asked the Minister for Justice whether he is aware that, although no stamp duty is payable on a purchase deed in respect of a new house, in fact the majority of new house purchases are now registered in the Land Registry rather than the Registry of Deeds, that they attract Land Registry fees on the registration of the deed and mortgage and that the fee is in practice seldom less than £100; and whether he will amend the Land Registry fees in such cases to a nominal sum.
Ceisteanna — Questions Oral Answers - Land Registry Fees.
12.
Section 14 of the Registration of Title Act, 1964, provides that the fees payable in the Land Registry shall, so far as possible, be so fixed as to produce an annual amount sufficient to discharge the salaries, remuneration and other expenses payable under and incidental to the working of the Act. The fees are reviewed periodically and are increased when it is considered necessary to do so to ensure that the Land Registry is complying with its statutory obligation to pay its way.
The £100 referred to by the Deputy is the maximum fee which may be charged in respect of any one proceeding in the Land Registry. The vast bulk of the work and, accordingly, of the income of the Land Registry relates to transactions in respect of the registration of burdens or of transfers of property and there could be no question of the fees in such cases being reduced to a nominal amount. The level and method of apportioning the fees for such transactions will, however, be kept under review.