Cross-Lease Title

A Cross-Lease Title is different from a regular Fee Simple Title because an owner of a Cross-Lease Title owns:

• an undivided share as a Tenant in Common in the Fee Simple of the whole land which the houses (described as flats) have been built on.

• a leasehold estate, normally for 999 years, which is defined as the outline of the flat/house on the land. For example, if there are three flats/houses on the land each owner would have a one-third share in the fee simple estate of the land and all three owners would lease the flats/houses from one another. The leases between each owner provide the owners with exclusive right to occupy their own flat/house. Cross-Lease Titles are particularly common in Auckland and it is important to know what rights you have if you own Cross-lease Title.