you will organise with the auctioneer. Essentially you are seeking to ensure that there has been no accidental damage done to the property and that the contents which were to be left are left.

Q:  I have just found a house and given a booking deposit to the auctioneer, what         happens next?

A:

Title in this country is either freehold or leasehold. Freehold title means that you acquire the land and any building on it for ever. In the case of leasehold you will acquire the title to the lands with the buildings on it for a specific number of years. This can vary from 6 months to 10,000 years. A leasehold title is considered good marketable title and will be accepted by the banks provided there is 70 years to run. Accordingly you need to clarify with the solicitor exactly what he/she means when he/she says the title is long leasehold.