TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN will today update Cabinet on the government’s efforts to reduce the length of time it takes the legally buy or inherit a home. 

The government is working on plans to reduce the average length of time it takes to legally transfer property down to 8-weeks. Currently, it takes on average between 8 and 12. 

As part of these plans, an implementation group on conveyancing and probate was set up last year and tasked with cutting the time it takes for people to legally sell and buy property, and for the probate process after someone dies.

The Taoiseach is expected to tell Cabinet today that the group’s work will continue for another six months with a more permanent structure put in place to deliver on its objectives through to December 2025.

Last July, an expert group on conveyancing and probate set out a series of improvements to make the process of transferring a property from one person to another, or when a person dies, more efficient.

The government’s focus on this comes in a bid to help maximise the available housing stock on the market, by avoiding having homes lying empty because they are caught in lengthy transactions.

As part of this work, the Taoiseach set an overall objective – that there should be an 8-week target for the legal profession to completion of conveyancing from acceptance of offer to closure.

There was also a recommendation of an 8-week limit for the Probate Office to process applications and to fully implement e-conveyancing by 2027.

Additionally, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission was tasked with creating a step-by-step home-buying guide and establishing a dedicated portal for reporting bad practices.

More information is expected today after Cabinet meets.