Busy January

Its been a while since my last post as I’ve been kept nice and busy with Lease Plans. This is a good sign for the property market and suggests that 2017 might not be such a tricky year after all. People have to move and businesses need to be built so the property market is still ticking along here in London.

My latest plans have ranged from mansion flats in Hampstead, offices in East Ham to car parking spaces in Barnet. I wonder what the next few weeks will bring?
I see such a range of places that I feel quite privileged to get an overview of life in London. The stunning architectural and lifestyle features that go into some high-end flats make me a little bit jealous – but also provide inspiration for my own flat which I’m slowly renovating at the moment. I also get to see some ‘ahem’ interesting lifestyles that make me feel very grateful for what I have and take for granted.

It always surprises me how alike every person is deep down – everyone needs the same basic things in their house – however grand or humble. Beds need to be cosy, food needs to be cooked, stuff needs to be stored. The nicest homes I go into are those that feel full of love and the smell of wonderful cooking.

Commercial lease plan projects fill me with the sense of possibility – seeing an empty shop on a busy high street makes me imagine starting my own uber-cool coffee/book shop and seeing empty offices with huge space and potential sparks my inner entrepreneurial fire.

One thing is for sure – no two days are ever the same at Lease Plans Online!

Lease Plans from £89

Ok, it may sound like I’ve gone crazy offering plans at such a low price, but I haven’t:

If you have existing plans of the property (such as architect’s plans or accurate sketched drawings), I can often use the information to create a Land Registry Compliant lease plan for you from just £89.  This would be for residential properties up to 1000 sq ft and assuming that all the information I needed was shown on the plans you provide. Drop me an email at email@leaseplansonline.co.uk if you’d like me to check your plans to see if a site visit is required.

I can do a site visit to create a Residential Land Registry Compliant Lease Plan from £175. (Within 30 miles of N8 and up to 1200 sq ft).

For Commercial Lease Plans, prices start at £230 up to 1000 sq ft – give me a call to discuss your exact requirements.

The prices above are guide prices, but just as most properties have their own peculiarities, Lease plans are often quite unique – because of this I tend to quote on job-by-job basis.  I provide discounts for multiple properties at the same location.

Call me on 07795 565853 or email on email@leaseplansonline.co.uk to find out more and get an individual quote.

What is a Lease Plan?

A Land Registry Compliant Lease Plan is a drawing which accompanies a lease document. It illustrates in visual form what areas of a building or land are demised to the lessee, what areas are communal and any other rights of access that may affect the property.

The land registry require certain conditions to be met in order for it to be compliant:

  • It should show a detailed plan of the property drawn to a metric scale (such as 1:100 or 1:200).
  • It must have a site plan, at 1:1250 showing where the property sits in relation to the surrounding area.
  • There must be a north point.
  • Colour coding accompanied by a key should denote the different areas (so for example, red for the demised area, green or blue for communal areas, brown for rights of access etc. These can vary based on the wording of the lease document).

For properties that have existing leases but that need new lease plan drawings (in the case of a lease renewel for example) it is normal to create a new plan which is Land Registry compliant and also corresponds to the wording in the original lease document.

For new leases, it tends to be more common for the leaseplanner to denote the areas in a standard format, then await instructions from solicitors as to whether they require any additional information on the plan. It really helps to have an experienced plan provider who has drawn hundreds of plans successfully. It cuts down the time between solicitor approval and plans getting sent to the Land Registry. I’m very good at getting things right first time.  From my many years experience, I am used to devising the most effective illustration method for complicated access issues, ensuring that nothing gets missed.

If you’d like more information on what a lease plan is, whether you need one, or what yours might entail, I’d be very happy to help. Call on 07795 565853 or email email@leaseplansonline.co.uk

Crouch End Leaseplan

I’ve recently carried out a land registry compliant lease plan in Crouch End, which was very handy as that’s where I’m based! It was wonderful to walk to a job and then be able to drop off the finished plans in person.

I received a call at 9.50pm from a lady who had been let down by another supplier. She needed an urgent lease plan to be drawn the next day in N8 and I was able to book it in and confirm that evening. (One of the benefits of dealing with an independent person rather than a large company). I had a look over the plan that had been provided to her by the other supplier and I’m afraid to say it had not been done well – there were numerous mistakes on the plan which could have caused real issues in the future if they hadn’t been spotted. They had missed off her basement, outlined the wrong building on the site plan, not shown the communal areas and got the scale wrong. I don’t like being negative about competitors but they had done such a bad job I thought it was worth mentioning.

I took over production of the lease plans and was able to provide her with a lease plan for the upstairs flat and a corrected version of the one she’d already had done (all for a very reasonable fee). The whole project was completed in 48 hours from initial contact to printed, scaled copies going to her solicitor.

Very happy client and a happy leaseplanner! If you need a lease plan, give me a call on 07795 565853.

Plans for flats

My latest Lease Plan job was creating land registry compliant plans for a property developer in Surrey. I never know what I’m going to find at a site (and the range is extreme – from a basement shop with no electricity and no floor to one of the most expensive flats in London opposite Harrods). On this job, I found a lovely property developer and 14 flats which were just at the fit-out stage.

With builders still on site the developer proudly showed me round his project. He clearly cares deeply about the flats he’s building and I think he’s done a lovely job. Each individual flat is a well planned space, and the carefully considered communal areas will, I think, add a feeling of community to the development once the flats have been occupied.

A central courtyard open to the sky gives the block an almost Italianate feel. Not an easy thing to achieve from something that used to be a town centre office.  The flats range from an impressive top floor two bed with views of higgledipiggledy rooftops of the town with the Surrey hills in the distance to a more affordable one bed with well proportioned rooms that make good use of the space and available light.

I think this developer is doing a great job at turning unused commercial spaces into appealing, affordable homes. I look forward to seeing his future projects.