Licence to Assign a Residential Lease

Our Licence to Assign template is for use by a tenant / owner of a long lease of residential premises who is wishing to sell (i.e. assign) the remainder of the term of the long lease to a new tenant – “the assignee”. It provides for the landlord / lessor to give consent to the owner / tenant to assign a long lease where this is required in accordance with the terms of the lease. Not all long residential leases will require this, so please check the lease first.

Use it for property that is in England or Wales, but not for Scottish property. The law is different in Scotland and we don’t offer any templates for Scottish property law.

Separately, we have a licence to assign designed for commercial leases, so please use the correct one for your situation.

Clauses in this Licence to Assign

Below we have set out the key provisions in the licence to assign. The guide covers them in detail.

Numbered clauses in this Licence to Assign

1. Interpretation – This clause defines the main terms used in the licence.

• Lease – fill in the details. If the lease is in the name of a predecessor (i.e. the first owner of the leasehold property), then state that predecessor’s name here.
• Property – insert the name of the property, preferably with full postal address. If it is only part of a building, make it clear which part/parts.

2. Consent

This clause provides the landlord’s necessary consent for the tenant to assign the property.

3. Obligations

This sets out some basic requirements the landlord imposes in return for his consent. Fill in the amount in clause 3.3 that the landlord will charge for noting completion of the assignment of the lease – this is usually a fairly low sum. NB this is separate from the main costs the landlord will charge under clause 4 below, which may be more substantial. In clause 3.4, fill in the relevant person’s name.

4. Landlord’s costs

This clause presumes that the tenant is paying the landlord’s legal and other costs of issuing this licence, pursuant to an obligation to do so in the lease, as a condition of the consent being given. Choose if they are to be VAT inclusive or VAT exclusive.

5. Registration of this licence

As the original lease was registered (as it was for 7 years or more when first granted), then the assignment of the lease needs registering.

6. Indemnity

The tenant and assignee are both responsible to the landlord if there is a breach of this licence.

There are a few other miscellaneous clauses – the written guide that you receive when you purchase the template also covers them.