On 11 October 2021, the Real Property Amendment (Certificates of Title) Act 2021 commenced, which abolished the Certificates of Title (CTs) and the control of the right to deal (CoRD) framework. All existing CTs have been cancelled and CTs will no longer be issued. Existing CTs will not need to be produced, and CoRD holder consent will not be required, for a dealing or plan to be registered. All existing Guidelines subject to this change are currently being reviewed and will be updated to reflect these changes. For further information regarding the abolition of CTs, please see https://www.registrargeneral.nsw.gov.au/property-and-conveyancing/eConveyancing/abolition-of-certificates-of-title

Lease of part of land

A lease of part of a current parcel must define the site leased in either a deposited plan or a plan annexed to the lease. The plan requirements will depend on the nature of the site and on the term of the lease, as a lease for more than 5 years (including any option of renewal) creates a subdivision: section 6.2 Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. 

Total term of 5 years or less

A lease of land with a total term of 5 years or less (including any option of renewal) may be registered without the need for a plan of subdivision: section 23G(d) of the Conveyancing Act 1919.
The plan used to define the part of the lot or lots in the current plan must be either:

  • a sketch (compiled) plan annexed to the lease, where the site can be defined without a survey

  • a plan of survey lodged as a deposited plan that must:

    • comply with deposited plan preparation and lodgment requirements;

    • have a heading being 'Plan of part of lot........for lease purposes';

    • have a purpose being 'Lease';

    • not show a residue lot;

    • include a statement on the Administration Sheet as follows:

THIS PLAN IS ONLY AVAILABLE TO DEFINE LAND FOR LEASE PURPOSES WHERE THE TERM PLUS ANY OPTION FOR RENEWAL IS 5 YEARS OR LESS.

IT IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR SUBDIVISION OR TITLE ISSUE PURPOSES. 


or

  • a plan already registered in NSW LRS that complies with one of the above standards

Total term for more than five years

A lease for more than 5 years (including any option of renewal) is deemed to be a subdivision of land by section 6.2 Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.  The land leased must be defined in a plan that:

  • is a deposited plan of subdivision that complies with the normal requirements for plan preparation and lodgment and
  • bears a completed Subdivision Certificate

NOTE: A sublease with a term greater than five years will constitute a subdivision, even if the head lease affects the entirety of the parcel.

All NSW legislation can be accessed at www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/ 

Successive five year term leases

Multiple leases for the same site, each with a successive term of five years may be lodged for registration without the need for a plan of subdivision. The specified term of each lease must be stated as commencing at a date no earlier than the day after the expiry of the previous lease in the series.The leases are limited in that each lease in the series must take effect within 21 years from the date of the first lease of the series, as section 120A(3) Conveyancing Act 1919 states that a lease is void if it takes effect more than 21 years from the date of the instrument creating it. Further, as each lease in the series expires, it is possible to register new leases continuing the sequence providing each date of commencement is within 21 years of the date of commencement of the earliest current lease.

Publish date: October 2023