Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 July 2014
143. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her views on recent reports regarding inaccuracies in the property price register (details supplied); the action she is taking to ensure details submitted are correct; her plans to improve and increase the number of details submitted such as area of the property, number of rooms or other relevant details to purchasers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30431/14]
View answerThe Residential Property Price Register is produced by the Property Services Regulatory Authority in accordance with the provisions of Section 86 of the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011. Section 86 explicitly provides that the Register shall contain the address of the property, the price at which the property was sold and the date of sale of the property. The Register contains information on residential properties purchased in Ireland since 1 January 2010, as declared to the Revenue Commissioners for stamp duty purposes. It contains the price paid for individual properties and contains details of all residential sales - both cash sales and sales with mortgage.
I note the Deputy's view that other information should be included in the Register such as the area of the property, the number of rooms or other details. In this context, it is important to note that the Register is not intended to serve as a "Property Price Index". The Register is simply designed to provide on an ongoing basis, accurate prices of residential properties purchased at a particular date. Indeed, as I have already indicated, the information contained in the Register is derived from information declared to the Revenue Commissioners for stamp duty purposes. The additional categories of information sought for inclusion on the Register are not included in the information which is submitted to the Revenue for stamp duty purposes.
I am advised by the Authority that it does not have any plans to include further categories of information in the Register. Doing so would require the devotion of a disproportionate level of resources by the Authority at a time when it is focused on ensuring full implementation of the provisions of the 2011 Act.
