Information, Research and Evaluation

In Government the Green Party will:

• Reform the Land Register. The development of housing policy requires up to date and accurate information of land ownership and ownership patterns. The current system of monitoring and recording land ownership is failing to provide this data and needs urgent reform. The Green Party in Government will renew and properly fund the Land Registry to create a complete Geographical Information System (GIS) ?based cadastral of land and property interests in Ireland. The maps and databases will be searchable by owner and by property and open to the public. The Labour Party in the UK has recently agreed to set up a Commission to reform the Land Registry system. The register should be regularly updated, particularly focusing on land around the designated Growth Centres identified in the National Spatial Plan and developed land and land with development potential around villages, towns and cities. We will require that all interest in land, including options, should be registered also. The refusal to register or the deliberate registering of incorrect information should affect title. In addition the requirement of landlords to register rental properties will be amended to require landlords to register their details and the legislation robustly enforced.
• We will set up a Research and Evaluation Unit within the new Housing Authority to redress the serious housing data shortfall and to support local authorities in their development of housing policy. At present there is a paucity of up-to-date reliable information on land interests and on all sectors of housing developments. The Irish Planning Institute, the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland, the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Irish Council for Social Housing have all called for this shortfall of information to be addressed. The new Research Unit will devise and implement information collection systems for local authorities, housing agencies, government departments, utilities and financial institutions. Given the necessity for this body to have the confidence
• A valuation study of all potential development land will be undertaken by local authorities, including historical local authority valuation records and recent property revaluations under the Valuations 2001 Act and local estate agents records to assert the value of all land in their jurisdiction, showing a sliding scale of zones relative to distance from major settlements and good transport routes. This will form the basis for estimating Development Levies and for reforming the current rates system.