What is a cross lease?
A cross lease is a situation where two or more parties own an undivided share in the underlying land and each party has a lease (usually 999 years) of their flat/house and often an exclusive use area over the land and other parties. They were originally created, as a cheaper alternative to subdividing a property. But do not have the same rights as a freehold title owner.
Issues with cross lease:
All home owners on the land in question, own the land, therefore, if one party wants to make changes to their dwelling or site, they have to ask the permission of the other owners.
As well as needing to get permission of the other parties, the survey plan and title will need to be updated for all changes that occur on the property. These are additional costs, which are not required for freehold title owners.
There are generally shared driveways and services, which can potentially cause issues around ownership, maintenance and upgrades as all parties will have their say in all situations.
Cross leases can be seen as a lower value product when coming to sell the property.
Conversion to freehold/fee simple title:
The process of converting a cross lease title to a freehold title will provide separation away from the other owners. This will allow all owners to fully control, protect and manage their individual assets. All services will be separate or provided with appropriate easements, this allows for any ownership or maintenance issues to be free of any disagreements.
A major benefit as a result of the Auckland Unitary Plan is the option to firstly convert your cross lease into a freehold title and then subdivide this new freehold title, to create additional dwellings and allotments.
The conversion will generally require:
A topographic survey of the location of all services, buildings, fence structures.
Plans drawn up of boundary positions and separation of services.
Subdivision Consent application lodged to Council for their approval.
Physical works to locate and if required to separate services and potentially upgrade driveway.
Survey of new boundary positions in a Land Transfer Survey and new property tiles created by a lawyer and Land Information New Zealand.
Once this has been completed you will have a parcel of land which is entirely yours.
Updates to cross lease plans and title:
If you have made any additions or alterations to your existing dwelling, fences, structures it is important to update your cross lease plan and title to reflect these changes.
This is particularly important if you are considering selling your property in the next year or two as it needs to be up to date at the time of sale. It is best to get this process started early to avoid any costly delays.
Barry Satchel Consultants complete cross lease conversions to freehold titles and updates regularly and can provide a free consultation to assist with these cross lease situations.
Contact us today to set up your free consultation.
Ph: 09 623 4573
Email: admin@bscl.co.nz