Conveyancing Solicitors for Ireland

Conveyancing is the legal process of transferring ownership of a property from one person or entity to another. It involves drafting and reviewing the contract for sale, carrying out title investigations and searches, handling the payment of the deposit and balance of the purchase price, attending to stamp duty, and registering the new owner with Tailte Éireann (formerly the Property Registration Authority).

Both the buyer and the seller should have their own solicitor, as the two solicitors act for different parties with different interests.

Most residential conveyancing transactions take between eight and twelve weeks from the date a property is marked “sale agreed” to completion, although this can vary.

Straightforward cash purchases of freehold properties can move more quickly, while transactions involving a chain, complex title issues, or mortgage finance can take longer. Commercial transactions typically take between twelve and twenty-four weeks. At McCarthy + Co, we work proactively to keep your transaction on track, and we keep you fully updated at every stage.

In a private treaty sale, an offer is not legally binding when it is accepted. Either party can withdraw, without penalty, at any point before contracts are signed and exchanged. A binding contract is only created when both the buyer and the seller have signed the contract for sale, and it has been exchanged between the two solicitors.

At an auction, the position is different. When the hammer falls, the successful bidder is required to sign the contract and pay the deposit on the day. The sale is legally binding from that moment.

A booking deposit is paid to the estate agent or auctioneer when your offer is accepted, and the property is marked sale agreed. This is usually between €5,000 and €10,000 and is fully refundable up until the point at which contracts are signed.

A contract deposit is paid to your solicitor when you are ready to sign the contract for sale. It is often 10% of the purchase price, with the booking deposit credited against it. Once contracts have been exchanged, the deposit is no longer refundable, so it is vital that all legal and financial matters are confirmed before you sign.

As part of a property purchase, your solicitor will carry out a range of searches to confirm that the title is in order and that there are no issues affecting the property. These typically include:

• Folio searches at Tailte Éireann to confirm registered ownership.
• Planning searches with the Local Authority to confirm that all works on the property have the necessary permissions.
• Judgement, bankruptcy, Revenue, and Sheriff searches against the seller and the buyer.
• Company Office searches, where the seller is a company.

We review the results of these searches carefully and raise any necessary requisitions on title with the seller’s solicitor before completion.

Stamp duty is a tax paid to Revenue on the transfer of property. As of 2026, the rates for residential property are:

• 1% on the portion of the purchase price up to €1 million.
• 2% on the portion between €1 million and €1.5 million.
• 6% on any amount above €1.5 million.

There is no separate first-time buyer exemption. If you are buying a new build, stamp duty is calculated on the price excluding VAT. A higher rate of 15% applies where a buyer acquires ten or more residential houses within a twelve-month period. Stamp duty on non-residential property, including commercial premises and agricultural land, is charged at a flat rate of 7.5%.

Your solicitor will calculate the exact amount due and arrange payment through Revenue’s eStamping system on your behalf.

There are two main national schemes available to first-time buyers in 2026:

• The Help to Buy Scheme – A tax refund of up to €30,000 (or 10% of the purchase price, whichever is lower) for first-time buyers purchasing or self-building a new home. The property must be a new build or self-build, and the value must not exceed €500,000. The scheme is currently scheduled to run until the end of 2029.
• The First Home Scheme – A shared equity scheme in which the State takes a percentage stake in the property to bridge the gap between your deposit, your mortgage, and the purchase price. It is available for new builds, self-builds, and, in certain circumstances, tenant purchases.

The two schemes can be used together, and our team can advise on how they interact with your mortgage and contract.

In addition to the deposit and the purchase price itself, you should budget for:

• Stamp duty.
• Legal fees and VAT.
• Outlays such as search fees, Tailte Éireann registration fees, and commissioners’ fees.
• A structural survey.
• Valuation fees required by your lender.
• Home insurance, which must be in place before drawdown of your mortgage.

We provide you with a clear and transparent cost structure from the outset. Full details of all fees and outlays you are likely to encounter are set out in writing before you instruct us.

When you sell a property, your solicitor takes up the title deeds (from your lender, if the property is mortgaged), prepares the contract for sale, and responds to pre-contract enquiries raised by the buyer’s solicitor. On closing, your solicitor attends to the redemption of any existing mortgage, the payment of the agent’s fees, and the transfer of the net proceeds of sale to you.

We recommend instructing a solicitor at the same time as your estate agent, rather than waiting until the property is sale agreed. Having the title documents to hand early allows us to deal with any issues proactively and avoids delays further down the line.

Where a property is being sold as part of an estate, the sale is ordinarily handled by the personal representative, who is either the executor named in the will or the administrator appointed by the Probate Office. A Grant of Representation (Probate or Letters of Administration) is generally required before the sale can be completed.

In some cases, a sale can be agreed while the Grant is still being processed, but the closing will usually be conditional on the Grant being extracted. Our team regularly acts for executors and administrators, and we coordinate the probate and conveyancing sides of the transaction together.

In practice, yes. Conveyancing transactions require the signing and exchange of legally binding contracts, the registration of a transfer of ownership, and the payment of stamp duty through Revenue’s eStamping system. These are all steps that must be carried out by a qualified solicitor on your behalf.

A mortgage lender will also insist that a solicitor acts on your purchase, as the lender relies on the solicitor’s certificate of title in order to release funds.

No. The buyer and the seller must each instruct their own solicitor. This is a long-standing rule, and it exists to protect both parties from any conflict of interest. Your solicitor acts solely in your interests and advises you independently throughout the transaction.

Before you instruct a conveyancing solicitor, it is helpful to have the following in place:

• Mortgage Approval in Principle, if you are buying with finance.
• Funds for the booking deposit and evidence of your deposit savings.
• Identification and proof of address, to meet anti-money-laundering requirements.
• The address of the property and the contact details of the estate agent or auctioneer, if the property is already sale agreed.

You can request a full written quote from us at any point, with no obligation, through our Conveyancing Quote Request form.