I got a letter from the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA) for a lease that I took out on 1 January 2013. It says I should have registered it with them within 30 days of the lease being stamped. Why did they only send out the letter now and will I be liable for a fine. The letter said it could be up to €5,000.  Why are they looking for the information anyway?

The Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA – not to be confused with personal retirement saving accounts, the PRSA – was set up by the Minister for Justice and Equality on a statutory basis on 3 April 2012, under the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011. After the property bubble burst, the PSRA was part of an attempt to ensure it did not happen again.

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The main function of the authority is to control and regulate property services providers, ie auctioneers, estate agents, letting agents and management agents. This includes, among other things, the licensing of all the services providers, the establishment of a complaints investigation and a redress system for consumers. Its job was also to create three public registers: the Register of Licensed Property Services Providers, the Residential Property Price Register and the Commercial Leases Register.

The Commercial Leases Register is the reason for the letter, as land leases stamped by the Revenue fall under it.

Under this, all tenants who have entered into leases since 3 April 2012 have to complete the Commercial Leases Return form. In it, they have to furnish the authority with details of any capital contribution paid in respect of the property, rent reviews, liability for rates, insurance, service charges and repairs, rent-free periods, fitting-out time, fit-out allowances and particulars of any break clauses in the lease. Most of these are to do with commercial property, but land leases also fall into this category.

Despite the huge tax-free incentives for long-term leases, there is estimated to be just 3,600 land leases among farmers. Hopefully this will increase, especially if the tax review findings on agriculture, due out in the next budget, make it more attractive. 

Many farmers who entered into a lease do not even know of the obligation. I know I didn’t. To date, no one has been fined for not registering their lease.

What happens is, the PSRA receives the information about leases from Revenue, as it is related to the stamping of the lease. It then checks to see if it has been registered. It is not just targeting farmers, as all leases which are stamped by Revenue require a return.

The reason you got a letter now, is that the PSRA is starting a campaign to inform people of their obligations and give them an opportunity to fulfil them. If you register the lease with the PSRA within the time frame indicated on the letter, you will not be liable for a fine. I was recently asked about a five-year lease taken out in 2009 that the owner wants to renew this year.

The PSRA says that if the old lease is extended there is no need to register it. However, if a new lease is taken out and stamped, it must be registered with the PSRA.

There is no charge for registering a lease. You register online at www.psr.ie/CL113 where the forms can also be submitted.

The obligation is on the farmer who is leasing the land to make the return. The owner of the land is not liable to any penalty.

The reason for this information is to bring openness to the market. On the website there is information about leases that have been registered freely available. The information includes the date of lease, the address, the length of lease and the annual rent. Extra information is provided when a lease is registered and this can be purchased from the site at a cost of €10.

The PSRA does say that no tenant particulars will be disclosed when people pay the €10, although you would think the address would give that away. If you held a lease on land since 3 April 2012, you have to make a return even if you no longer hold this lease.

The final thing is that this is not linked to the conacre system changes that were made between the client and auctioneer announced earlier this year.

You do not have to register conacre land and can still make an agreement directly with another farmer on conacre land, or a lease that is not stamped. 

 

In brief

• Register for commercial leases includes land leases. 

• The tenant is obliged to register the details of the lease 30 days after it starts. 

• The Property Services Regulatory  Authority (PSRA)oversees the register.

• Go to www.psr.ie for more details.