Legal Updates

Commercial Property - New Rules for Leases Over 7 Years - June 2006

New rules have come into effect under the Land Registration (Amendment) (No 2) Rules 2005 ('the Rules"), which will facilitate registration of leases for more than seven years. The new legislation brings about a radical change in the way Land Registry processes applications for the registration of leases.

The Rules state that new 'prescribed clauses' must appear at the beginning of any lease for more than seven years out of a registered estate (with certain exceptions). These prescribed clauses contain all the information necessary for the Land Registry to complete registration of a lease. The clauses can be easily completed by either setting out the necessary information or cross-referencing the relevant parts of the document.

The Land Registry hopes that these new prescribed clauses will assist customers drawing up a lease.

Land Registry will accept applications using the prescribed clauses from 9 January 2006 See http://www.landreg.gov.uk/legislation/lract2002/rules/

Please contact us for more information on how to register your lease in compliance with the Rules.

RT COOPERS, 2005. This Briefing Note does not provide a comprehensive or complete statement of the law relating to the issues discussed nor does it constitute legal advice. It is intended only to highlight general issues. Specialist legal advice should always be sought in relation to particular circumstances.