Your lease is a contract between you and the freeholder. To make a change or ‘vary’ the terms of the lease, you need to reach an agreement.
You should ask a solicitor to set down any changes you agree – for example, regarding the repair of the building or for the lease’s insurance provisions – in a deed of variation.
If you and your landlord cannot agree, then, in certain circumstances, you can apply to the relevant tribunal to change the lease.
Generally, whoever benefits from the variation will cover the costs. However, this depends on what you negotiate and agree with the landlord.
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This depends on whether you are going through the process formally or informally.
If you extending your lease formally, the landlord is permitted to make certain changes (variations) to the terms of the lease so long as they are in accordance with the provisions of the law.
If you are extending a lease informally there are no rules because you are acting outside of the provisions of the Act. You can try to negotiate with the landlord and if they insist on varying the lease you can either accept their offer or proceed using the Act if applicable.
Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area.
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There is no legal requirement to instruct a property lawyer to undertake the work involved in varying the lease. As a general rule all property transactions should be undertaken by a property lawyer and advice sought. If you have a mortgage you should inform your lender that you intend to undertake a variation of the lease. They may insist that you instruct a solicitor to ensure that their interests are protected and any variations are registered at the Land Registry.
You may require the services of a solicitor.
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There is one ground on which the lease of a house can be varied by the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). That is if the lease fails to make satisfactory provision for insurance or for the recovery of the costs of insurance.
It may also be possible to agree a variation amongst the parties to the lease.
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If a sufficient number of the parties to a lease wish to make a variation they can do so by a joint application to a First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). The applicants must show that all of the leases within the building must be varied to achieve the purpose of the proposed variation. Where the application concerns less than nine leases, then all (or all but one) of the parties concerned must consent to it. Where the application concerns more than eight leases, it must not be opposed by more than 10% of the parties concerned and at least 75% of them must consent to it. For these purposes the landlord shall constitute one of the parties concerned.
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An individual party to a lease can make an application to a First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to vary the lease under the provisions of Part 4 Section 35 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. However the grounds for a compulsory lease variation are limited. The grounds under which you can make an application are:
An application can also be made for an order to vary two or more leases in the building in the same way to correct the same problem with the leases. The leaseholder or the landlord can make this application. If the application concerns fewer than nine leases, all (or all but one) of the people concerned must give their permission for the application. If the application concerns more than eight leases, no more than 10% of the people concerned must oppose it, and at least 75% of them must give their permission for it. For these purposes, the landlord is one of the people concerned.
Leaseholders and the landlord can make an application to vary two or more leases if the change they are hoping to achieve cannot be satisfactorily achieved unless all the leases are varied in the same way.
The tribunal may make an order to vary the leases in line with the application or as they consider appropriate. They may also make an order instructing the people concerned to vary the leases in line with their instruction, and the tribunal can order anyone concerned to pay compensation to anyone likely to be disadvantaged by the change in the leases. However, they cannot make an order if changing the leases would cause a disadvantage to another leaseholder which could not be helped by paying compensation.
If you want to apply to vary two or more leases, you must serve notice of the application on anyone likely to be affected by the proposed variation. This will include your landlord, the other leaseholders (if the change will affect them) and your and the other leaseholders’ mortgage providers. If you do not serve the notices, anyone who should have received one can apply to the tribunal to cancel or alter the variation or, in some cases, to bring action for damages.
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If the lease is being varied by agreement, any fee payable will be based on the terms of that agreement.
If an application is made to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for an order to vary the lease each party usually bears their own costs but the Tribunal has discretion to make an award. The order may also require compensation to be paid to anyone likely to be disadvantaged by the variation.
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