Cross-lease to Fee Simple: Take advantage of the Auckland Unitary Plan

Until very recently, there hasn’t been any serious reward for converting your cross-lease title to a fee simple title. Sure, your property would have sold for more or you wouldn’t have to deal with your fellow land owner. But for the most part, it probably seemed easier to just leave it alone. We’re here to tell you that it may no longer be the best option to just leave it as a cross-lease! I know we keep banging on about it, but under the Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP) the potential for development has significantly increase all over Auckland.

Interested in making the switch? Get in touch today!

Freehold Development Potential

If your property became a fee simple title as opposed to a cross-lease, you may suddenly have A LOT more freedom, flexibility and power to take advantage of the AUP. Under the new district plan your property may have the capacity and zoning to allow for 4 town houses! By changing the type of title your property holds you could potentially unlock your properties potential and suddenly find yourself with many options. Options that you probably couldn’t even dream of when you first purchased the property!

Your rights will actually matter

The rewards may be even greater if it means you avoid nightmares such as this one. Nisha Nayyar’s neighbour has recently demolished their house that sits on their shared cross-leased title property. She has had a number of confrontations with the neighbour and their builders and is now upset that she had no say in the demolition despite technically being an owner of the land. Unfortunately, Council are under no obligation to seek permission from Ms. Nayyar. Council see it as she is technically a collective land owner that has also sought consent for this demolition! Which totally blows the idea of owning a cross-leased property out of the water! What is the point!?

Defective cross-lease title

And then imagine that Ms. Nayyar’s neighbour rebuilds a house on that piece of land. But the house is obviously going to be different to the original, deeming the neighbours cross-lease title defective! To avoid this, they will need to update the flats plan on their title. However, Council do not technically require you to do this which has resulted in many properties hold defective cross-leased titles.This can make things very tricky when the neighbour comes to sell the property. It may result in rather than engaging the police to resolve conflicts, you’re now spending a lot more on your lawyer.

Property Value

It is this messy process that turns people off buying cross-leased properties! Ultimately, the reason this type of property is not worth as much as fee simple titles.

Thanks to the Auckland Unitary Plan the rewards for changing your cross-leased title to fee simple are significantly higher and definitely worth the investment! If you’re interested in learning more about changing your cross-lease title please get in touch with us!

09 950 5100

hamish@mhg.co.nz