Merger of freehold and leasehold titles—law and land registration procedure


Published by a UUÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ Property expert
Practice notes

Merger of freehold and leasehold titles—law and land registration procedure


Published by a UUÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ Property expert

Practice notes
imgtext

Merger may determine a lease when both the lease and the reversion on that lease become vested in the same person and that person holds both interests in the same capacity.

However, merger does not arise automatically when that vesting occurs. Instead, merger is a matter of intention, and in the absence of any direct evidence of intention it is to be presumed that merger was not intended.

So, for example, evidence of a contrary intention was found where:

  1. •

    the tenant had not applied to hm land registry for its freehold and leasehold interests to be merged, and

  2. •

    merger would have caused the tenant to lose the benefit of valuable easements

Where merger does not occur the reversion and the lease remain as separate estates and can be dealt with separately (eg assigned or charged) by the common owner(s) of them. All rights and burdens enjoyed by or imposed on each estate pass to a successor in title of the particular estate.

Charge over leasehold

Where the leasehold interest is

Powered by Lexis+®
Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Key definition:
HM Land Registry definition
What does HM Land Registry mean?

The repository for the Register of Title.

Read more

Popular documents

Contracts for the sale of land—formation, signature and variation

Contracts for the sale of land—formation, signature and variationIntroductionA contract for the sale, or other disposition, of an interest in land is void unless it complies with section 2 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 (LP(MP)A 1989). This provides that it must:•be in

Joint tenant declaration in transfer valid despite no execution by transferees (Taylor v Taylor)

Property analysis: The court decided that a father and son held a property in trust for themselves as tenants in common in equal shares. As part of its findings, the court decided that the declaration of trust in box 11 of the transfer of part (TP1) was valid despite the fact that the transferees

Death of the seller or buyer between exchange and completion

Death of the seller or buyer between exchange and completionStatus of the contractDuring the process of buying a property, exchange of contracts is when the parties exchange signed contracts, and the buyer pays the deposit. Once this has taken place, the agreement becomes legally binding and major

Merger of freehold and leasehold titles—law and land registration procedure

Merger of freehold and leasehold titles—law and land registration procedureMerger may determine a lease when both the lease and the reversion on that lease become vested in the same person and that person holds both interests in the same capacity.However, merger does not arise automatically when