License to alter but no ammendment to lease or title deeds

[Marg1]

I am selling my leasehold maisonette with a recently completed loft conversion. I license to carry out works for which I paid the FH. On enquiring of the FH's management company if there would be an alteration to the lease they replied "Thank you for your email and as the Licence is not registered at the Land Registry and the alterations are supplementary to the lease, there will therefore be no amendment to your title deeds and your solicitor should be able to clarify this for you accordingly." I forwarded this response to my conveyancing solicitor who replied " he buyers solicitors will not accept the description within the lease or any of the title deeds.As I have mentioned before I am satisfied with the description however the buyers solicitors will not proceed until it has been amended." Wha if anything can I do about this?

[MrSoffit]

Common sense would suggest (and so does the Lease Advisory Service) that where the layout of the demised premises are altered away from the original lease and the description of the demise and the plans, a deed of variation should be done and registered. If just an amended plan.

Fees for licences can be more about clawing in easy earnings now, not so much concerned about what the lessee faces later when trying to assign. If new freeholder buys, you have to hope there is a 'management file' full of consents to alter, submitted plans etc. Me, I wouldn't rely on this, as when we took over after 30 years there was no management file at all. Freeholder claimed to know nothing about variatons that luckily were registered on the LR.

I guess if you insist and anyway pay for the DoV, the freeholder should have no worries I can see. Why is the managing agent involved, they don't do variations and in my experience some can spout nonsense about law they never read and don't understand?

[Marg1]

Thank you, this is very helpful. The managing agent has been my point of contact for the license to carry out works and so when my conveyancer raised the buyer's concerns, I referred the question to them.
I have a document entitled License to Carry out Works,signed by the FH wherein it states " This document has been executed as a deed and is delivered and takes effect on the date stated at the beginning of it." This document contains with copies of plans, council permission, building control sign off etc. Do I still need a seperate deed of variation?

[MrSoffit]

Suggest you read...

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ution-of-deeds

It's one thing to write the words, "This document has been executed as a deed" blah blah but from your point of view you want the thing registered for posterity, innit. I could say I've executed this post as a 'deed' but that wouldn't make it one.

It might just mean you need to pay a legal beagle to do this? Read the above Practice Guide and absorb. It's what I'd do anyway.

I'd be daring and ring the land registry for advice. I've found them very helpful to mere mortals in the past. If they say the document doesn't need registering you are good to go.

[Marg1]

Thank you very much indeed. I will now read the guidance and give the land registry call.

[Lawcruncher]

Assuming no additional space was taken...

The buyer's solicitor is talking twaddle and should be pointed at in the street. And here's a turn up for the books - the agent is correct - apart from saying "registered" when he should have said "registrable".

The lease does not need to be varied because the space has not changed. Registration is only concerned with boundaries, not with the internal layout of the premises.