1. Overview

2020 has been a very challenging year for the Irish commercial property market. Most sectors have seen transactional activity negatively impacted directly as a result of both (i) the Irish Governments response to the Covid-19 pandemic and (ii) the threat of a no-deal Brexit.

The impact of both of these issue and particularly that of Covid-19 has been particularly seen in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors of the market which have all had significant difficulties since Q2 2020. Activity in the retail and hospitality market has been severely affected with vacancy continuing to increase due to government forced closures throughout the year, a decrease in footfall at retail stores and an increase in online shopping. The office occupier market has also been impacted negatively as many occupiers understandably delayed making location decisions during 2020.

However it should be noted that the multifamily sector and the industrial and logistics sector of the Irish market have both performed relatively well and demonstrated a notable resilience in the face of the current economic conditions.

While the Investment market has also been impacted by the challenging global conditions in 2020, Irish commercial property is still seen as an attractive market and investors have continued to seek out opportunities in the Irish real estate market throughout the year notwithstanding the obvious challenges faced by international investors in particular with their inability to travel to Ireland to inspect assets.

The resilience of the Irish commercial property market has been significantly tested this year with both the depth and duration of Covid-19 lockdown measures considerably more severe than originally anticipated at the start of the pandemic back in March 2020. The focus for 2021 will be on reigniting the market following what has been an unprecedented and challenging year. We are likely to see a continued increase in forward fund and forward commit transactions in the Irish market in 2021 with the focus also maintained on "green buildings", sustainability and reduced energy consumption throughout all sectors of the real estate market.

2. What is the main legislation relating to real estate ownership?

Irish law was historically based on old legislation which predates the establishment of the Irish State in 1922, such as the Conveyancing Acts, 1881–1911 and the Settled Land Acts, 1882–1890. The Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 (the "2009 Act") replaced much of the old law, including the pre-1922 statute law and modernised the law and conveyancing practice. There is modern legislation governing registration of title (the Registration of Title Act, 1964 which was modified by the Registration of Deeds and Title Act, 2006) to facilitate the increasing computerisation of the property registration system in this jurisdiction and succession law (the Succession Act, 1965).

There is extensive statutory protection afforded to family property in particular, which affects conveyancing practice (e.g. the Family Home Protection Act, 1976). This is partly due to the fact that Ireland has a written Constitution enshrining certain fundamental rights which override any other law, including legislation.

3. How is ownership of real estate proved?

The Property Registration Authority (the "PRA") is the State body responsible for the registration of property transactions in Ireland and the system of registration of title (ownership) to land in Ireland.

The main functions of the PRA are to manage and control the two registries for land ownership in Ireland namely the Land Registry and the Registry of Deeds and to promote and extend the registration of ownership of land.

The Registry of Deeds was established in 1707 to provide a system of voluntary registration for deeds affecting land (as opposed to title to land) and to give priority to registered deeds over unregistered but registrable deeds. There is no statutory requirement to register a document in the Registry of Deeds, but failure to do so may result in a loss of priority. The effect of registration is generally to govern priorities between documents dealing with the same piece of land. The primary function of the Registry of Deeds is to provide a system of recording the existence of deeds affecting unregistered property. When a deed is lodged in the Registry of Deeds it must be accompanied by the relevant application form (in a prescribed form) which is a summary of the essential information of the relevant deed. The registration of a deed in the Registry of Deeds alone is not proof of ownership. The underlying title must also be fully investigated to determine ownership.

The Land Registry was established in 1892. When ownership is registered in the Land Registry, the deeds are filed with the Land Registry and all relevant particulars concerning the property and its ownership are entered on folios which form the registers maintained in the Land Registry. In conjunction with folios, the Land Registry also maintains maps (referred to as filed plans). Both folios and maps are maintained in electronic form. Owners of registered real estate generally prove their title via the Land Registry folio, which is prima facie evidence of title. The legal owner of the registered property is recorded in part 2 (the ownership section) of the folio. A title registered in the Land Registry is guaranteed by the state. The Land Registry indemnifies any person who suffers loss through a mistake made by the Land Registry. A buyer, therefore, can accept the folio as evidence of title. However, the State does not guarantee the conclusiveness of boundaries or the area of the relevant property as identified on the Land Registry maps.

Any unregistered property (Registry of Deeds) purchased in the State after 1 June 2011 is subject to compulsory first registration in the Land Registry. Registration is also compulsory where land is bought under the Land Purchase Acts or where land is acquired after 1 January 1967 by a statutory authority.

To see the full article click here

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.