The following is an illustrative example of the typical lease process. If the property isn’t ready for occupation, then you may require an agreement for lease, for instance to deal with a planning application or for the landlord to refurbish the property. If this is the case, then the completion of the lease will be pushed back until planning is obtained, or the refurbishment is completed.
Pre-Legal | 4-6 weeks | 2 weeks | Up to 2 years* | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identify Property | Is the Property ready for Occupation? | Is there a Lease already in place? | Heads of Terms | Negotiation | Completion | Stamp Duty Land Tax / Land Transaction Tax (Wales) | Land Registry | |
| – Landlord refurbishment | – Assignment | – Principal terms agreed | – Landlord’s solicitor or existing tenant’s solicitor issues draft document(s) | – Agreed documents circulated for signing | – SDLT form and payment submitted to HMRC | – Application to Land Registry to register lease | ||
| – Tenant fit-out | – Subletting | – Ancillary documents required? (agreement for lease, rent deposit, licence for alterations) | – Evidence of title | – Completion monies collected | – LTT form and payment submitted to WRA (Wales | – Application to Land Registry to note lease | ||
| – Planning permission | – Replies to enquiries | – Pre-completion searches | – Application to Land Registry to register easements (rights | |||||
Survey (recommended) / Title Review / Searches / Enquiries | ||||||||
* Land Registry can take up to two years to register a lease. During the registration process Land Registry might raise enquiries (known as requisitions) which you or your solicitor will need to respond to within a certain amount of time, failing which the application may be cancelled. You do not need to wait for the lease to be registered to be able to occupy and use the Property, however a failure to register can cause issues in the future.