Approval of the commonhold plan

The plan forming part of the commonhold community statement (the plan) may be sent to Land Registry for 'approval' provided that the freehold is registered - approval cannot be given before the freehold is registered. Two copies of the plan are required.

There is no application form and no fee for this service. A covering letter will be accepted, and this should include the following information:

• either confirmation that development has commenced, and the likely completion date, or
• when development will commence and the likely completion date and
• when the CCS will be lodged.

The plan must be based on an accurate survey, be capable of reconciliation with the Ordnance Survey detail and be drawn to a quoted scale. The preferred scale is 1/500, although 1/1250 is acceptable provided that the extent of each unit can be seen clearly. The plan must be on paper no larger than A0 size.

Use of the terms "for identification only" or "do not scale from this drawing" are not acceptable. Neither must the plan show any disclaimer as to its accuracy.

Other requirements:

• all dimensions must be in metric form
• the boundaries of the commonhold land must be shown in relation to the boundaries of the freehold title
• the boundaries of the units must be shown in relation to the boundaries of the commonhold landthe extent of the each unit should be defined by colour references
• pathways and driveways must be shown if they form part of the boundary of a unit, and
• the number of each unit and its floor level must be shown.

The next page looks at preliminary services applications (Searches of the Index Map, Official Copies and Official Searches).