Buying or selling a home in Ireland: what’s changed and what to expect

The short version

Buying or selling a home in Ireland still runs on a process that is largely paper-based, and that is finally starting to change. The Law Society’s eConveyancing platform is due to launch in 2027, and Budget 2027 raised the Help to Buy limit to €35,000 from 7 October 2026.

This guide sets out what changed this year, how a conveyance actually runs from sale agreed to keys, what it costs, what first-time buyers can claim, and why transactions stall. It’s written for buyers and sellers, not for solicitors.

What’s changed

Help to Buy rose to €35,000

Budget 2027 increased the maximum Help to Buy relief for first-time buyers from €30,000 to €35,000, with effect from 7 October 2026. It remains the lesser of €35,000, 10% of the purchase price, or the income tax and DIRT you paid over the previous four years (Forvis Mazars).

A proposal to scrap stamp duty for first-time buyers of second-hand homes was discussed and dropped. Stamp duty rates are unchanged.

An eight-week target, and the group behind it

An expert group convened by the Taoiseach set a national target of eight weeks to complete a conveyance, from acceptance of an offer to closing. An implementation group has been working through its 33 recommendations since September 2024, and over half were reported as implemented or on track by June 2025.

The target is an expectation, not a legal rule, and most transactions still take longer. It’s still useful: it gives buyers and sellers a benchmark to ask about.

Faster release of title deeds

One of the biggest causes of delay is waiting on a lender to release title deeds when there’s an existing mortgage. A measure requiring faster release was due to take effect in March 2026. Ask your solicitor whether it’s applying in practice.

eConveyancing, due 2027

The Law Society has built an eConveyancing platform covering client onboarding and the pre-contract stage. Clients can verify identity, complete anti-money-laundering steps, apply qualified electronic signatures and upload documents through it. Solicitors were asked at this year’s AGM to approve the investment to launch it in 2027.

Still in the works

Two reforms that would make a real difference haven’t landed yet. Statements of truth would replace paper statutory declarations sworn before a commissioner for oaths. And a proposed new category of “established non-conforming development” would stop solicitors having to chase planning compliance back to 1964, when many councils no longer hold usable pre-2000 records.

From sale agreed to keys

Step 6 is the point of no return. Before you sign, be satisfied with the survey, the title and your loan offer.

What it costs

Stamp duty

The buyer pays stamp duty, and the solicitor files the return and pays Revenue. It works in bands, so you only pay the higher rate on the portion above each threshold (Revenue):

Portion of the price	Rate
Up to €1 million	1%
€1 million to €1.5 million	2%
Above €1.5 million	6%

There’s no first-time buyer exemption. On a €400,000 home, stamp duty is €4,000. On a €1.2 million home, it’s €14,000. A higher 15% rate applies to bulk purchases of ten or more houses in a year.

Everything else

Cost	Typical amount
Solicitor’s fee	A flat fee or a percentage of the price, plus VAT at 23%. Ask for a written quote
Land Registry fee on the transfer	€400 to €800, depending on the price (Tailte Éireann)
Land Registry fee on a mortgage	€175 (no fee where lodged electronically in the approved way)
Certified copy folio	€40
Search fees	Roughly €150
Structural survey	Varies; arranged and paid for by the buyer
Lender’s valuation	Roughly €150 to €250

Figures are indicative. Get a written quote covering both the professional fee and outlays before you instruct anyone, and ask what’s excluded.

Sellers pay their own solicitor’s fee and the estate agent’s commission, and should budget for a Building Energy Rating certificate if they don’t have a current one.

Supports for first-time buyers

Scheme	What it gives	Main conditions
Help to Buy	Up to €35,000, as a refund of income tax and DIRT paid over the previous four years	New builds and self-builds only; the lesser of €35,000, 10% of the price, or the tax you actually paid. Applied for through Revenue
First Home Scheme	Up to 30% of the price, or 20% if you’re also using Help to Buy, as a shared equity stake	New builds and self-builds; local authority price ceilings apply, reviewed twice a year. The State takes a percentage share you repay later
Local Authority Home Loan	A State-backed mortgage of up to 90% of value	For buyers who can’t get enough from a commercial lender; income limits and regional price caps apply. New or second-hand homes, or a self-build
Local Authority Affordable Purchase	A reduced price, with the council taking an equity stake	Specific developments only, through your local authority
Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant	Up to €50,000, or €70,000 for a derelict property	The property must be vacant for two years or more and built before 2008; applied for through the local authority

Two points worth knowing. The First Home Scheme stake is an equity share, not a loan at a fixed sum: if your home’s value rises, the amount you repay rises with it, though the percentage stays the same. And Help to Buy and the First Home Scheme can be combined, which reduces the maximum First Home stake to 20%.

If you’re buying a second-hand home, Help to Buy and the First Home Scheme don’t apply. The Local Authority Home Loan and the vacant property grant may.

Why transactions stall

A conveyance involves up to 15 separate parties: lenders, estate agents, solicitors on both sides, local authorities, Tailte Éireann, Revenue, Uisce Éireann, surveyors and valuers. A delay by any one of them holds up everyone else. The Law Society has described the system as overdue for reform, and in one of its own surveys, 69% of solicitors said they always or regularly experienced delays completing property registrations.

The usual causes:

• Title deeds. Where the seller has a mortgage, the lender holds the deeds and can take weeks to release them.
• Planning paperwork. Any extension, attic conversion or garage built over the years needs a certificate of compliance. Missing paperwork for work done decades ago is one of the most common hold-ups.
• Roads and services. Confirming that roads and services are in charge of the local authority can take time, and the request format varies between the 31 local authorities.
• Unregistered title. Around 300,000 titles in Ireland remain unregistered, and these take longer.
• Probate. If the seller is an estate, the sale can’t close until the grant issues.
• Anti-money-laundering checks. Incomplete ID or unexplained source of funds stops the file.
• Chains. If the seller is buying too, both transactions move at the speed of the slowest.

If you’re selling, start early

Most of this can be dealt with before a buyer is found. Instruct your solicitor when you put the house on the market, not when you go sale agreed. Ask them to take up your title deeds from the lender straight away, and gather your planning permissions, certificates of compliance, BER certificate, and any paperwork for extensions or conversions. A seller who does this ahead of time can take weeks out of the process.

Common myths

• “Sale agreed means it’s mine.” Nothing is binding until contracts are signed and exchanged. Either side can walk away before that, and the booking deposit is refundable.
• “The bank’s valuation is a survey.” It isn’t. A valuation tells the lender what the property is worth. A structural survey tells you what’s wrong with it, and it’s yours to arrange.
• “First-time buyers don’t pay stamp duty.” They do, at the same rates as everyone else.
• “Help to Buy works on any house.” It’s for new builds and self-builds only.
• “The solicitor’s quote is the full cost.” Ask whether it includes VAT and outlays. Stamp duty, Land Registry fees and searches are extra.

Checklists

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Every transaction is different. Oak Legal, Greystones.