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Reform ‘dysfunctional’ conveyancing system call

Systemic reform of the current conveyancing system is essential, Law Society Director General Mark Garrett and Eleanor McKiernan (chair of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Committee) told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice yesterday (2 July).

The Director General told the hearing that the current process was dysfunctional and, at times, chaotic.

Antiquated

The Law Society had consistently, over many years, highlighted the antiquated, overly-complicated, and lengthy nature of the conveyancing system, the committee heard.

“It is crystal clear to solicitors that the current conveyancing system is long overdue systemic reform – to reduce delays, to reduce costs and to reduce stress on house buyers and sellers,” Mark Garrett told the Oireachtas committee.

The conveyancing system involved up to 15 interdependent parties, ranging from lenders, estates agents, solicitors, local authorities, Tailte Éireann, Revenue, Uisce Éireann, valuers, to surveyors, he explained.

A delay by any one of those parties had a significant knock-on impact on all parties, most notably for the people who wished to sell or purchase a house, he added.

That many of the parties, such as financial lenders or local authorities, operate to their own processes and protocols, can result in misalignment of objectives and deadlines.

Delays

The experience of legal practitioners is that delays can be weeks, months and – in the worst cases – sometimes up to five years (or 260 weeks).

The Law Society has, in recent submissions to the Government’s Housing for All Working Group, the Department of Justice, the Department of Finance, and the Department of Housing, outlined necessary key reforms.

Two examples are:

• Every local authority in the county has a different system for requesting and issuing confirmation of what roads, lanes and services are within their charge. There are different means of requesting confirmation, different fees, and different timelines,
• A solicitor, on the buyer’s behalf, must investigate the planning history over 60 years to determine if there is unauthorised development, even where no planning enforcement can be taken (usually seven years). This increases costs, time and risk for a buyer or seller and can be easily rectified by a change in the law.

Six steps

The Law Society has outlined six steps to reduce conveyancing delays.

1. Adherence to Certificate of Title system’s agreed terms and timelines by all financial institutions,
2. Adoption by all local authorities of digitised and standardised forms of request/reply and reasonable fees and turnaround times for ‘in-charge’ letters,
3. A roll-out of a central document management system at Property Registration Authority (PRA), now part of Tailte Éireann,
4. End historical and unnecessary review of unenforceable planning decisions through recognition of “established non-conforming developments”,
5. Modernisation and digitalation of Statutory Declarations and Statements of Truth,
6. Review of regulatory burden and delay that arises from associated public policy issues (especially the collection of taxes) on conveyancing process.

Objectives

Mark Garrett told the committee that the Law Society agreed with the broad objectives of the Seller’s Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021.

“There is an imperative that the processing time of property transactions is reduced and the many inefficiencies in the conveyancing system are addressed,” he said.

However, there were concerns that its operation would have unintended consequences, which would promote inefficiency at the individual transaction level and increase costs for consumers, the DG added.

The Law Society’s Conveyancing Committee expert review has highlighted some concerns of additional costs and delays in an already complex system.

Documentation

Significant time would be required to obtain all information needed, especially as some documentation is not currently compulsory for the completion of a property sale.

Supplying the pack to all potential buyers, rather than just the final sale-agreed buyer, will increase the number of parties – including solicitors – in the process, leading to more questions, documents, time and costs.

The Law Society had long advocated that the current conveyancing system was well overdue systemic reform, and unequivocally supported reviews of the conveyancing process, Mark Garrett concluded.

“The Law Society calls for a renewed impetus to the collaborative effort to implement e-Conveyancing, a digital process to speed up and secure property transactions,” he said.

“Meaningful reform in these areas will have an important and positive impact on the system to the benefit of sellers, buyers, and the overall housing market,” he said.