Cross-leases – they're a common occurrence in the current New Zealand property market, but lots of buyers and vendors aren’t particularly sure of what this really means. Whether you’re a first home buyer that’s found your dream property that happens to be a cross-lease, or if you’re a home-owner looking to brush up on your residential property terminology - we’re here to help!

In this video, iCLAW Solicitor and property expert Gemma Martin gives you the lowdown on everything you need to know about cross-leases, including:

- What a cross-lease actually is
- What a cross-lease plan looks like
- What a memorandum of lease is
- What the flats plan is
- What the requisition of title is

To sum it up, in this video we explain that a cross-lease is a type of ownership structure of the land, and in this type of ownership multiple individuals own and undivided share of the land. There are a few different areas in a cross-lease plan: the flat, the exclusive use area, and the common area.

We then go on to talk about the Memorandum of Lease, which is a document that effectively describes the terms of the relationship between an individual and a neighbour. It's an important document to read as it contains many covenants (that us lawyers have to check are correct and the same for both parties involved!)

The Flats Plan is also something discussed in the video, and it's also something that us lawyers have to check. It must accurately reflect what is on the ground, because if it doesn’t, you may run into some issues in the future, but we talk about how you can avoid these.

We also touch on requisition of title, which is something that an individual is able to do within the first 10 working days after the agreement is signed if that flats plan is not accurate and the individual had knowledge of this before entering into the agreement. This means the purchaser has the ability to cancel the agreement if the vendor does not agree to rectify the title.

We hope this helped you understand the somewhat complicated idea of cross-leases. If you’re looking at buying a property, have a cross-lease home in mind or just want some advice on getting onto the property ladder, get in touch with the team at iCLAW today through the link below.

www.iclaw.com/contact

Video music from www.bensound.com