Buying a house or remortgaging just got easier – thanks to NIEA

The process for buying a new house or re-mortgaging your home just got faster thanks to the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).

Instead of taking up to nearly three weeks to get copies of a Water Order Discharge Consent, solicitors and vendors can now access the information online.

David Small, NIEA Chief Executive, said the creation of the online Water Order Domestic Consents Public Register is great news for people going through a house sale.

“NIEA have some 140,000 consents, dating back to 1973, for Single Domestic Dwellings across Northern Ireland.  Proof of existence of a Water Order Discharge Consent is required by solicitors when carrying out domestic conveyancing work,” David explained.

“Before, delays in getting copies of the consents could hold-up or even compromise house sales, but now all consents from 1990-2018, can be immediately downloaded. The new system will also help solicitors in the Property Certificate process, as they will be able to identify the Consent Number, which again will speed up the conveyancing process.”

Due to the age of some of these records and the change to use of postcodes, it can be difficult to identify a specific consent. Users are advised older consents might have been granted under a townland and not a specific address. 

Requests for older consents forms, will still be dealt with by NIEA within 15 working days.

David added: “Re-mortgage or completing a house sale or purchase can be a stressful time, so we hope that this new online system will make the process easier and faster and prevent delays.”

All consents granted from 1990-2018 are now available to download and details of all other consents can be viewed using the search facility.  Copies can be provided by clicking the Request button. 

Here are some tips for searching:

• some consents were granted for site addresses and may be recorded as e.g. 100m N or North of a particular address;
• when searching for a particular road, insert ‘R’ as the records could be either Rd or Road, eg to search for Manor Road insert Manor R;
• if unsuccessful when searching by house number, search for road name, and
• for townlands or roads with different spellings try different formats as application may have been made under an alternative spelling.

Notes to editors: 

1. Water Order Domestic Consents Public Register.
2. The information available is the most up to date that has been provided to the Department.  Also, for all older consents, these can still be requested from NIEA by emailing consents@daera-ni.gov.uk or using the link on the online Public Register.
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4. All media queries should be directed to the DAERA Press Office on 028 9052 4619 or via email to pressoffice.group@daera-ni.gov.uk. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07623 974 383 and your call will be returned.

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