Cross lease properties
With cross lease properties, all owners have an undivided equal share of the whole property. Lease areas are created (usually the houses and garages), along with exclusive use and common areas. Some reasonably common activities, such as building a deck or adding a carport, may need Council consent and will need your neighbour’s approval because they change the size and shape of the lease and exclusive use areas.
So what happens if the cross lease plan is not updated to reflect the changes?
Whether it’s recent or something from a long time ago, your Record of Title can be deemed ‘defective’ which may cause significant legal issues, particularly if selling your property or trying to obtain bank finance.
What’s the value in updating my cross lease plan?
Updating a cross lease plan is a simple and cost-effective way to avoid any confusion over property ownership and rights down the track. If you’d like to take it a step further, we can also provide advice about converting your cross lease property to freehold to remove any need to update the plan again in future. Please click HERE for more information.
If you’re building a deck, carport, or other structure, you may also need to obtain consents from Auckland Council for this work. There are tools on the Auckland Council website to help you understand which consents, if any, are required.
Scroll down below to view the 4 step process of updating your cross lease plan
THE PROCESS
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You discuss your intentions with cross lease neighbours
Because all owners of a cross lease property have a say in what happens to the leases (hence cross lease), your cross lease neighbours will need to provide their written approval for your intentions to update the cross lease plan.
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We survey your property and prepare a new plan
We’ll survey your part of the property and prepare a new plan showing the changes. You’ll have a chance to look over the plan and discuss it with your neighbours before we proceed with the Resource Consent application.
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Resource Consent Application
We’ll check the property’s compliance with planning rules, and then prepare a resource consent application for approval by Auckland Council.
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We complete the cross lease plan update
Finally, our surveyors will apply for the Council certificates and prepare the data needed by Land Information NZ to make the new plan official. You will then need to arrange a solicitor to update your Record of Title to reflect the new plan information.