A Bill which is expected to speed up property sales has passed through the second stage in the Dáil, as a poll this week found that seven in ten consumers have experienced problems with the conveyancing process.
The Seller’s Legal Pack for Property Buyers’ Bill 2021, put forward by Independent TD Marc MacSharry, will require anyone selling a property to prepare a legal pack in advance of going to market, including contracts for sale, planning documents and architect’s certificate of compliance with planning and building regulations.
Deputy MacSharry said the bill would modernise the conveyancing system, where legal title of a property is transferred from seller to buyer.
An Ireland Thinks poll this week found that 73 per cent of consumers for whom conveyancing is applicable, have experienced problems with the process.
“The passing of the Seller’s Legal Pack Bill is of benefit to consumers across Ireland; it will shorten what is currently a lengthy conveyancing process, putting people in their homes in a reasonable time frame,” said Deputy MacSharry.
“Front-loading the property sales process with the adoption of the Seller’s Legal Pack is critical to making property purchases more efficient and transparent for all parties,” he added.
The Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (Ipav) has said that the bill is expected to cut delays in conveyancing by at least half, as the process currently takes four months on average.
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A recent survey of Ipav members found that 78 per cent had seen the purchasers’ loan offer expire or be withdrawn because of conveyancing delays, while 84 per cent said that when their clients experienced conveyancing delays, the property sale fell through.
Pat Davitt, chief executive of Ipav, said that the issue of mortgage approvals lapsing due to conveyancing delays is “a