Retail Lease Registration in NSW
In NSW, the landlord must lodge a retail lease of more than 3 years, including options, for registration. We prepare the lease for registration and lodge it electronically.
- Fixed fee, confirmed before we start.
- Lodged electronically with NSW Land Registry Services.
- For landlords and tenants.
When a retail lease must be registered
Retail lease registration in NSW is the landlord’s responsibility. Under section 16 of the Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW), the landlord must lodge the lease for registration if the term, including options, is more than 3 years, or if the parties agreed to register it. The landlord must lodge it within 3 months after the tenant returns the signed lease. The period is extended for delays in getting a head landlord’s or mortgagee’s consent. Missing the deadline is an offence.
We explain the deadline in more detail in our guide to the 3 month lease registration deadline.
How registration works
Leases are registered on the title to the property with NSW Land Registry Services. Lodgment is electronic.
To register, you usually need:
- the lease in a form the registry accepts, signed by the landlord and tenant
- the mortgagee’s consent, if the property is mortgaged. Since October 2021 the registry doesn’t need it to register a lease, but it is still usually obtained so the mortgagee is bound by the lease
- a plan of the leased area in some cases, such as a lease of part of a property
- the government registration fee
What happens if it isn’t registered
An unregistered lease is still binding between the landlord and the tenant. The risk arises if the property is sold or the mortgagee takes possession. An unregistered lease of more than 3 years may not bind a buyer or mortgagee, which can put the tenant’s term and options at risk.
A tenant can lodge a caveat to give notice of its interest, but registration is the cleaner fix. For a landlord, lodging on time meets the Act’s requirement and removes an issue the tenant could raise later.
Costs
The Act limits which lease costs a landlord can pass on to a tenant. In particular, the landlord can’t recover its legal costs of preparing the lease from the tenant. Government registration fees are not part of those costs, so the lease usually says who pays them.
What we do
We check the lease is in registrable form, request the mortgagee’s consent, arrange a plan if one is needed and lodge the lease. If the lease hasn’t been signed yet, we can prepare the lease with registration built in.
For tenants, we can follow up a landlord who hasn’t registered, or lodge a caveat.
Questions
Something else? Enquire online or email us.
Does a lease of 3 years or less need registering?
Usually not, unless the parties agreed to register it. The term counts any option periods, so a 1 year lease with a 3 year option is over 3 years. A shorter lease can still be registered by choice.
The landlord hasn't registered our lease. What can we do?
Ask the landlord in writing to lodge it for registration. A tenant can also lodge a caveat to give notice of its interest. We can prepare either.
Need a lease registered?
Send us the signed lease and the property details and we'll tell you whether it needs registering.
- Fixed fees.
- Online, Australia-wide.
- Landlords and tenants.