Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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346. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address a matter (details supplied) regarding the case of persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43134/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Property ownership in Ireland is classified as eitherleasehold or freehold.

Owning the leasehold interest in a property means that you own just the building and not the land it is on and that your ownership is for a fixed number of years. If you own a leasehold property, you must pay a ground rent to your ground landlord - the person who owns the ground it is built on. The amount of ground rent paid varies. The ground landlord is often the Local Authority.

Owning the freehold interest in a property means that you own the land and buildings (if any) outright. There is no period of years attached to the ownership and there is no ground rent to pay.

The amount to be paid when buying out the ground rent can either be agreed with the ground landlord (consent procedure) or else obtained through an arbitration procedure. The amount of ground rent is set by the arbitration procedure if you are buying it out under the Ground Rents Purchase Scheme and cannot agree the amount with the ground landlord. The Property Registration Authority (PRA) will carry out all the legal work for a fee. Details of fees for purchase through consent and purchase through arbitration are available on the PRA website or by contacting groundrents@prai.ie.

With regards to the issue of handover of land to Kerry County Council, this is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Local Authority and one in which I have no function.