From 1 January 2021, for a period of three years, an application to register a charge using the Property Registration Authority (PRA) eRegistration system is exempt from Land Registry fees. This fee incentivisation initiative is designed to encourage use of the eRegistration system by conveyancing practitioners. The previous fee of €175 is reduced to €0 when the charge is created through the system, which can be accessed at www.eregistration.ie.

The PRA announced the fees exemption pursuant to SI 544/2020 – Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006 (Fees) Order 2020.

Using the eRegistration system practitioners can:

• Correspond electronically with the PRA,
• Use information directly from the digital Land Register,
• Circulate documents in a secure workspace,
• Pay fees by variable direct debit,
• Lodge better-quality applications, leading to fewer application queries/rejections by the PRA, and
• Ensure faster completion of registration.

The measure applies to charges of an entire folio only (Form 51) and is not available for charges over part of a folio.

Deeds of transfer for entire folios can also be created in the system, and the Form 17 can be auto-populated. Both the transfer and charge must be printed and executed with wet signatures, and then lodged as normal before a pending dealing will appear on the folio.

eRegistration is separate to the landdirect.ie service and, hence, practitioners who are not already on the system will need to apply for access rights by completing the application form. There are two stages to using the system, and these are set out in the user guide available at www.eregistration.ie/Documents/user_guide_processing_applications_dec_13.pdf.

Use of the full functionality allows for the issuing of a dealing number before the paper application is lodged in the Land Registry; however, the application itself will not be processed until the Land Registry has received the transfer, charge, and Form 17, and any fees have been approved.