Kilkenny auctioneer campaigns at Dáil for updating 'totally unfit' 19th Century property law

A Kilkenny auctioneer joined a coalition of estate agent representatives to address the Dáil last week to campaign for the passing of a buyer's bill that has been delayed since 2021.

Representatives of up to 2,000 estate agents across the country converged on the Dáil on Tuesday 3rd September to urge the passing of legislation that will, among other things, take allegedly unsaleable properties, estimated to constitute almost one-third of the residential market, off sale until such time as they have undergone a process that would render them genuinely saleable.

The relevant legislation, the Seller’s Legal Pack for Property Buyers’ Bill 2021, would also protect home buyers from having their mortgage approvals, typically of six months duration, lapse. The Bill which underwent pre-legislative scrutiny in July, is intended to cut by half conveyancing times which take four months on average.

Ella Dunphy of DNG Ella Dunphy Kilkenny and former President of IPAV, the Institute of Professional Auctioneers & Valuers said Ireland’s conveyancing system dates largely from 1881 and is totally unfit for the digital age.

She said legislators need to fix it, otherwise aspiring buyers will continue to see sales fall through and they will continue to incur unnecessary expenditure, among other issues.

139 submissions, representing about 2,000 agents, including among others DNG, Hooke and MacDonald, Knight Frank, and BidX1, were handed in to Leinster House urging the Government and all public representatives to ensure the Bill is passed without further delay.

The agents expressed frustration saying numerous proposals and minor reforms over the past decade have not been effective in easing delays, including the voluntary Pre-Contract Investigation of Title (PCIT) system. The mandatory proposals in the Bill would ensure the conveyancing system becomes efficient, secure and cost effective for consumers.

In brought into law, the bill would offer early confirmation of property saleability and remove from the market those that can’t be sold, and cut conveyancing times, currently averaging four months, by up to 50 per cent.

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