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Before committing to buy farmland in the Republic of Ireland, have a conveyancing solicitor verify the title and access, reconcile the sale map with the land on the ground, and check that the parcel’s planning, agricultural, environmental and tax position fits your intended use. A brochure or a farm’s current use cannot establish those points on its own.
1. Define what you intend to do with the land
Write down whether you plan to continue the existing farming activity, change the enterprise, lease the land, build, drain, plant forestry, abstract water or pursue another use. The proposal determines which planning, environmental, water, scheme and tax questions need particular attention. No general checklist can establish whether a particular parcel is suitable without its location, records and your proposed use.
2. Verify the title, parcels and boundaries
Get the documents and check ownership
Ask the seller for every relevant folio number, official title plan, sale map, deed or instrument, lease, licence, survey and boundary agreement. Have your solicitor confirm the registered owner, class and extent of title, mortgages, easements, covenants, wayleaves and other burdens or restrictions on dealings. If a parcel is unregistered, deeds-based investigation may be needed; the absence of a folio does not by itself mean there is no valid title. Tailte Éireann’s Land Registry FAQ explains that the title plan is not conclusive as to exact boundary or extent.
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Compare the folio and title plans with the sale contract and walk the boundaries with the seller or agent. Where the line is uncertain or material to the purchase, use a surveyor. Hedges, walls, ditches, fences and tracks may not follow the mapped line, and the Land Registry says its maps do not show whether a boundary includes a hedge, wall or ditch. Resolve significant discrepancies before becoming unconditionally bound.
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3. Establish the legal access and identify third-party rights
Identify every connection to a public road and every private or shared route. Establish whether access lies within the purchased title or depends on a right over another parcel. For any important right of way, inspect the instrument and map that create it; check who may use it, for what purposes, and who must maintain or repair it. Also establish whether neighbours, utilities or other land have rights over the farm. The registration rules provide for mapped registration of rights of way in relevant cases, and the Land Development Agency acquisition checklist includes third-party easements and access rights among the matters to establish.
4. Check planning history and the use you propose
Search the local authority’s planning register and development plan for the property and relevant nearby decisions. Review existing permissions and conditions, compliance and enforcement matters, and any zoning or development objectives affecting the land. Ask the planning authority or a qualified planning professional whether your particular proposal is likely to require permission. Some classes of development may be exempt, but owning agricultural land or seeing a building in use does not establish permission for a new building or a change of use.
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5. Check protected-site constraints and proposed works
Protected sites and existing commitments
Use current National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) designated-site maps and site-specific documents to check whether the land is within or near a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Area (SPA) or Natural Heritage Area (NHA). Identify the features and restrictions relevant to the parcel, and ask about existing consents, farm plans and agri-environment commitments. NPWS says activities requiring consent depend on the site and that consent must precede specified activities that could damage SACs or SPAs.
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Drainage and other agricultural activity
If you are considering land drainage or another potentially regulated agricultural activity, check the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture) Regulations process before starting work. DAFM describes screening as a cost-free assessment of whether specified proposed activities can proceed without a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Visible work is not proof that the necessary screening, consent or authorisation was obtained.
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6. Inspect the land, water, buildings and services
Assess soil, drainage, slope, erosion, flood exposure and the condition of tracks, boundaries and buildings. Check watercourses, wells, water supply, electricity and wastewater infrastructure. Request existing reports, consents, maintenance records, maps and utility agreements; commission specialist ground-condition, hydrology or environmental work where the proposed use or observed condition warrants it. The Land Development Agency’s acquisition checklist identifies title, utilities, surface drainage, hydrology, ground condition and environmental risks as information to establish.
Check any water abstraction
If water is drawn from a river, lake, spring, stream or groundwater source, establish the actual volume for each abstraction and its registration or licence status. EPA guidance says the current abstraction regime began on 28 August 2024 and focuses registration and licensing on abstractions of 25 cubic metres (25,000 litres) or more in a 24-hour period, with bands and exemptions depending on circumstances. The EPA says abstractions below 25 cubic metres per day do not need registration or licensing, subject to the applicable obligations and exemptions; it gives a well supplying one domestic dwelling as an exempted example. Verify the actual use and current status rather than relying on an estimate.
7. Reconcile agricultural parcel records with the title
Ask for maps and records relating to Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) parcels, declared areas, current or historic applications, leases and scheme or agri-environment commitments. DAFM describes LPIS as a spatial database used to identify agricultural and forestry parcels and determine eligible area. Its page says the system contains over 1.3 million polygons or parcels representing holdings of over 130,000 farmers; the page was published in 2020 and updated on 14 May 2025. These are agricultural records, not proof of legal ownership or a conclusive boundary survey. Check the current DAFM land-eligibility guide and the parcel-specific position; the guide page identifies its second revision as April 2026.
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Revenue treats agricultural land as non-residential property for stamp duty purposes. Ask your solicitor or tax adviser to calculate the duty using the current rules, the actual consideration and the transaction instrument. Do not assume farmer relief applies automatically because the asset is farmland or the buyer farms: Revenue’s farmer-related reliefs have their own conditions, which can involve qualifications, farming or leasing for a period, business plans, transaction dates or other requirements. Ask whether VAT, capital gains tax (CGT), capital acquisitions tax (CAT) or another tax issue also arises from the particular transaction.
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9. Make unresolved checks a contract and completion issue
Ask your solicitor to identify unresolved matters involving title, boundaries, access, planning, environmental constraints, tenancies, tax, services and condition. Decide which evidence or consents must be obtained before contracts become binding and which must be delivered before completion. Near completion, recheck title and confirm vacant possession or the exact leases and tenancies disclosed. The Land Development Agency checklist is not a private-buyer legal rule, but it is a useful prompt for the categories of acquisition information to confirm.
How to compare two farms
Compare the parcels using verified, decision-relevant evidence rather than brochure acreage alone. Price per verified usable hectare is more informative than price per advertised hectare, but it is only one part of the decision.
| Comparison | Evidence to compare |
|---|---|
| Usable area and price | Reconciled title and parcel maps, areas that can actually be used for your purpose, and the resulting price per verified usable hectare. |
| Land condition and water | Soil, drainage, slope, flood exposure, water availability and any abstraction obligations. |
| Legal position | Title quality, access rights, registered burdens, boundary uncertainty and any leases or occupation. |
| Farm records | Current use, declared and eligible area, scheme commitments and relevant agricultural records. |
| Intended use | Planning prospects, protected-site constraints and requirements for the works or activity you propose. |
| Practical and transaction costs | Services and infrastructure, likely investigation or remedial work, and transaction-specific taxes and costs. |
For either parcel, seek property-specific evidence. General guidance cannot establish clean title, suitable access, development potential, flood risk, eligible area or relief entitlement for an unnamed holding.
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