Buying a site for a self-build in Ireland: checks before you sign

Buying a site is the biggest decision you make before any building starts, and it is the one hardest to undo. A plot that looks cheap can need an expensive entrance, a long service connection or a wastewater system the ground cannot support. Do the checks first, and put anything you cannot settle into the contract as a condition.

To pay for the site, read financing a site. What follows is general information, not legal advice: your solicitor does the legal checks and drafts the contract.

What should you check before you sign?

Work down this list before you pay anything you cannot get back. Several items need a professional, so start them while the sale is still only “agreed”.

Check	What you are looking for	Where to look
Title and folio	Who owns the land, what it includes, and any burdens on it	Your solicitor, using the Land Registry records on Landdirect.ie run by Tailte Éireann
Planning history	Earlier applications, refusals and their reasons, appeals, enforcement	Your council’s online planning register, which is public
Local need	Whether the county plan limits one-off houses in the area and what evidence it asks for	The county development plan; see rural housing policy and local need
Access and road frontage	A legal right to reach a public road, and an entrance the council will accept	Your solicitor for rights of way; a planner or engineer for the entrance
Sightlines	Enough clear view of traffic from the entrance, which may need land you do not own	Ask the council which visibility distances apply
Wastewater	Whether the soil can treat wastewater where there is no sewer	A site assessor, to the EPA Code of Practice; see site suitability
Flood risk	Whether the site or its access floods	The Floodinfo.ie flood maps from the Office of Public Works
Water, electricity, broadband	Whether and how far each must be brought, and at what cost	Water supply and ESB connection guides
Wayleaves	Poles, lines or pipes crossing the land, or a neighbour’s land you will need to cross	Your solicitor; ESB Networks for its lines

Title, folio and rights of way

Your solicitor checks that the seller owns what they are selling. The Land Registry’s folio shows the registered owner, the land included and any burdens. A folio can be bought online through Landdirect.ie, but reading it is a legal job: ask your solicitor to explain any burden, and ask what is not shown on the folio.

Check the site has a legal right to reach a public road. A gate onto a road is not the same as a right to use it, and a shared laneway needs a right of way written down. If the route crosses a neighbour’s land, ask your solicitor to confirm it before you commit.

Planning history and local need

Search the council’s planning register for the site and its neighbours. A refusal on the same site is a warning sign: read the reasons and ask whether anything has changed. In rural areas, a county plan may limit one-off houses to people with a local connection. The 2005 Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines set the national background, and each county applies its own wording. A suitable house design cannot overcome a refusal based on who you are rather than what you propose, so check this before you check the soil. Our planning guide explains what to expect from an application.

If the vendor says the site “has planning”, ask for the permission number and read the decision. Check the decision’s conditions, whether it has expired, and whether it was for a house on this exact plot. See how long planning permission lasts.

Access, sightlines and services

Rural sites often fail on the entrance. Ask the council’s planners, in a pre-application consultation, what visibility they would expect, and measure what the site can give. If a hedge must go or the view crosses a neighbour’s land, you need that settled before the purchase.

Then price the services. Electricity, water and broadband can each cost little or a lot depending on distance, and a connection that needs a wayleave cannot proceed until it is signed. Ask each provider for a site-specific answer rather than relying on a general figure.

Wastewater and flood risk

Without a public sewer, the site needs a treatment system and a percolation area designed to the EPA Code of Practice, and the soil decides whether that is possible. A site assessment before you sign is the best money you can spend: a plot that fails it may be hard to get permission on at all. Read site suitability assessment and wastewater treatment systems.

Look up the site on the Floodinfo.ie flood maps, which show flood hazard and risk information. They are a first check, not a guarantee, so also ask the vendor and neighbours about past flooding, and ask your engineer about it.

How do deposits and conditional contracts work?

There are normally two payments.

• A booking deposit is paid to the auctioneer to take the property off the market while the contracts are prepared. It is normally refundable until contracts are signed. Pay it to the auctioneer, not the vendor, and get a receipt that says it is a booking deposit.
• A contract deposit is paid when you sign the contract. It is usually 10% of the price, less any booking deposit, and is held by the vendor’s solicitor. Once the vendor signs and returns the contract, there is a binding agreement, and you generally cannot recover the deposit if you change your mind.

The exception is a condition written into the contract. Two are common for a site:

• Subject to planning permission. The contract says you need not complete unless you get permission for a house within a stated period. Your solicitor should draft it so that the period is realistic. An application takes months, and a further-information request or an appeal can take longer: see planning permission duration and objections and appeals.
• Subject to finance. The contract says you need not complete if your lender does not provide the loan. Ask the lender what it needs and when, and check how the two conditions fit together. See self-build mortgage.

Whichever condition you rely on, ask your solicitor to confirm in writing:

1. How long you have to apply, and when the condition ends.
2. What counts as success: a grant of permission, or one with no appeal outstanding.
3. What happens to the deposit if permission is refused or not decided in time.
4. Whether you may extend the period, and who must agree.
5. Whether the vendor must cooperate, for example by signing the application as the landowner.

A condition protects you only as far as its words go. A verbal “it’s subject to planning” is not a condition. If you are paying a large deposit on a site with no permission, the planning risk is yours until the contract says otherwise.

What does buying a site cost?

• Stamp Duty. Revenue states that a site is non-residential property, and the non-residential rate is 7.5%. If you buy the site with a connected agreement for a house to be built on it, Revenue treats the site as residential property, and the residential rates apply. Ask your solicitor which applies. Some purchases may qualify for a refund of some of the Stamp Duty; confirm eligibility and timing before relying on it. The worked cash budget in financing a site shows the sums.
• Legal fees. Ask your solicitor for a written quotation covering the purchase, Land Registry registration and any extra work on rights of way or a conditional contract.
• Surveys and assessments. A site assessment, a boundary or topographical survey and an engineer’s view of the entrance are costs you meet whether or not the purchase proceeds. Get quotes before you commit, and agree with your solicitor which can be done before the contracts are signed.

What changes on closing day?

When the purchase completes, you become the occupier of the land. The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1995 then gives you a duty to people who enter it, even if the site is empty. Your home insurance may not cover a separate site, so ask your insurer in writing and arrange public liability cover before closing. Read insuring a site you own before you build.

If your lender is paying for the site, it will want proof of title and may ask for cover before it releases funds. Check the offer letter. See what lenders require.

What to do next

1. Ask your solicitor to check title, rights of way and any burdens before you pay a contract deposit.
2. Search the council’s planning register and speak to a planner about the site.
3. Commission a site assessment where there is no sewer, and check the flood maps.
4. Get written answers from ESB Networks and the water provider on connecting the site.
5. Ask your solicitor to put planning and finance conditions into the contract, with a deadline and a deposit clause.
6. Check which covers you will need before closing.

If the plot is family land, read building on family land instead. If you are weighing a serviced plot, see the Ready to Build scheme.