Registrable Leases - another step towards e-conveyancing?

A lease granted for more than seven years being now registrable, the Land Registry is considering the creation of a ‘standard’ lease.

The attraction of this to the Land Registry is obvious - a common lease structure, lending itself to speedy interpretation and ease of registration.

However, anyone familiar with commercial property leases will recognise that the present diversity, among practitioners, of content and style will present a considerable obstacle to agreeing a common form of lease

The Land Registry is currently seeking responses to two proposals from the legal and surveying professions: -

• The attachment to every registrable lease of a form (Form L1) containing prescribed information - the names and addresses of the parties, the term of years, the initial rent, rent review information, repairing obligations and details of permitted use and restrictive covenants.
• The inclusion within each registrable lease of a set of prescribed clauses; these clauses are to lie at the heart of the lease and are to deal with the same issues as Form L1.

It will be readily appreciated that there may be danger for an interested party who confines his inspection of the lease to Form L1 or to the prescribed clauses. Leases will often contain provisions not being prescribed information but impacting nevertheless upon a potential tenant.

The whole lease will, as at present, require detailed consideration, both by the Land Registry and by the practitioner.