HC Deb 22 May 1908 vol 189 cc614-5
MR. T. M. HEALY (Louth, N.)

To ask the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state what are the fees payable on the registration in the local registry in Ireland of a deed other than a conveyance on sale or mortgage, as, for example, a conveyance to trustees on marriage of registered land the Poor Law valuation of which is £200; whether the charge is the same where the owners' title is registered subject to equities, and therefore not conclusive; what the registration fees on the registration of a similar deed in the Registry of Deeds would be, assuming it to be the ordinary case of one grantor, one denomination, and a memorial not exceeding seven folios; whether, in addition to the increased expense in registry fees in the local registry in such a case, the party has to bear the expense of a second deed declaring the trusts; whether it is any part of the object of a local registry to cheapen the transfer of land; and whether the fees in the local registry have been fixed with a view to securing that anything saved in solicitor's charges by having a local register is to go to the Treasury in fees.

(Answered by Mr. Hobhouse.) I am informed that it is not possible to give an Answer to the first paragraph of the hon. Member's Question without knowing the precise nature of the deed and of the amount of value transferred. The fee is the same whether the owner's title is registered subject to equities or not. With reference to the third paragraph of the Question, the fee in the Registry of Deeds for a deed such as that mentioned would be 8s. For the grounds of difference between the fees charged in the registry of titles and registry of deeds respectively, I may refer the hon. and learned Member to the Answer given by my predecessor to his Question of 31st March last. No second deed declaring the trusts of a marriage settlement is necessary. The Answer to the fifth paragraph is in the affirmative, and to the last paragraph in the negative.