The Land Registry

Background

The current system of land registration dates from 1892.  Earlier systems of land registration had been enacted in Ireland.  After the famine, the Landed Estates Court (Ireland) Act 1858 provided for the sales of certain encumbered estate by way of conveyance by a judge of the High Court.  This vested title to the land, overreaching all previous interests, which attached to the purchase money.

The Record of Title (Ireland) Act 1865 was intended to register landed estates’ titles.  However, the legislation was never effective and was little used.  Landed estate courts purchasers were given the opportunity to record title under the legislation or register in the Registry of Deeds. There were less than one thousand registered titles under the 1865 Act.  Ultimately, provision was made for the transfer of recorded titles over to the land registration system.

The Land Registry comprises a central office in Dublin and a number of other local offices dealing with particular counties. Originally, Land Registry for all of Ireland was based in  Dublin. Upon creation of Northern Ireland, the registers in relation to the Northern Ireland counties was transferred to Belfast. A  number of counties are administered from the Land Registry offices in Waterford. There is a substantial office in Roscommon. There were formerly local offices in each county.

The Land Commission

Under the Land Purchase Acts, almost all agricultural land in the country was purchased from the landlords and vested in their tenant farmers. The land transfers made under the Land Purchase Acts, which made numerous tenant farmers freehold owners, made it desirable to have a simplified system of proving title.

The Land Commission investigated and effectively guaranteed title, which facilitated the extension of a guaranteed State registered title in the vested land. The title of landowners was typically involved complex settlements and trusts, by which land, (as the principal source of wealth) had been tied up and used for the benefit of extended families over generations.  The registration of title system became an efficient simple and effective way of recording and proving land ownership.

The work of the Land Commission which over 75 years (principally in the first thirty years of the twentieth century)  acquired and vested most agricultural land in the State, gave an enormous impetus to title registration. Title registration was as that time becoming a feature of legal systems internationally during that era.

Land purchased under the Land Purchase Act was subject to compulsory registration in the Land Registry.  Land Registry title was established in respect of the bulk of the land area of the State by the middle of the last century. The system of registration of title secured the interests of the State in the purchase monies annuities over the property.

Modern Developments

The titles to properties vested by the Land Commission and by housing authorities were subject to compulsory registration in the Land Registration.  Apart from these cases, title registration was largely voluntary until 1970.

Compulsory registration in the Land Registry on any sale of unregistered title land applied in three counties, Meath, Laois and Carlow as and from 1970.  In the first decade of the 21st-century compulsory registration was extended, quickly so that by 2011, it was extended to cover the entire State.

The original land registration title, the Local Registration of Title Ireland Act 1891 continued in force until 1967, when it was replaced by the Registration of Title Act 1964.  The counties of Northern Ireland were severed from the Land Registry upon the establishment of Northern Ireland and a separate Land Registry was established in Belfast.

Assists Conveyancing

Land registration greatly assists the process of conveyancing.  It obviates the need to investigate historical titles, on each conveyance.  However, Land Registry fees are expensive, relative to those in the United Kingdom and to the fees charged by the Registry of Deeds.  The highest fees apply to transfers, effectively subsidise more complex first registration transactions.

Land registration provides a State guaranteed title.  There is a provision for compensation of persons who suffer loss by reason of errors originating in the Land Registry.  This is radically different from the position with an unregistered title. However, the scope of the guarantee is limited to Land Registry errors and is not a guarantee for all purposes.

Registered title facilitates public searches of land ownership.  However, the persons registered as the owner may be decreased or may be nominees of trustees, so that the name of the current beneficial owner may not be registered.

Land Registry title identifies land by reference to Ordnance Survey maps.  In contrast, unregistered conveyancing often employed verbal descriptions and/or poorly drawn maps.  Title registration requires the use of Ordnance Survey maps on sales of parts and on conveyances which are subject to first registration.

The Property Registration Authority

The Land Registry operates under the Department of Justice. There was originally a central Land Registry in Dublin with local offices.  The central Land Registry has been decentralised in part and significant parts of the State and certain functions are dealt with by Land Registry Offices outside of Dublin. The principal registers are allocated between three Land Registry offices, in Dublin, Roscommon and Waterford.

In 2006, the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds were amalgamated into the Property Registration Authority of Ireland (PRAI).  The Registrar holds a statutory office under the legislation and is responsible for the maintenance and operation of the Land Registry system.

The Registrar and his staff determine and give effect to the vast majority of applications and any attendant legal issues arising from them in a non-contentious manner. The registrar may correct errors in the register with the consent of all parties.  In the case of errors which cannot be resolved and which cause loss, the State may be liable to pay compensation.

The Registrar may refer matters to court, where there is a question or doubt.  He may require applicants to establish particular matters in the courts where the facts are insufficiently clear. The registrar’s order may give the management of the proceedings to the applicant’s solicitor.

2006 Act Reorganisation

The Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006 established the Property Registration Authority. Its controls and manages the Land Registry and the Registry of Deeds and to promotes and extends the registration of ownership of land.

It provided for a clear statutory basis for the registration of deeds and titles electronically in the Registry of Deeds and the Land Registry respectively, and for a digital mapping system, with a view to preparing the way for an electronic conveyancing system (eConveyancing).

It repealed the older Registry of Deeds statutes — the earliest of which dated back to 1707 and replaced them with provisions more suited to modern conditions.

The Authority

The Authority is a body corporate with perpetual succession and with power to sue and be sued, and to acquire, hold and dispose of property. It is subject to the Act, independent in the exercise of its functions. It

• manages and controls the Registry of Deeds and the Land Registry;
• promote and extend the registration of ownership of land;
• deals with applications under Part III of the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No. 2) Act 1978;
• undertakes research projects relating to the registration of land.

The Authority has 11 members including a chairperson to be appointed by the Minister. Membership shall include representatives of the Law Society, Bar Council and the staff of the Authority.

With the approval of the Minister, the Authority may appoint such advisory committees, advisers or consultants as it considers necessary to assist it in the performance of its functions. Any advisory committee must include persons with specialist knowledge and experience related to the purposes of the committee concerned. It may engage contractors to provide such services as it considers necessary with the approval of the Minister and the consent of the Minister for Finance.

PRA Functioning

The Property Registration Authority  prepares and submits strategic plans to the MInister by the Authority. Following approval by the Minister, such plans shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

The Minister may issue general directives in writing to the Authority concerning policy on the registration of deeds or the registration of ownership of land or any other function of the Authority. However, the Minister may not exercise control or
power in relation to particular cases being dealt with by the Authority.

The Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may by order fix the level of fees to be charged. They shall not be fixed at a level which would produce an annual amount less that that required to pay for the salaries, remuneration and other expenses of the Authority. Fee income shall be paid into the Exchequer.

There is a Chief Executive of the Authority who was formerly the Registrar of Deeds and Titles.