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.

• Flood zones in Ireland explained: what the OPW maps say and what insurers do with them

  How to read the OPW flood maps, what 1 in 100 year means, why a past flood matters more than a zone line, and how to check one house before you bid.

  6 min read

• Radon when buying a house in Ireland: the map, the test and what it costs to fix

  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 and your mortgage: how to spot it, what lenders do, what it costs

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

  5 min read

• BER for buyers: reading the certificate, the advisory report and the 2026 scale

  What the letter means, why the advisory report is the useful part, what changed with the 2026 scale, and how a BER moves the mortgage rate and the price.

  6 min read

• Mica and pyrite before buying: which counties, which years, what to ask

  Defective concrete blocks (mica) and pyrite heave: the counties and build years at risk, what the schemes cover, and what to ask the seller and the surveyor.

  5 min read

• Planning search before buying a house: the three 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

• The Property Price Register explained: what it shows, what it hides, how to use it

  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

• Questions to ask when viewing a house in Ireland: the twenty that get real answers

  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, what they do not, and what to do before you pay for one

  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 and how to check the band

  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.