The Gazette 1977

GAZE1TE

DECEMBER1977

Correspondence

Land Commission,

Upper Merrion Street,

Dublin 2.

7 December, 1977

Mr. James J. Ivers,

Director General,

The Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.

GENERAL CONSENT FOR SMALL

SUBDIVISIONS

Dear Mr. Ivers,

I refer to your letter of 15th May 1975 wherein you

suggested the issue of a general consent for small

subdivisions.

As arranged in our brief phone conversation of 5th

instant I enclose some copies of the new general Consent

dated 8th December 1977 for the purposes of your office.

Copies are also being sent, of coursee, to the Land

Registry for the purposes of that office.

Yours sincerely,

P. Sammon

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

LAND COMMISSION

Subdivision control—Section 12, Land Act, 1965

General consent to the subdivision of registered agricultural holdings

where the severed plots do not exceed one acre in size

1. In conjunction with the Land Registry, a revised procedure based

on a general consent to certain subdivision transactions involving

registered Agricultural holdings has been settled by the Land

Commission. The operation of this new procedure—hereinafter

referred to as the general consent procedure—is described in

paragraphs 2 to 10 below.

2. With the exception of cases of the types specified in paragraph 6

the Land Commission have decided to give their general consent to the

subdivision of

registered

agricultural holdings

where the severed plots

do not exceed one acre in size.

Each transaction covered by this

general consent is subject to the following conditions viz.

(i)

the purchaser of the severed plot must be a qualified person

within the meaning of Section 45, Land Act, 1965, and

must be so certified in the relevant deed of transfer;

(ii)

the severed plot will, in all cases, be discharged from

payment of land purchase annuity and land reclamation

annuity. The balance of the holding will remain charged

with repayment of the entire annuity as payable out of the

holding immediately prior to subdivision.

In any case where this general consent procedure is inapplicable,

application for particular consent should be made to the Land

Commission as heretofore.

3. The general consent procedure does not imply that planning

permission for development will be forthcoming in any case. If

development is contemplated, application for planning permission

should be made to the appropriate Planning Authority.

4. Henceforth, following disposal of portion of a holding pursuant to

this general consent procedure, the transfer documents should be

lodged in the Land Registry for registration. It is NOT necessary to

send a copy of this general consent to the Land Registry in any

particular transaction.

182

5. It is NOT necessary to procure a copy map from the Land

Registry. A plan of the part transferred edged in red and drawn on the

current largest scale map for the area published by the Ordnance

Survey will suffice. The map should be prepared—so as to comply

with the Land Registry requirements as to maps lodged for

registration—by a suitably qualified person, viz. a Land Surveyor or

Engineer or Architect, who should sign and date the map when

completed. The plot being transferred should be marked

"B"

on the

map.

6. The general consent procedure is NOT applicable to a holding

proposed to be subdivided to which any of the following circumstances

is referable viz.

(i)

where the owner or his Solicitor has received any

communication from the Land Commission about

proceedings for acquisition under the Land Acts of the

whole or part of the holding;

(ii)

where the severance of a plot would lead to the situation

where the balance of the holding—excluding any land held

in undivided commonage shares—would be less than five

acres in extent; this limitation will not apply to holdings

which are not subject to land purchase

annuity or land

reclamation annuity;

(iii) where subdivisions in excess of five out of the one holding

are attempted/effected under this general consent

procedure; this limitation will not apply to holdings which

are not subject to land purchase annuity or land

reclamation annuity. Multiple subdivisions under this

general consent are conditional on the severed plots being

transferred to different parties;

(iv) where the severed plot contains any existing buildings other

than

(a) old buildings which are uninhabited and unused,

(b) a building or buildings newly erected or in course of

erection pursuant to the current subdivision transaction;

(v)

where the holding to be subdivided comprises a Land

Commission Trust Scheme (pasturage and/or tillage,

sportsfield, playground, etc.), set up pursuant to Sections 4

and 20, Irish Land Act, 1903, as extended by Section 30,

Land Act, 1950;

(vi) where the holding to be subdivided is a registered holding

which has been involved in exchange or partial exchange

proceedings with the Land Commission and where the

exchanged lands are awaiting revesting.

The transfer document MUST contain a certificate covering items (i)

to (vi) inclusive (see Note below); by arrangement with the Land

Commission, the Land Registry will NOT register any transfers

lodged pursuant to the general consent procedure which do not contain

this certificate. Instead, the documents will be returned unregistered.

Responsibility for the accuracy of the certificate herein rests with the

parties to the subdivision. In all this, it will be appreciated that if any

purported subdivision—

(a)

is not properly authorised by this general consent,

(b)

is not authorised by a

particular

consent,

then the transaction is void (Section 12(3), Land Act, 1965).

7. Where subdivision of holdings falling into categories (v) or (vi) of

Paragraph 6 is contemplated, it is essential that the owner or his

Solicitor should, as a first step, communicate with the Land

Commission in order to establish the position and to be advised of the

special procedures appropriate to these categories of holdings.

8. In circumstances where a deed of transfer is lodged in the Land

Registry in the belief that the case is covered by this general consent

procedure and is found to be not so covered, registration will be

refused and the deed will be returned to the Solicitor.

9. Where deeds are returned unregistered by the Land Registry

(paragraphs 6 and 8), it will be open to the Solicitor, at that stage, to

apply to the Land Commission for particular consent to subdivision in

the normal way. If consent is forthcoming, it will operate to validate

the dealing with retrospective effect as to the required subdivision

consent—as provided for in Section 12 (3), Land Act, 1965.

10. This general consent procedure will remain operative until it is

revoked by the Land Commission.

8 December, 1977.

NOTE: The certificate stipulated in paragraph 6 above should be in

the following form:

"It is hereby certified that Folio No.

County

herein is not affected by any of the

circumstances listed in paragraph 6 of the general consent dated 8

December, 1977 (S.R. 13/7/77)."