The Commonhold Regulations 2004

PART II REGISTRATION

Consents required prior to the creation of a commonhold additional to those required by section 3(1)(a) to (c)

3.—(1) An application under section 2 may not be made in respect of a freehold estate in land without the consent of anyone who is—

(a) the estate owner of any unregistered freehold estate in the whole or part of the land;

(b) the estate owner of any unregistered leasehold estate in the whole or part of the land granted for a term of more than 21 years;

(c) the owner of any mortgage, charge or lien for securing money or money’s worth over the whole or part of any unregistered land included in the application; or

(d) subject to paragraph (2), the holder of a lease granted for a term of not more than 21 years which will be extinguished by virtue of section 7(3)(d) or 9(3)(f).

(2) An application under section 2 may be made without the consent of a person who would otherwise be required to consent by virtue of paragraph (1)(d) if—

(a) the person is entitled to the grant of a term of years absolute—

(i) of the same premises as are comprised in the extinguished lease;

(ii) on the same terms as the extinguished lease, except to the extent necessary to comply with the Act and these Regulations and excluding any terms that are spent;

(iii) at the same rent as the rent payable under, and including the same provisions for rent review as were included in, the extinguished lease as at the date on which it will be extinguished;

(iv) for a term equivalent to the unexpired term of the lease which will be extinguished; and

(v) to take effect immediately after the lease is extinguished by virtue of section 7(3)(d) or 9(3)(f); and

(b) before the application under section 2 is made, the person’s entitlement to the grant of a term of years absolute has been protected by a notice in the land register to the freehold title(s) for the land in the application or, in the case of unregistered land, by an entry in the land charges register in the name of the estate owner of the freehold title.

Details of consent

4.—(1) Consent to an application under—

(a) section 2 must be given in Form CON 1; and

(b) section 8(4) must be given in Form CON 2.

(2) Subject to paragraphs (3), (4) and (7), consent is binding on a person who gives consent or who is deemed to have given consent.

(3) Consent may be given subject to conditions.

(4) Subject to any condition imposing a shorter period, consent will lapse if no application is made within a period of 12 months beginning with the date on which consent was given.

(5) Consent is deemed to have been given by—

(a) the person making the application where that person’s consent would otherwise be required in accordance with section 3, but has not been expressly given; and

(b) a successor in title to a person who has given consent or who is deemed to have given consent.

(6) Consent given for the purpose of one application has effect for the purpose of another application (“the new application”) only where the new application is submitted—

(a) in place of a previous application which has been withdrawn by the applicant, or rejected or cancelled by the Registrar; and

(b) within a period of 12 months beginning with the date on which the consent was given.

(7) Consent may be withdrawn at any time before the date on which any application is submitted to the Registrar.

(8) In this regulation, “consent” means consent for the purposes of section 3.

Dispensing with a requirement for consent

5.  The court may dispense with the requirement for consent to an application under section 2 if a person whose consent is required—

(a) cannot be identified after all reasonable efforts have been made to ascertain his identity;

(b) has been identified but cannot be traced after all reasonable efforts have been made to trace him; or

(c) has been sent the request for consent and all reasonable efforts have been made to obtain a response but he has not responded.

Statement under section 9(1)(b): Registration with unit-holders

6.  A statement under section 9(1)(b) which accompanies an application under section 2 must, in relation to each commonhold unit, state—

(a) the full name of the proposed initial unit-holder or if there are proposed joint unit-holders the full name of each of them;

(b) the address for service of the proposed unit-holder or if there are proposed joint unit-holders the address for service of each of them;

(c) the unit number of the commonhold unit; and

(d) the postal address of the commonhold unit (if available).

Multiple site commonholds

7.  For the purposes of an application under section 2 made jointly by two or more persons, each of whom is the registered freeholder of part of the land to which the application relates (“a part site”) section 11 is modified so that, in addition to complying with the requirements in section 11(3), in defining the extent of a commonhold unit, the commonhold community statement must provide for the extent of each commonhold unit to be situated wholly upon one part site, and not situated partly on one part site and partly on one or more other part sites.