New group aims to cut costly bureaucratic delays to house sales

Conveyancing the sale and purchase of a property is usually carried by the legal profession to ensure everything is legally watertight. The process can take up to 20 weeks to complete.

Homebuyers are facing costly and unnecessary delays going through conveyancing and probate, the Government has said, as a new body set up to reduce this process to eight weeks held its first meeting.

The Housing for All Conveyancing and Probate Implementation Group, made up of the banks, the Courts Service, surveyors, and the consumer watchdog, aims to prevent homes lying empty due to being caught up in lengthy and inefficient bureaucratic processes.

In July, an expert group published its report on the process in Ireland, and found that the time taken to complete both conveyancing and probate “can and should be reduced significantly”.

“Many aspects of conveyancing process in Ireland are inefficient and improvements are required in the interests of all participants,” the report said. “There are points of uncertainty, unpredictability, inefficiency and ineffectiveness."

It said conveyancing can take up to 20 weeks here, "depending on who is asked". 

Recommendations

It recommended that the Government make the necessary reforms in conveyancing, including changes to legislation and that e-conveyancing be fully implemented in Ireland by 2027.

On probate, the expert group said this process can take about 18 weeks, but this varies widely, and is "significantly higher" than in other countries.

It also recommended additional expert staff be assigned to the probate office and an “immediate and concerted” suite of measures to reduce errors and omissions in probate applications, including those done by solicitors.

Taoiseach Simon Harris welcomed the first meeting of the group, and said that many will be aware firsthand that the conveyancing and probate process have “historically been both long and complex”.

“Having all of these key players working together presents a unique opportunity to make significant improvements, and I look forward to seeing the progress in the coming months," he said.