The Gazette 1977

GAZETTE

JULY

Land Registry Practice

Lecture delivered at the Summer Meeting of the Law Society in Wexford —May 1977.

by Nevin Griffith, Registrar,

Land Registry

The 1891 Registration of Title Act laid the foundation of

the system of Registration of Title in Ireland. This has

now been superseded by the Registration of Title Act

1964.

My predecessor, Mr. Desmond McAllister, published

his comprehensive book on Registration of Title in

Ireland four years ago. In Mr. Wylie's recent book on

Irish Land Law there is a concise chapter on Registration

of Title.

In this talk I thought I might go through the Rules

made under the provisions of the Act and comment on

some of the more important of them.

The current Rules are the Land Registration Rules

1972. There is a recent amendment in respect of Rules 18

and 35 and Form 3. This came into operation on the 1st

April. Where for convenience I refer only to "the

Act" or "the Rules" I mean the 1964 Act or the 1972

Rules.

The 1964 Act came into operation on 1st January

1967 so that we have just over ten years experience of its

working. The purpose of the Act was to amend and

consolidate the law relating to the registration of the title

to land, and to provide for the gradual extension of

compulsory registration to all land in the State. Carlow,

Laois and Meath became subject to the compulsory

registration provisions from 1st January 1970.

Conditions are not suitable for an extension of the

compulsory areas at present.

The great increase in the number of Land Registry

transactions over this period has unfortunately led to

arrears and delays in some sectors. Most of thefigures for

the various categories of work in the Land Registry have

doubled, some have trebled or quadrupled, or multiplied

even further.

For example, the number of public inspections of folios

and Instruments in the Public Office last year was 22,900

which compares with 7,400 ten years ago. In fact last

years figure of nearly 23,000 was 8,500 higher than in

the previous twelve months. This gives some idea of the

pressure on the counter staff, who deal with these

inquiries.

There were nearly five times as many Mapping

Searches last year as in 1967.

Applications for Land Registry copy maps numbered

9,000 in 1967; there were 24,000 last year.

9,000 new folios were opened in 1967. In 1976 the

number was 37,000.

ERRORS IN LAND REGISTRY

Rule 3 sets out the framework of a Folio. Rule 7 gives

the power to the Registrar to make formal alterations in

the Register or cancel any burdens or entry which no

longer affects the property. Rule 8 deals with clerical and

mapping errors which originated in the Registry. These

may be corrected by the Registrar after giving any

necessary notices and obtaining any necessary consents.

No correction could be made by the Registrar which

would disturb registered legal interests. In case of any

other error originating in the Registry a Court Order

would be required. Section 32 of the Act states that the

Court, if it is of the opinion that an error may be rectified

without injustice to any person, may order it to be

rectified under such terms as to costs or otherwise as it

thinks just. It would appear that an error on the Register

which is caused by a mistake in a document submitted

would normally require a Deed of Rectification by the

necessary parties.

The Indexes maintained in the Central Office are an

Index of the names of the registered owners of Freehold

land, of Leasehold Interests or of a right under Section

8(b) of the Act. There is also an Index of lands which

contains the identification reference to the Registry Map

to every parcel of land on which the ownership is

registered or of a Leasehold Interest or an Incorporeal

Hereditament. The Local Office maintains only an Index

of Names of the registered owners of Freehold and

Leasehold Interests.

FIRST REGISTRATION

Part II of the Rules deals with applications for First

Registration for conversion of Possessory Titles and other

Registrations involving examinations of title. This is the

work mainly dealt with by the Examiners of Title.

Rule 15 sets out the documents which should

accompany an application forFirstRegistrationof freehold

property. Note that one of the current documents should

be a plan of the property drawn on the current largest

scale map published by the Ordnance Survey, unless there

is a sufficiently identifiable plan or map on some

muniment of title.

One of the most common mistakes in these

applications is to neglect to lodge the Statement of Title. If

an opinion of Counsel is lodged the Statement of Title is

not required. An Affidavit of Discovery should also

be furnished.

In 1891 it was thought that there would be many

voluntary applications forFirstRegistrationbecause of the

advantage this would give in future dealings with the

property. In practice, as the trouble and expense of

registering the propertywould fall on the first applicant, —

for the benefit of his successors — there were few such

applications. Those who did apply seemed to do so

because their title was not acceptable as a purchaser and it

was hoped that the Registry would in effect guarantee it.

In recent years however the number of applications for

first voluntary registration has greatly increased. In 1976

it was seven times greater than in 1967.

Rule 16 deals with the application for first registration

of a Leasehold Interest or of an Incorporeal Hereditament

not held in gross.

Under Rule 19 it is provided that the title shown by the

applicant may commence with a disposition of the

property made not less than 30 years prior to the

application that would be a good root of title on a sale