Example "Deed of Variation" for extending the lease term.

[Lat]

I have tried google but there is very little to show. Does anyone have a redacted example of a "Deed of Variation" that they have had to sign?

The criteria in my case is...

1. Shared Freehold flat in block of flats
2. Freeholder is Residents Company Ltd with office address at the Block Managing Company Offices
3. Extending lease to 999 years. Currently it is on 99 years
4. Freeholder and Lessee are in agreement there is no premium to be paid.
5. There is no mortgage on the property

[sgclacy]

Private message me and I will send you a template

[Lat]

Many thanks to sqclacy for sending me a template.
Assuming I get the template word perfect and the Freeholder is happy with the wording. At the end of the day the only change is 99 to 999. Is a solicitor required to register the document? If not, can someone please advise me on what the following stages are to get the document registered with the land office? For example: Can a conveyancer register the the document?

[Lat]

This is the current situation....

1. Extending lease to 999 years. Currently it is on 99 years from 25/12/1966.
2. Shared Freehold flat in block of flats located in London.
3. Freeholder is a Residents Company Ltd with office address at the Block Managing Company Offices.
4. Freeholder and Lessee are in agreement there is no premium to be paid and no surveyors are required.
5. There is no mortgage on the property.
6. The “Deed of Variation” template provided by the Company Secretary has been completed. The Company Secretary has reviewed the document and is satisfied that all the particulars are correct. The company secretary is happy to sign it, obtain a Directors signature and send it to me.
7. The Company secretary does not require a Solicitor only a full copy of the Land Registry.

Before I am flamed for trusting the Company secretary with such in important document it was a surprisingly short 2 page document clearly stating the only change to the lease is 99 to 999.

I just need to get it registered with the Land Office. Is it only solicitors with there exorbitant fees for this simple task that can do this?

[sgclacy]

You are extending the term of the lease, and it will require it to be dealt with as a deed of surrender and re-grant. This will have the prescribed clauses and will not be in a form of just 2 pages.

Assuming you are extending your lease you can make the application to the land registry yourself, you will need to complete a form ID1 for your application and the freehold resident company will need to complete an ID2 form. These forms (Forms ID1 and ID2) will need to be signed off by either a solicitor or licensed conveyancer or by you and the director of the freehold residents company attending the land registry

[Lawcruncher]

Whilst everyone talks casually about "extending leases", a lease term cannot technically be extended because it is a fixed thing. That means that you cannot "extend" a lease by varying it. That does not though mean that a deed expressed to vary a lease cannot create a new lease if there is enough in it to indicate an intention to grant a new lease. Since what is needed is a lease it is better simply to call it a lease. "Deed of Variation" should be reserved for situations where what is being varied does not involve the extent of the demised premises or its length of term.

If you are "extending" a lease there are traps for the unwary*. The really big one is section 149(3) of the Law of Property Act 1925. The sub-section provides that you cannot grant a lease to start more 21 years from the date of the document purporting to create it. So, say your lease ends on 31st December 2049. If you are granted tomorrow a new lease expressed to start on 1st January 2050 (or a Deed of Variation expressed to continue the existing lease from that date) it will be void. What is needed is a new lease taking effect immediately. Such a lease (if granted to the existing tenant and there is no mortgage) will operate to surrender the existing lease.

Whilst the new lease can incorporate the terms of the existing lease by reference to save setting them out, ideally they should be checked to see if any consequential amendments are needed. Even better is to review the the lease terms completely, though changing them may be a problem if the landlord has agreed to grant all leases in the same terms. Better still, as a matter of good estate management, is to "extend" all the leases in the block at the same time.

*"the unwary" includes more than one or two conveyancers.

[Lat]

You are extending the term of the lease, and it will require it to be dealt with as a deed of surrender and re-grant. This will have the prescribed clauses and will not be in a form of just 2 pages.

I did not have the document to hand at the time of posting. It is actually 4 pages. The first page is headings and the last page is signatures. I was of the same opinion as you until I read the following link. My understanding now, is the lease is automatically surrended and regranted by the "operation of the law". No prescribed information is required. Further more, I do not understand why the Company secretary would provide me with a template that is legally incorrect (and most probably rejected) when that same template has been used very successfully to extend the leases of the other flats in the block? With regard to LawCrunchers post. All the 999 year leases that have been extended remain on the same starting date as the 99 year year lease.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...eeds-variation

Assuming you are extending your lease you can make the application to the land registry yourself, you will need to complete a form ID1 for your application and the freehold resident company will need to complete an ID2 form. These forms (Forms ID1 and ID2) will need to be signed off by either a solicitor or licensed conveyancer or by you and the director of the freehold residents company attending the land registry

Firstly, neither of us will be attending the land registry. So given the very informative statement above, I have no choice but to to use a Solicitor or a Licensed conveyancer. Thank-you for clearing that up.

This was sent before reviewing Lawcrunchers post.

[Lawcruncher]

I am not clear here whether you have signed the template provided by the company or scglacy. If it is the company's template which has worked before there should not be a problem. (Not suggesting that scglacy's template does not work!)

[Lat]

At the moment, I have not signed anything. I am sure sglacy's template "Deed of Surrender and Re-grant of lease" which I have also completed is perfectly suitable for extending the lease term. As always in Law, there seem's to be many ways of skinning a cat. I would of thought that having a no premium agreement with the company and a completed legal document to extend the lease. My legal costs would be drastically reduced because all that is required is registering the document with the Land Office. It's not the case, the few replies I have had from solicitors still price it the same as if they drafted the deed.

[sgclacy]

It's verifying your ID and that of the company director which is the issue. Whether it is a deed of variation (which will be treated as a deed of surrender and re-grant by the Land Registry) or a deed of surrender, you will need this ID1 and ID2 form completed

[Lat]

It's even more complex if your not in the country.

[Lat]

What is wrong with the following process to register the "Deed of Varation"

All that is required of me is to get the "Deed of Variation" registered with the Land Registry and provide a copy of the new lease to the Company Secretary.

The Process.
1. I pay for an online company specialising in ID2 + ID5 verification to complete an ID2 verification with the company secretary and post the completed forms to me.
2. I pay the same online company to do the ID1 + ID5 verification for me and post the completed forms to me.
3. I complete an AP1 form and submit the ID1+ID5, ID2+ID5 and signed "Deed of Variation" to the Land Registry.
4. I will require 2 copies of the new lease. One for the company secretary and one for me. I assume I can order these at the time of submitting the AP1 form

Have I missed anything?

Kind regards,