Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

HM Land Registry definition

What does HM Land Registry mean? HM Land Registry (HMLR) is the public body that maintains the digital register of title to land and property in England and Wales under the Land Registration Act 2002. In practice, conveyancers and lenders use HMLR to verify and register ownership, mortgages/charges, leases, easements, restrictions and notices; to obtain official copies of the title register and title plan; to lodge applications for first registration and for the registration of transfers, leases and legal charges (including via e-AP1); and to protect priority through OS1/OS2 searches. The register benefits from a state-backed guarantee of title and an indemnity scheme. HMLR also administers...

Merger of Lease and Reversion: legal principles, effects on charges, underleases, covenants and easements, and HM Land Registry procedures (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Property expert

Practice notes

Merger

A lease can be determined by merger when the lease and the reversion are brought together in a single person who holds both in the same capacity. That said, merger does not follow automatically from such vesting. It is a question of intention, and where there is no direct evidence, the default presumption is that no merger was intended. Signs of a contrary intention have been found where:

the tenant has not asked hm land registry to merge its freehold and leasehold titles; and
merger would strip the tenant of the benefit of valuable easements.

Where no merger occurs, the reversion and the lease continue as separate estates and can be dealt with independently (e.g. assigned or charged) by their common owner(s). All rights and burdens attaching to each estate pass to any successor in title of that estate.

Charge over leasehold

Where the leasehold interest is subject to a charge, it is uncertain whether merger can occur. As a general rule, merger turns on intention...

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Web page updated on 27/05/2026

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