Obligations to discharge water charges

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Created: Monday, February 08 2016 16:18

Section 48 of the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 (“the Act”) commenced on 1st January 2016. This new legislation provides that a vendor must pay to Irish Water any water charge owing and provide his or her solicitor with a certificate of discharge from Irish Water confirming that any such charge has been paid, or a statement from Irish Water confirming that any such charge is not the liability of the owner.

It is important to note that the definition of ‘sale’ includes a voluntary transfer. Section 48(4) of the Act provides that, where a vendor of a property has not provided the solicitor with a statement from Irish Water setting out the amount of the charge (if any) payable to Irish Water, at the solicitors request, the solicitor must, before completing the sale, request such a statement directly from Irish Water.

Where this situation arises, the vendor’s solicitor must withhold from the net proceeds of sale remaining (if any), after the discharge of all mortgages and other liabilities relating to the sale, the amount (if any) set out in the statement provided to the solicitor and remit that amount to Irish Water within 20 working days of completion of the sale of the dwelling. Irish Water will then issue a receipt to the vendor’s solicitor which will be in full and final settlement of the solicitor’s obligations.

In the event that there are no net proceeds available to pay the water charges, the vendor’s solicitor should notify Irish Water of this within 20 working days of completion of the sale of the dwelling. The Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (“the Department”) has advised that Irish Water will acknowledge receipt of such notification and that no further action is required.

The Department has further confirmed that where this situation arises, there are no implications for the purchaser of the property, insofar as the liability for unpaid charges would remain with the vendor. It would remain open to Irish Water to pursue the vendor for these unpaid charges by other means.

It is advisable that if you are planning on selling your dwelling, arranging this documentation early, will save unnecessary delays.