House sale delays over missing deeds

ONE in five of all residential and commercial transactions are delayed for months as a result of problems with the property’s title according to First American, the title insurance subsidiary of the IFG Group.

This typically results in significant delays, bridging costs or even the sale falling through.

With approximately 5,000 second-hand house sales each year, First American estimate that this is impacting on €260 million worth of sales.

First American identified two of the most common title problems in Ireland as: lost deeds - whether it is one deed in the chain or all the deeds relating to the property, lost deeds often cause delays in transactions and ‘possessory title’, where the owner has sole use and occupation of the property but is not the registered owner.