Clearing Irish Water Bill before selling property

I

IsThisOnFree

Registered User
Messages
14
Hi All

Two years ago I purchased a property, which I'm now getting ready to put on the market. I contacted my solicitor to let them know that I would be putting the property on the market, and in their response about oulays etc, they mentioned two things that will need to be cleared before the sale can go through. One of those being LPT, and the second being Irish Water Bill.

LPT I already knew about, and I'm fully paid up. Irish Water on the other hand is a Utility Bill ... is there really a legal requirement that Irish Water bill is cleared before the sale can proceed ? Surely they can't be given preferential treatment in a sale over other utilities such as gas and electricity ??

Thanks in advance
 
Don't think there's a legal requirement as with LPT. A potential buyer however won't accept any outstanding liabilities for an utility bills, which, of course, would include the water charges. I am quite sure you can proceed with the sale, but I don't think you will be able to close until the question of utility bills (including Irish water) is sorted.

I certainly wouldn't buy the house if there is a question of who pays for outstanding utility bills.
 
Well, as with any utility, the buyer will only be liable for any bills from the date they purchase the property - historically no checks are done for outstanding bills for gas/electricity, so you won't even know about any outstanding bills until you take ownership (I'm speaking from experience on that one as it happened to me when I bought my current place, I got landed with a gas/electricity bill in excess of €850 that the previous residents left unpaid ... once I provided proof I had just taken ownership, it was sorted). So I don't see why an Irish Water utility bill should be treated any differently; indeed, if I've not registered, then there isn't even any question of a bill ...
 
mf1 said:
Its a legal requirement. No pay, no sale...............
Click to expand...
Thanks mf1 ... I had done some googling over the weekend but couldn't find anything concrete. It does seem unfair to put legislation around a so called utility bill, but that's a whole other conversation :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top