Clas topic: Leases
Leases Overview: Start Here
A guide to leasing / letting land
Congratulations if you have got this far; hopefully you have found either a suitable piece of land or a
suitable group that want to use your land and now you want to know how to get the land into use.
This introduction to Leases is designed to help both a landowner and/or a community group agree some
conditions for use of land acceptable to both the landowner and the land user. You may have the option
and the ability to sell/purchase a site but, if not, then we recommend you agree a lease.
Why can’t we just start growing on the land/allow the community group to get started?
For Community Groups - It is rare to find a completely unloved and neglected piece of ground where noone will notice or care if you start to use it. All land is owned, just as we own or rent our houses and any
garden ground that goes with them. Just as we would object if someone else came along and used our
garden for their own purposes, a landowner will also object and can have you removed – you then lose all
the work, effort and any opportunity of a good working relationship with the landowner. We are required by
the law to seek permission if we want to use land that does not belong to us.
For Landowners - You may be happy with the activities of the current group but those people may change;
you may have an acceptable verbal arrangement but other activities start to be undertaken because
someone forgot what was discussed; you may not continue to get any rent: all of these things are difficult,
time-consuming and potentially expensive to resolve. Having a lease in place makes it easier to uphold
your rights and should have led to a consensus which is recorded, clear and easier to enforce.
The intention of a lease is to set out the rights and responsibilities of both the landowner and his or her
tenant. Both parties then know what they can and cannot do and can rely on the other party for what they
can and cannot do. A lease is there to protect both landlord and tenant.
What is a Lease?
A lease is a contract agreed and signed between the owner and the tenant and must specify the beginning
and length of the lease, the site to be let and the rent. We can simply agree things verbally but people
forget, misunderstand or change their minds so it is best if the agreement is written down and signed by
both owner and user.
This allows both owner, or Landlord, and user, or Tenant, to be clear about what they have agreed, their
rights and their obligations. The minimum we need to agree is who the Landlord and Tenant are, a
description of the area to be used or let, the length of the leaseand the cost, or rent. Usually the Landlord
will want to control what the land will be used for.
www.communitylandadvice.org.uk
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For more valuable or complicated sites other details may need to be included, such as responsibility for
insurance, payment of rates, access arrangements etc. The main points we agree are often called “Heads
of Terms” and you will find a suggested template and a How To document about filling in the template on
the website. Search for them under Heads of Terms or Lease Requirements.
Are there different types of lease?
Where we are talking about land only, and not buildings, there only a few general types of leases. A lease
is really just a contract, and the Landlord and Tenant are mostly entitled to agree whatever they want. If the
lease does not say anything about a particular topic it is possible that the law will mean either the Landlord
or Tenant is obliged to do something anyway. However in practice the longer a lease is to run the more
complicated it can look.
In general the balance between simplicity and careful protection for both parties in the lease reflects the
scale of the enterprise concerned. So, a short lease for a straightforward purpose can be a shorter and
more straightforward document and will likely place fewer responsibilities on the Tenant. Equally then, a
long lease or a more complex enterprise needs to cover more details, will be a longer and more
complicated document and will likely place more responsibilities on the Tenant, reflecting their longer
stewardship of the landowners property.
In Scotland, a lease cannot be any longer than 175 years. Essentially both Landlord and Tenant need to
agree terms which protect their rights and require the other one to perform certain agreed acts which reflect
their relative roles in looking after the land over the course of the lease. A lease allows the use of land
owned by someone else in return for payment and stewardship of that land.
Agricultural Tenancies are a specialised form of lease for use where a farming business is involved and are
both lengthy and complex. It is unlikely you will need one of these if you or your tenant simply wish to grow
on a small scale and a Landlord will avoid creating one because of the law which gives protection to
farming businesses.
Leases of allotments are another complicated area of law, though with fewer difficulties in practice. If you
are in any doubt on this, or indeed any other matter to do with a lease, please take legal advice.
Do I need a lawyer?
On this website you will find lease templates which may be useful as a negotiation tool to begin to agree
the terms of the use of land. Use it to discuss between the landlord and tenant how you both want to
approach the arrangement and then use those agreed terms to instruct your lawyer(s).
Once you sign a contract, you can be bound to all the terms of that contract AND to any law in relation to it,
whether written into the document or not. A solicitor should clearly explain your rights and responsibilities in
relation to both a proposed lease and any relevant law. Additionally, a solicitor will check that the landowner
really does own the land and is in a position to grant a lease. He or she will also be able to consider the
legal status of a community group and their ability to enter into a lease.
It is therefore always advisable to take legal advice before entering into any agreement, especially one with
responsibilities and financial consequences over a period of years. However, we hope the sample leases
and Heads of Terms suggested here will help with negotiations and to minimise the legal advice required.
www.communitylandadvice.org.uk
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Who Can Sign a Lease?
That will depend on who or what the tenant or landlord is. If the tenant/landlord is to be you as an
individual, you can sign. If the landlord is a company or partnership, your solicitor will check their authorised
signatories. If the tenant is to be a community group, then who can sign will depend on the terms of the
group’s constitution; it would be usual for the current office-bearers to have authority to sign on the groups
behalf. You can find advice on model constitutions at Grantnet.
Further Information:
Search the CLAS website at www.communitylandadvice.org.uk under the topic Leases for more
information. There are also FAQs on the website aimed at new community growing groups, existing
community growing groups and landowners, which feature information on leases.
Feedback
We are keen to get your feedback on this and any of our FAQs. Whether you found the advice useful or
think there are questions to be added, please spare a few moments to help us improve our services by
calling your local CLAS advisor or using the feedback form at: www.communitylandadvice.org.uk
www.communitylandadvice.org.uk
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