“It’s a much better audit trail, really, of recording what people have signed,” Woods says. But he adds: “We would still encounter situations where solicitors won’t even accept digital copies of contracts, they want us to print it out,” while some banks continue to send loan plans of up to 100 pages in hard copy.”

Commenting on the Central Bank publishing a revised Consumer Protection Code containing a new requirement for banks to provide title deeds within 10 working days, which became effective in March 2026, Steven Jacob says “If someone only requests the deeds on the day that they sell the house, it’s going to delay everything for eight to 12 weeks”.

Each bank has a different system, with some using off-site storage and others keeping deeds with solicitors.

“The only way, realistically, that that might work is if there was a central repository for the deeds where all the banks store them,” Steven says.

Damian Woods highlighted how digital tools can significantly reduce administration and improve communication: “We have a client portal. They [clients] can access the information. We are very transparent. They see everything.”