Guides

What the record can tell you before you bid.

Each guide covers one public source: what it shows, what it hides, and the question it lets you put to the seller. Five minutes each.

• BER Exempt: What It Means on a Listing and What to Ask

  BER exempt: the home needs no BER when sold or let. Which buildings qualify (protected structures, under 50 m²), what it does not mean, what to ask.

  5 min read

• Solicitor Fees When Buying a House in Ireland (2026)

  Conveyancing fees in Ireland: no fixed rate, flat or percentage. Outlays on top: Land Registry €400 to €800, mortgage charge €175, stamp duty 1%, searches.

  6 min read

• Land Registry Fees Ireland: Transfer, Mortgage, Folio, Map

  Land Registry fees (Tailte Éireann): €400 to €800 to register a purchase by price band, €175 for a mortgage, €5 folio copy, €40 certified copy with map.

  5 min read

• How to Search Planning Applications in Ireland: 3 Registers

  The national planning map, ePlanning.ie and each council's own register: which to use for what, every council's search page, how to read a file.

  7 min read

• Derelict Sites Register Ireland: Levy, Search, Buying One

  The Derelict Sites Register, the 7% yearly levy, how to check a property or its street, the Derelict Property Tax from 2027, the €70,000 grant.

  6 min read

• BER Certificate Ireland: Cost, Validity, How to Get One

  BER certificate (BER cert) in Ireland: A0 to G scale, when selling or renting needs one, 10 year validity, €150 to €300 from an assessor, SEAI register.

  6 min read

• New planning exemptions 2026: what a buyer should check

  Since 27 July 2026 rear extensions up to 45 m², side or rear dormers and 30 m² garden rooms are exempted development in Ireland. What a buyer should check.

  6 min read

• Buying a house with a septic tank in Ireland: what to check

  Septic tank registration costs €50, councils inspect over 1,000 a year and 59% failed in 2025. The grant pays 85% of repairs, up to €12,000. For buyers.

  6 min read

• Land Registry Ireland: Landdirect Folio Search for €5

  Land Registry Ireland is Tailte Éireann. Search the map on landdirect.ie free, download a folio for €5 or a certified copy with map for €40. For buyers.

  6 min read

• Sale agreed in Ireland: what happens next and what to check

  What sale agreed means, why nothing binds until contracts are signed, the order of survey, mortgage approval and searches, and what to check first.

  6 min read

• BER Rating Check: By Eircode or BER Number (SEAI Register)

  Check the BER of any house in Ireland: search the SEAI National BER Register by BER number or MPRN, or check the BER certificate and rating by Eircode.

  5 min read

• Is My House in a Flood Zone? OPW Maps and Insurers Explained

  How to check if an Irish address is in a flood zone: the OPW maps, what 1 in 100 year means, why a past flood matters more than a zone line, and insurers.

  6 min read

• Radon when buying a house in Ireland: map, test, cost

  What a High Radon Area means, why you cannot test before you own the house, the 1998 barrier rule, and the questions to put to a seller.

  5 min read

• Japanese knotweed in Ireland: spotting it, lenders, cost

  Why a knotweed stand near a house in Ireland is a valuation and lending question, how to recognise it at a viewing, and what treatment really costs.

  5 min read

• BER for buyers: certificate, advisory report, 2026 scale

  The 2026 BER scale (A0 to G, no sub-grades), why the advisory report is the useful part, and how a BER moves the green mortgage rate and the price.

  6 min read

• Mica and pyrite before buying: counties, years, questions

  Defective concrete blocks (mica) and pyrite heave: the nine scheme areas since July 2026, the build years at risk, what the schemes cover, and what to ask.

  5 min read

• Planning search before buying a house: 3 files that matter

  How to use the national planning register, what to look for on the house itself, within 300 m and in the zoning map, and what a retention permission means.

  5 min read

• Property Price Register explained: what it shows and hides

  How to read the PPR, why the price can be wrong by 13.5%, what 'not full market price' means, and how to turn it into a bid.

  5 min read

• 20 questions to ask when viewing a house in Ireland

  The questions to put to the agent and the seller at a viewing, which ones to ask in writing, and what the public record already tells you before you go.

  6 min read

• What a surveyor checks in Ireland, and what they do not

  What a pre-purchase building survey covers, what it leaves out (flood, radon, title, planning, knotweed records), the cost, and how to brief the surveyor.

  5 min read

• LPT after the 2026 revaluation: what a buyer inherits

  How Local Property Tax bands work from 2026, why the seller's declared band may be lower than the price you pay, and what the local adjustment factor does.

  4 min read

By area: flood risk, radon, knotweed, BER ratings and planning for every county and 200 towns.