# NPPR - selling the family home following probate



## Bronte (28 Mar 2017)

Most people in Ireland will be unaware that they will need a certification of exemption from NPPR if they are selling the family home.  The NPPR was a charge on properties other than the property one resided in.  But when you die, your executor will need to prove it was your residence, in order for an exemption.  This will be more and more difficult as the years go by because you have to prove that your parent lived in the family home in 2009 until 2013.  In practice the local council administering this accept documentation for 2009 and 2013 as proof.  You require two documents for each of those years.  Utility bills, bank statements, social welfare correspondance.  I would actually recommend the entire country apply now for the examption so that all is in order in the future.

Here is an example, go to exemptions or probate. 

http://www.corkcoco.ie/co/web/Cork ...NPPR) Charge/NPPR Exemption Application Forms


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## Monbretia (28 Mar 2017)

Where do you get the certificate of exemption from?   Is there a standard form somewhere to apply for it?


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## Bronte (28 Mar 2017)

Every country in Ireland has it's own system Monbretia.  I presume they are all pretty similar but you need to countact the Co.Co. of the location of the property.  I've added the best link I could find above. 

Remember there are other types of exemption, today I'm only referring to the family home as it's going to be a mega issue in the future as every house will require this document at some stage.  And if decades go by it may be very hard to prove someone lived there back in 2009.  Especially as we move to a world where bills are now electronic etc.


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## Monbretia (28 Mar 2017)

Thanks, I am thinking of my father's house where this could become an issue sooner rather than later.   I have paid his bills for many years so all come to my address, I must check.   You'd imagine something like confirmation from local gardai or something should suffice, rural area so all and sundry would know where he lives but not much of a paper trail!


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## Gervan (28 Mar 2017)

Yes, this issue was raised a few years ago here:  http://askaboutmoney.com/threads/ce...ousehold-charge-and-nppr.183685/#post-1464512
Even in 2013 I worried whether my documentation would be acceptable, as I couldn't get the specified months. As time passes it will become harder for people who were exempt to comply.


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## T McGibney (28 Mar 2017)

Bronte said:


> Every country in Ireland has it's own system Monbretia.  I presume they are all pretty similar but you need to countact the Co.Co. of the location of the property.  I've added the best link I could find above.
> 
> Remember there are other types of exemption, today I'm only referring to the family home as it's going to be a mega issue in the future as every house will require this document at some stage.  And if decades go by it may be very hard to prove someone lived there back in 2009.  Especially as we move to a world where bills are now electronic etc.



I understood that liability to the NPPR charge ceases 12 years after each liability date? If I'm correct, it will be gone as an issue by about 2025.


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## Bronte (28 Mar 2017)

Gervan said:


> Yes, this issue was raised a few years ago here:  http://askaboutmoney.com/threads/ce...ousehold-charge-and-nppr.183685/#post-1464512
> Even in 2013 I worried whether my documentation would be acceptable, as I couldn't get the specified months. As time passes it will become harder for people who were exempt to comply.



Currently the councils are no longer specifing a month.  And they just want anything from the first year and the last year.  So 2009 & 2013.  The girl I emailed told me they were very busy with this.


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## elcato (28 Mar 2017)

Having done this recently (mid 2016) I did two steps and only required one domestic bill per year from ESB.
1) Contact the ESB (or whoever supplied for the years in question) and request copies of one bill for each of the the given years 2009 to 2013.
2) Print out a form from the council webpage and fill it out and post to the relevant address.
I can't remember the time it took to get the certificate but it was under a month as far as I can remember. From Bronte's last post above looks like they're getting a bit p'd off with the process and all the bumf the poor little darlings.


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## dub_nerd (28 Mar 2017)

Just as a matter of interest, how does an ESB bill prove that a house was your PPR? Holiday homes get ESB bills too. If you are billed online, the address on the bill could be the holiday home even if you never lived there.


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## Evie1962 (28 Mar 2017)

Thanks so much Bronte. I never would have realised that you'd need a cert of exemption. i'm going to do that now and keep it safe. luckily I don't throw out much paperwork, so I can get the supporting documentation together reasonably easily.


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## elcato (28 Mar 2017)

You also need a certificate that you paid the household charge which came in between the NPPR and the Property tax. It was only 100 euro and the fine is a total of 200 if you didn't pay it.


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## Prosper (28 Mar 2017)

Thanks Bronte for your post. I'm executor of my late father's estate and am about to put the house on the market. I never thought about the exemption from NPPR. I was on to the local Council and I do not need to bring any utility bills, just a copy of the part of the Will naming me as an executor, a copy of Death Cert and my drivers licence or passport plus of course the completed Exemption form stamped/witnessed by a solicitor/commissioner. They'll deal with it immediately and give the exemption over the counter.


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## Bronte (29 Mar 2017)

Prosper was that recently, maybe the rules are changing all the times, I get the impression they are, as I was asked for only two of the years.  Maybe it depends on which country.


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## Monbretia (29 Mar 2017)

Very conveniently when going through some stuff last night belong to my father I realised he actually applied for planning permission in 2009 from local council to do disability renovations, there was enough reports with that application to prove he was living there at that stage anyway!


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## Marsha25 (29 Mar 2017)

For selling my father's house we had to provide a list of meter readings from ESB for the years 2009-2013. Contacted ESB and they provided same quickly. We also had to provide a letter from a local (non related) person confirming he lived there during that time. Lastly the council (Mayo) requested folio number for the property. Once those 3 items were sent to the council we got the Cert.


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## Bronte (29 Mar 2017)

This is crazy, every county is different !


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## dub_nerd (29 Mar 2017)

Sounds like counties with lots of holiday homes may be more sticklers for proof than others. That causes me a major headache, since I built a house in Wexford and lived there since 2004 because of mad Dublin prices, but my job has always been in Dublin and I've always had to split my week between both places, staying with relatives as necessary. As a result I've never changed my driver's license, passport or address for banking. My ESB bills and internet bills are in Wexford and it has always been my address for Revenue correspondence but if the Co Co want anything beyond that or decide in their wisdom my electricity usage isn't high enough there will be little I can do. Their website ominously says that "all submitted evidence will be confirmed both by local knowledge and further in-house checks"... whatever that's supposed to mean.


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## elcato (29 Mar 2017)

dub_nerd said:


> My ESB bills and internet bills are in Wexford and it has always been my address for Revenue correspondenc


 That's more than enough in fairness. Given that passports and driver's license are over a long period neither could used as actual address evidence even thoughyour passport does not include address anyway.


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## Prosper (31 Mar 2017)

I didn't get the cert over the counter as I thought I had been told but it arrived by email the following day. Copies of my father's Will and Death Cert and photo ID for myself was all I needed.


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## dub_nerd (31 Mar 2017)

My Co Co is looking for a Property Folio as well as ESB bills to accompany NPPR exemption application. Anybody know if they need a certified copy with or without map, or will take the cheaper uncertified version (€5 versus €40 on the landregistry.ie website)?


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