Legal group urges planning amnesty

Urgent consideration should be given to the introduction of a planning amnesty for all unauthorised developments aged 10 years or older, the Law Reform Commission has said.

In a report on "modernising conveyancing law", to be published tonight, the commission says the case for a planning amnesty is "compelling", given the "increasing difficulties" faced by lawyers in getting information on non-conforming developments.

While local authorities cannot enforce proceedings against unauthorised developments after seven years, they may still refuse sewage and water connections, raising the prospect of legal difficulties in property transactions.

The suggestion of a rolling 10-year planning amnesty is just one of a range of proposals made by the commission in the Consultation Paper on the Reform and Modernisation of Irish Land Law and Conveyancing Law.

The report, which has been seen by The Irish Times, calls for legislation to help resolve boundary disputes between neighbours, and for the repeal of more than 100 pre-1922 statutes in an effort to simplify the conveyancing process.

"It is remarkable that much of our current law stems from the introduction of the Norman feudal system of land ownership," the report states.

The commission says concepts like "tenure" and "fee tail estate" - which ties land to the original owner's "heirs" - should be abolished, thereby confirming today's property owners with "absolute ownership" over their land.

The consultation paper, which will be used as a framework for drafting legislation in the area under an agreement with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, also calls for changes to legislation on property registration to make it easier for people to register land.

The report, which will be posted on www.lawreform.ie tonight, also recommends that mortgage lenders should not be allowed to foreclose, or take ownership of land, when the owner fails to meet mortgage repayments.

The report will now undergo a consultation process, which includes a conference on November 25th at UCD.

Late next year the commission is due to forward draft legislation, giving effect to the proposals, to the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, who will attend the publication of the consultation paper tonight.