What you need to know

About updating a flats plan

CONSENT

This requires a subdivision process needing consent from Council but is generally quick and simple.

AGREEMENT

Even though only one flat may be involved, the other landowners need to sign the legal documents

ALTERATIONS

The property still remains a cross lease with the same constraints and control from neighbours. Any future alterations would require the whole process again.

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 and can take several weeks to go through the required system.

What is the process

To update a defective cross lease flats plan.

It is not a 10-minute job but can take several weeks to go through the required system.

We would usually allow 12-14 weeks to update a flats plan.

Update flats plan

If the buildings on-site do not match your cross lease flats plan, then your title is probably defective

CALL OUR TEAM FOR FREE ADVICE

Updating a flats plan

STAGE ONE

Lawyer investigates titles and existing leases.
Site measure up
Preparation of scheme plan
Scheme plan to client for approval

STAGE TWO

Preparation of council application
Council application submitted
Council consent approved and sent to client
Pre calculations in office
Prepare Esurvey dataset

STAGE THREE

Plan proceeds through internal QA process
Requests 223 Certificate once all required easements are confirmed.

STAGE FOUR

Lodge plan with LINZ (Land Information New Zealand)
Request 224 Certificate
Survus work is now completed

STAGE FIVE

Lawyer seeks consent from your mortgagee for the change.
You & your neighbours sign new paperwork with lawyer
Lawyer requests new titles
New titles issued

This process has been created to show you the steps involved in updating a defective title.

It should be used as a guide only. This process takes between 3-4 months to complete

Frequently asked questions

Do my neighbours need to be involved?

Does updating my flats plan update my neighbours as well?

I have council consent and neighbours consent, why is my title still defective?

Why do I have to do anything?

When you own a cross leased property, you and your neighbour own the land together. You only lease the area shown on the cross lease flats plan. You may also have an exclusive use area (normally your lawn and garden). If you change the outline of your building (even adding on an additional level) then you are occupying an area outside your lease area until the cross lease flats plan is updated in agreement with your neighbour.

How do I know if my cross-lease title is defective.

If the buildings on site do not match your cross lease flats plan, then your title is probably defective. If this is the case then we advise that you either rectify the Cross-Lease flats plan, or even better, convert your property to a Fee-simple title. Although the conversion to Fee-simple is more expensive that an updated cross lease plan, in most cases we strongly recommend converting cross lease properties to freehold, particularly in the Auckland area, due to the often-significant uplift in values.