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Editor
26-04-2005, 16:46 PM
Who moved them goalposts?

As you assure yourself that you have dotted all the “I’s” and crossed every singe last “T” for the completion of the lease on a new office, the solicitor calls and asks nonchalantly “Can you send over the Lease Plan?” the deafening 3 second silence on the your end of the phone has long given away the clue, that you don’t think you have one!

The Land Registration Act 2002, which came into force on 13 October 2003, has many implications for commercial landlords and businesses occupying properties under commercial leases.

One of the major changes are after 13 October 2003, all new leases with terms over 7 years or existing leases sold or assigned with 7 years left to run must now be registered with Land Registry. Not only will the property acquire its own leasehold title number but it will be noted on the Landlord's freehold title. This will bring many more High Street shops, cafes, restaurants, industrial units and offices onto the Register.

As part of the registration a compliant Lease Plan of the lease demise must be submitted. In order to be compliant the plans must be drawn to a metric scale (normally 1:100 or 1:200), have a scale measurement bar, have the scale noted on the plan, a 1:1250 scale location map (for urban areas) full address including post code and a north point. The internal layout the office – for example internal offices etc – are not necessary, however indicative locations of comm. Areas and adjacent stair lobbies should be provided for orientation.

So that wavy walled 30 timed photocopy of the original 1962 hand sketch with a finger thick felt pen line obscuring all detail; will have to be resigned to the big drawing board in the sky.

So the race is on to get a new lease plan before the whistle is blown, and you score an own goal.

This article was supplied to LandlordZONE by www.leaseplans.co.uk

jeffrey
01-06-2008, 17:11 PM
Update on this

1. HMLR is growing very vigilant re plans. Several applications of mine have already fallen foul of 'inadequate plan' requisitions or even rejections.
2. The "seven years" trigger will be reduced to THREE years in due course. This level will be irreducible because a lease/letting for < three years can be oral.

jeffrey
03-07-2009, 15:19 PM
Another update:
What is registrable is governed by the 2002 Act. It includes:
a. a new lease (or acquisition of an existing lease), whether or not the lessor's title is itself registered, if the term has more than seven years unexpired as at the date of lease completion/acquisition;
b. a new lease (for a term of more than seven years) granted under RTB; and
c. a new lease (for a term of more than seven years) if the term is to begin more than three months after the date of lease completion.

For more, see s.4 (below, with my underlinings).

4. When title must be registered

(1) The requirement of registration applies on the occurrence of any of the following events:
(a) the transfer of a qualifying estate:
(i) for valuable or other consideration, by way of gift or in pursuance of an order of any court, or
(ii) by means of an assent (including a vesting assent);

(b) the transfer of an unregistered legal estate in land in circumstances where section 171A of the Housing Act 1985 (c. 68) applies (disposal by landlord which leads to a person no longer being a secure tenant);

(c) the grant out of a qualifying estate of an estate in land—
(i) for a term of years absolute of more than seven years from the date of the grant, and
(ii) for valuable or other consideration, by way of gift or in pursuance of an order of any court;

(d) the grant out of a qualifying estate of an estate in land for a term of years absolute to take effect in possession after the end of the period of three months beginning with the date of the grant;

(e) the grant of a lease in pursuance of Part 5 of the Housing Act 1985 (the right to buy) out of an unregistered legal estate in land;

(f) the grant of a lease out of an unregistered legal estate in land in such circumstances as are mentioned in paragraph (b);

(g) the creation of a protected first legal mortgage of a qualifying estate.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a qualifying estate is an unregistered legal estate which is:
(a) a freehold estate in land, or
(b) a leasehold estate in land for a term which, at the time of the transfer, grant or creation, has more than seven years to run.