Update flats plan

What is a defective title?

If the buildings on-site do not match your cross-lease flats plan, then your title is probably defective. We can undertake a check of this for you. If this is the case, you can either rectify the cross-lease flats plan or even better, convert your property to a fee-simple title. It is important to note that the building consent authorising the construction of the additions or new building does not automatically update the cross-lease title, so rectifying a defective title requires a full subdivision process through Council and LINZ. It is not a 10-minute job but can take several weeks to go through the required system.

Why update your flats plan?

If you are looking to sell your cross-lease in the near future and you have a defective title we strongly encourage clients to as a minimum, update your flats plan. One of the main reasons for this is banks are less likely (or even unlikely) to lend money on a defective title, making it harder to sell your home. In most cases, if you have time and money, for a little bit more investment, we strongly recommend updating your cross-lease to fee-simple tenure as this gets rid of the cross-lease, in most cases, makes the properties worth more. In all instances, the agreement and signatures of the other land-owners are required.

Why engage Survus?

We have done a lot of work with cross-leases, firstly creating them up until the early 1990s, then more recently converting these to fee-simple tenure. We are passionate about the benefits that updating these properties brings to their owners. Cross-leases can be tricky, but we have great relationships with experienced property lawyers to help give you the best advice for your cross-lease property and provide ‘fixed-price’ survey and legal solutions for this process.