Deed of variation for a lease

What is a property variation deed?

A property related deed of variation is a formal legal document most commonly needed to change the terms of an existing lease agreement. In many cases the deed ill need to be registered at the Land Registry.

The most common time when a flat owner finds that they need to get formally vary their lease is before selling or on remortgage.

Reasons you may need to vary a lease

The most common reasons for needing to vary a residential long lease are :-

• To extend the lease - where the lease is approaching 80 years left and needs to be extended to comply with the likely buyer’s mortgage lenders requirements –  for more on this please see our lease extension page.

• Mortgage lender requirements - some clauses in a lease granted many years ago may no longer comply with current mortgage lenders requirements for a buyer or on remortgage. The most common areas creating problems with old leases are building insurance clauses

• Defect in the lease wording or the lease plan – in this situation, after sorting out the issue with a deed of variation, you may want to look at whether your solicitor, when you bought, was negligent in not spotting the error.

• The layout of the flat has been altered - which means the lease plan needs to be varied. Can arise due to changing the demised area or rights over common parts, incorporating additional space or removing part of premises from lease, or splitting property into separate units needing new access rights and service obligations.

• Change of use - more common with commercial property, but can apply to a mixed use property such as flat above a shop.

Process, how long it takes and cost

Commonly, as leaseholder, you will not only need to pay your own legal fees and other costs such as Land Registry fees, but also the freeholders legal fees and probably also your mortgage lenders legal fees. The deed of variation itself is fairly straightforward. You should budget for several thousand pounds of legal fees and costs.

A deed of variation typically takes 6-12 weeks from instruction to completion. Timing depends on complexity of changes, number of parties involved, and whether mortgage lender consent is needed. Major factors affecting timeline include the negotiations between parties' solicitors, obtaining any necessary consents (such as mortgagee approval), preparing new plans if layout changes, and Land Registry registration requirements.

Solicitors for lease variations

With 1 of the UK’s largest and best rated property law teams, we provide a highly experienced, efficient and cost effective service for clients who need a deed of variation. Contact us for a chat or to get a fee quote.