The final steps in granting a lease — execution, tax and registration — which determine whether the tenant ends up with a legal estate or something far more fragile.
A lease is only as secure as the formalities that follow its agreement, and a missed deadline at this stage can reduce a carefully negotiated term to an equitable interest. This chapter begins with completion itself — execution as a deed, the counterpart arrangement, the short-lease exception and lender's consent — then the priority and land charges searches that protect the tenant before completion. It moves through SDLT and LTT on the grant, including the rent and premium elements, filing deadlines and the certificate without which registration cannot proceed. It closes with the term thresholds that govern registration, how shorter leases are protected, the difference between absolute and good leasehold title, and what becomes of a lease that is never registered or never made by deed at all.
