Copying Scotland’s system for house sales would reduce costs here, says property expert
An international expert has said Ireland should adopt Scotland’s model for completing house sales as it would challenge affordability and speed up transactions.
The proposal would legislate sellers to provide surveys, valuations and questionnaires on a property’s condition before any sale. In Scotland, these can be made available online to minimise time spent looking at properties a buyer may find unsuitable.
Experts claim this frontloading of relevant property details will speed up house sales, reduce legal costs and help buyers make more informed decisions if replicated here.
Professor Stewart Brymer, one of the main architects of the Scottish system, said a similar model here could only enhance the Irish system.
Auctioneers and solicitors have complained that the Irish system is too cumbersome, delays sales, makes homes more expensive and negatively affects the housing crisis.
Changes made in Scotland about 15 years ago make it mandatory for a “home report” to be made available before a sale. This makes key documents available to buyers much earlier than is the case in Ireland.
“A potential purchaser should always be in an informed position to better understand whether or not to put in an offer for a property,” Prof Brymer said. “In Scotland, we have had the home report since 2008 and it works well. The home report contains a property questionnaire completed and signed by the seller. This, coupled with the single survey containing a valuation of the property, is of considerable benefit to prospective purchasers. The next step will be to move to a fully digital system.”
Prof Brymer designed the questionnaire used in this survey and said it aims to capture key information about a property that could otherwise be missed by potential buyers.
“Better up-front information helps everyone be more confident and, ultimately, helps reduce transaction times, but it needs to be underpinned by legislation,” he added.
Last year, the then taoiseach Leo Varadkar acknowledged there were benefits to the Scottish system that should be given consideration.
The Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (IPAV) has proposed new legislation that aims to oblige sellers to have planning documents and certificates of regulation compliance available before a sale is completed.
The Sellers Legal Pack for Property Buyers’ Bill has been introduced in the Dáil by Independent TD Marc MacSharry, but progress has been slow despite the Government not opposing the bill and welcoming its objectives.
The Government established an expert group to examine the house-sale process here with a view to improving it.
IPAV chief executive Pat Davitt said the Sellers Pack Bill would help to ensure only homes that are sellable come to the market. He said a survey of IPAV members found almost a third (32pc) of all properties on the market are hampered by issues that lead to delayed sales. On average it takes 15.4 weeks to legally transfer a property, he added.
The survey found 78pc of agents had seen purchaser loan offers expire or withdrawn because of conveyancing delays.
“It [the proposed legislation] would prevent prospective buyers making offers and incurring the expense of engaging the services of engineers and surveyors for properties that end up being withdrawn from sale because of issues around title, rights of way and other such issues that often emerge late in the process,” Mr Davitt said.
The issue will be discussed as part of an international conference on Wednesday, examining systems across Ireland and the UK.
It is the first meeting of a new Conveyancing Review Coalition consisting of IPAV and similar UK-based organisations.
In a submission to the Government last year, the Law Society said it was aware of cases where sales were delayed by up to five years because of conveyancing problems.
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