Report on Multi-Unit Developments - Law Reform Commission

Part 3 contains details of all burdens 28 registered against the property.
These would include mortgages, rights of way, fishing and sporting
rights etc. Most folios have a filed plan map 29 of the property attached‖ 30
4.25 When the title to a development is registered with the Land Registry,
the folio will comprise one of three broad categories of registration. The first
category, and the most common system in current use, is that the freehold of
the development as a whole, along with the leasehold interests of the individual
units, will be registered. The leasehold interests in this case will be registered
as a burden on the freehold folio of the owners‘ management company and
contain details of the various leasehold covenants.
4.26 A second major option, which may become more prevalent with the
enactment of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2006, is that the
freehold of each unit will be registered, and the freehold of the common areas
will be registered. The freehold of each unit will be registered in the name of the
unit owner while the freehold of the common areas will be registered in the
name of the owners‘ management company. Also included in the folio for the
development under this category will be the mutual covenants which will be
agreed between the purchasers of units and the owners‘ management
company. 31
4.27 The third category for registration of title would be for a long lease to
the development to be registered in the name of the owners‘ management
company, with sub-leases being registered in the names of the individual unit
owners. As with the first category mentioned, the sub leases will be registered
as a burden on the head lease.
4.28 In order to give effect to the recommendation for compulsory
registration of multi-unit developments, the Commission recommends that
section 24(1) of the Registration of Title Act 1964. (as amended by section 52 of
the Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006), which deals with compulsory
registration, should be amended by the insertion of a new category of classes of
property which the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform may by Order
28
This includes, for example, any long leases registered as a burden on the
freehold title of the property.
29
The map is especially important for clarity in the context of phased developments-
see paragraphs 4.61-4.65 below.
30
See the Property Registration Authority website:
http://www.prai.ie/eng/frequently_asked_questions/land_registry_faqs.html
31
For more on covenants, see Part E of this Chapter.
102