Understanding Leasehold title plans

In October 2014 the Land Registry changed its policy on how it creates Leasehold Plans.

Before the 20^th October the Land Registry looked to replicate the intricate details from the large leasehold plans showing the precise layout of property at a large scale.

The problem with this was that this was often potentially misleading when considering the smaller scale Ordnance Survey maps used by the Registry.  

A review of this practice revealed a variance in approach and for this reason a change in policy was needed to make sure that the focus on the mapping of leasehold floor levels was put back on the lease plan.

The new policy still requires the Registry to show the extent of the land in a lease but when it comes to dealing with larger developments this is more likely to be recorded on the landlord’s title with the tenant’s title plan showing only the outline of the building as shown on the Ordnance Survey Plan

By adopting this new approach the Registry hope it will be easier to understand the position of all the leases granted out of a registered title in relation to each other on one title plan.

Completion of a leasehold floor lever registration, according to the Registry, without any limitation in the extent of other rights, interests demised, guarantees the title granted to the tenant notwithstanding how the red edging on the title plan is drawn.

However these changes in policy will no impact on the results issued on searches of the index map, 0S2 applications and a Map Search.

In practice we will be seeing a change in the note attached to the tenant’s title plan.  This is now likely to record that the land will lie within the area edged red but which is more particularly described in the lease or leases.

None of these changes impact on the need to submit a Registry compliant plan when registering a title for the first time - that is making sure the following requirements are met:

• a site plan showing detail in relation to the Ordnance Survey map

• plans of each floor level

• a recognised scale for both the site plan and the floor level plans

• a North point

• clear edging showing the land demised by the lease. The location plan and the      detailed floor level plan can be separate plans.

Good News for Home Buyers - Cost of moving is set to reduce in Spring

The cost of buying a home is to be reduced shortly following an announcement from the government agency responsible for maintaining the register of property titles, The Land Registry.  

If you have purchased a property you will be aware that on the sale of any property the buyer’s solicitor has to apply for registration of the transfer with the Land Registry, and pay a fee for the service.

The good news for home buyers is that the Land Registry has announced that it will be halving the fees it charges home buyers as from 17 March, with the immediate consequence that the transfer fee for an average-priced home will fall from £190 to £95.

This registration fee is payable after the purchase transaction completes, so the benefit of the reduced fees will be passed on to buyers whose purchases are completed on or after 17^th March.

The amount of the fee is based on a scale varying with the purchase price.

This reduction has come about due to the Land Registry’s electronic Document registration Service (e-DRS) which allows buyers’ solicitors to submit the majority of transfer applications digitally.   This has also led to a reduction in the time it takes to register the title with the Land Registry. 

Here is a guide to the new fee structure for the electronic submission of applications.

Purchase price	Old fee	New fee
£0 to £50,000	£40	£20
£50,001 to £80,000	£70	£20
£80,001 to £100,000	£120	£40
£100,001 to £200,000	£190	£95
£200,001 to £500,000	£270	£135
£500,001 to £1 million	£540	£270
Over £1 million	£910	£455

Morgan Jones and Pett are solicitors who provide legal advice and services to clients based in England and Wales and who can be contacted on 01603877000 or via email at davidpett@m-j-p.co.uk