If you own a leasehold property, it is likely that sooner or later you will need a copy of your lease.
The lease is a key document in understanding the rights and obligations that go with owning a leasehold property. The lease may contain additional estate plans, parking plans, plans of common parts and service charge provisions.
Many disputes between tenants and managing agents can be avoided if both parties are fully aware of the terms of the lease. Lengthy disagreements can be stopped before they start.
Can I get a copy of my Lease from the Land Registry?
The Land Registry holds copies of leases for all registered leasehold properties in England and Wales where the lease was granted for a term of 7 years or longer. This covers the vast majority of all leasehold flats and houses, and many commercial properties too.
How do I get a copy of my Lease?
You can order a copy of any lease held by the Land Registry either directly from the Land Registry, or through us.
From HM Land Registry
You can obtain an Official Copy of your lease directly from the Land Registry only by making a postal application using form OC2 . You cannot obtain leases directly from the Land Registry online.
Using this method, you must download the application form, fill it in and post it with a cheque or postal order to the relevant address. The documents will be sent to you by post, usually within 7 days. It costs £7 for a copy of any single document.
From us
We supply the same Official Copy of the lease by email, usually within an hour of ordering. There are no forms to print and post, and payment is made on our website by credit or debit card. We can do this because we have a commercial account with the Land Registry that gives us access to these documents electronically.
We have made the process as easy as possible, and we have created packages that contain the most popular documents bundled together to save you time and money. We charge a fee for this level of convenience and speed, but our customers choose us because they deem this fee to be justified by the time and effort saved.
Can I use a Land Registry copy of my Lease as proof of ownership?
A lease does not prove ownership. It will show the name of the first leaseholder but the property could well have been sold since the lease started and so the current owner could be someone else entirely.
This is because when a lease is entered into, it creates a leasehold interest in the property for a fixed period of time; usually between 99 – 999 years. The owner can sell the property by transferring that leasehold interest to a purchaser. When this happens, the parties do not draw up a new lease. The new purchaser simply becomes obligated by the terms of the original lease as if they were the original tenant. But their name is not added onto the lease.
In order to prove ownership of a property (freehold or leasehold), you will always need a copy of the Title Register.