The Gazette 1981

GAZETTE

JULY-AUGUST 1981

principle of 'caveat emptor', if only because it is inconsis-

tent with the recent movement in other fields towards con-

sumer protection. I question whether it would shake the

foundations of our conveyancing system if a vendor were

required to have at least a basic structural survey made of

his property before he puts it on the market, so that a

certificate of a qualified surveyor would be available for

inspection by any prospective purchaser. Legislation may

have a role to play here in laying down the precise scope

of such a survey and the nature of the certificate, so as to

ensure that it would be accepted by lending institutions as

sufficient for their purposes. The cost could, of course, be

added by the vendor to the purchase price and, if the

certificate were acceptable to lending institutions, pur-

chasers should not object to this extra price since it would

save them having to pay later for their mortgagee's sur-

vey, and, of course, an additional one of their own.

Indeed, in many cases they would save money in the long

run, while at the same time being able to avoid some of

the uncertainties and delays necessarily involved under

the present system.

The second reason for delays relates to the numerous

charges and interests which may affect land nowadays,

but which will not be disclosed by the title documents and

therefore cannot be left to the traditional investigation of

title. It is this which has given rise to that modern

conveyancing phenomenon, enquiries and searches to be

made of the vendor and public bodies or authorities.

Increasingly, these are being made at the pre-contractual

stage, even in the Republic, where, for example, planning

enquiries are often made at this stage. But again one is

prompted to ask why these matters should not be treated

in the same way as physical defects. Why should not the

vendor be expected to make many of these enquiries and

searches in preparation for putting his property on the

market and to have appropriate certificates showing the

r e s u l ts a v a i l a b le f or i n s p e c t i on by p r o s p e c t i ve

purchasers? In Northern Ireland, such a system would

seem to be especially applicable to things like the

Department of the Environment 'property certificate' and

Statutory Charges Register search certificate. Again the

cost can be added to the purchase price, but purchasers

expect to pay for these items anyway. I recognise that

there may be more of a problem here in that there is a

danger that the certificates may b e c ome out-of-date. This

is clearly a matter for discussion and, as I shall mention

later, one crucial aspect of this is the role of public

authorities and the sort of service they provide for en-

quirers and searchers. However, for the moment I will say

that I am convinced that a system could be worked out

whereby most prospective purchasers could again be pro-

vided with sufficient information to persuade them and

their legal advisers not to delay entering into a binding

contract for the purchase of the property in question.

The third reason for delay relates to the question of

finance. Most purchasers n owa d a ys have to borrow a

substantial portion of the purchase price, but all too often the

final arrangement of this is left until after the preliminary

negotiations with the vendor are completed. There is often

a very practical reason for this, because lending

institutions may be reluctant to entertain an application

for a loan until the purchase of a specific property is

settled, and the details of this are known. They may also

be reluctant to give any 'letters of intent' which might be

construed as firm promises to lend a specified amount in a

given, albeit hypothetical, situation. But unless the pur-

chaser knows where he stands financially, he cannot be

expected to enter into any commitment with the vendor,

and his conveyancer must guard against this so often

under the present system. What is clearly needed is for

some new system to be worked out by conveyancers and

lending institutions whereby purchasers can be given

some sort of basic guarantee as to a loan being

forthcoming, which will enable them to enter into a

commitment for the purchase at a much earlier stage. I

refuse to believe that the practical difficulties, and no

doubt there are some, are such as to be incapable of

resolution if those primarily involved in arranging pur-

chasers' finance got together to discuss the matter in a

positive spirit. For the lending institutions there is surely

the attraction of enhancing the public relations which

seem to be their constant concern nowadays. For

conveyancers there is the prospect of removing one of the

greatest practical headaches they have at the moment.D

MAYO SOLICITORS BAR

ASSOCIATION

At its recent Annual General Meeting the Association

appointed the following Officers and Committee for

1 9 8 1 / 8 2.

President: Liam McHale; Vice-President: Michael

Browne; Secretary: Eanya Egan; Treasurer: Ward

McEUin; Ex-Officio Members: Paddy Shanley, Paddy

McEllin, Pat O'Connor and Adrian Bourke; Ordinary

Committee Members: Michael J. Egan, Kevin Loftus,

William

O'Keeffe,

Anthony

O'Malley,

Marian

Chambers, James Cahill, Michael Keane and John

O' Dwy e r.

GALWAY SOLICITORS BAR

ASSOCIATION

The following are the Officers for 1981 — President:

Kieran Murphy; Vice-President: Francis O'Callanan;

Honorary Secretary, Ciaran Keys; Honorary Treasurer:

Bryan C. Brophy.

The remaining Committee Members are — Fionnuala

Murphy, Colman Sherry, Geoffrey Browne, Vincent

Shields, Paul Horan and Peter Crowley.

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