Long site lease: template
A fill-in-the-blanks 99-year ground lease for one site on land you keep. Fill the blanks, delete what does not apply, and have a solicitor check it before anyone signs.
This is the shape most community land projects end up using in practice: you stay the owner, and each household gets a long lease over a defined site. You keep the land, you control who comes next, and the deal on the ground is governed by the document you wrote rather than by goodwill.
Use it this way. Sections 1–11 are the lease. Section 12 lists the clauses that actually get used and why — read that before you edit anything, because the clauses that look like formality are the ones that end up in front of a solicitor.
1. The parties
This lease is made between [landowner name], of [address] ("the landlord"), and [tenant name], of [address] ("the tenant").
2. The site
The landlord leases to the tenant the site shown outlined in red on the map attached as Schedule 1, being approximately [area] and forming part of the landlord's lands at [townland / folio reference] ("the site").
The site is leased together with the rights of access and services set out in Schedule 2, and excluding [anything retained — e.g. the adjoining paddock, the shared borehole, the right to run stock on the site].
3. Term
The term is [99] years from [commencement date], expiring on [end date], unless ended earlier under clause 11.
On expiry, the tenant [removes the buildings / is entitled to renew / has no compensation for buildings]. Say which, plainly. Leaving this open is how a family ends up arguing about a house in ninety-nine years' time.
4. Rent
| Amount | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Initial rent | € per year | Payable [annually / quarterly, in advance] from [date] |
| Review | [state the mechanism: fixed review date / index-linked / a single rent for the whole term] | Every [number] years |
| Payment method | Standing order to [bank details / account] | — |
Rent must be demanded, and non-payment is not the same as breach of the building or repairing obligations. Price the rent deliberately: it sets who can afford the site for the next ninety-nine years, not just this year.
5. Permitted use
The tenant may use the site only for [residential use and a single dwelling / residential use plus a growing area and outbuildings / mixed residential and small-scale horticulture], and for no other purpose without the landlord's written consent.
The tenant shall not use the site for [short-term letting / commercial vehicle storage / anything the planning permission does not permit].
6. Building obligations
- The tenant shall build [one single-storey dwelling of no more than X square metres, plus outbuildings] on the site, substantially in accordance with the planning permission granted under reference [planning reference] and the plans attached as Schedule 3.
- Building shall start within [number] months and be substantially complete within [number] months of commencement.
- The tenant shall comply with every condition of the planning permission and with the building regulations, and shall provide the landlord with copies of the certificates on completion.
- The tenant shall provide and maintain [wastewater treatment / a water supply / access] to the site at the tenant's own cost, and shall maintain it after completion.
Do not skip the building obligation. Without a start-and-complete clause and a build standard, a tenant who never builds still holds the site for the full term, and the landlord has no remedy that does not end in court. This is the clause that keeps the site being used for what it was let for.
7. Repairing and maintaining
- The tenant shall keep the buildings, boundaries and the site itself in good repair and condition, and shall keep the access route [clear / in good order / shared with the other tenants].
- The landlord shall repair and maintain [state what stays with the landlord — e.g. the shared access lane, the water main, the boundary hedges on the outer perimeter], and may recover the cost as [a service charge, apportioned between the tenants].
- Neither party may make a material alteration to the site's external appearance without the other's written consent.
8. Insurance
- The tenant shall insure the dwelling and all buildings on the site against fire and the usual perils, for full reinstatement value, and shall insure against public liability in respect of the site.
- The landlord shall insure the land and any retained structures.
- Each shall produce evidence of cover on request, and shall tell the other if a policy lapses or is cancelled.
9. Assignment, subletting and exit
| Action | What is allowed | Consent |
|---|---|---|
| Selling the lease | [permitted / permitted only to a person who meets the criteria in Schedule 4] | [landlord's written consent, not to be unreasonably withheld] |
| Landlord's pre-emption | The landlord [does / does not] have the right to buy back the lease at market value before it is offered to anyone else | — |
| Subletting | [not permitted / permitted only with written consent] | — |
| Succession on death | The lease passes to [the tenant's personal representatives / a named successor who meets the criteria] | — |
Say what happens on exit. On assignment or ending, the outgoing tenant [sells the lease and buildings at market value / is bought out at a valuation under clause 10 / removes their buildings]. An exit clause that says "to be agreed" is not a clause.
10. Dispute resolution
- Talk first. The parties shall meet within [14] days of a written notice of dispute, with or without a facilitator agreed by both.
- Then mediation. If not resolved within [30] days, the dispute goes to a mediator appointed by agreement, or by [the body named here], and the parties share the cost equally.
- Then a decision. If mediation fails, the dispute is decided by [arbitration / the courts]. This is the line that stops a disagreement becoming a multi-year legal bill, so write it before you need it.
11. Forfeiture: what ends the lease early
The landlord may end this lease, on written notice, if:
- rent is unpaid for more than [number] days after it is due;
- the tenant has not started or completed building within the periods in clause 6;
- the tenant uses the site for a purpose not permitted by clause 5;
- the tenant fails to insure or to repair, and does not remedy that within [number] days of written notice;
- the tenant becomes insolvent.
Before forfeiting, the landlord shall give [28] days' written notice and an opportunity to remedy, except where the breach cannot be remedied. On forfeiture, the buildings [revert to the landlord / are valued and paid for by the landlord / are removed by the tenant].
Caution: forfeiture is governed by statute as well as by this lease. A court can grant relief against forfeiture, and some occupiers have statutory protection whatever the lease says. A contractual re-entry clause is not the whole story — take advice before acting on it.
12. The clauses that actually get used
- Start-and-complete dates. The only defence against a site held forever without a house on it.
- Repairing obligations that name who repairs what. Vague repairing wording is the most common reason neighbours in a shared-land project stop speaking.
- The exit clause. How someone leaves, and what they are paid for the buildings, decides whether anyone will ever join.
- The dispute ladder. Talk, then mediation, then arbitration or court — in that order, with the time limits filled in.
- A named consequence for non-payment. Otherwise a late rent becomes a policy debate.
13. What this route does and does not give you
Why it is usually the right answer on a small holding:
- You keep the asset and control of who comes next.
- There is no stamp duty and no gift tax on a transfer of the freehold, because the freehold never moves — those taxes land on a transfer of the land, and here there is none. But a lease is not a tax-free instrument, and this is the part people get wrong. A lease is chargeable in its own right under the LEASE head of Schedule 1: for a term of over 35 and up to 100 years the rate on the rent is 6 per cent, and a lease granted at a nominal or below-market rent brings a notional premium into charge on top of the rent. A lease at less than market value can also be treated as a deemed voluntary disposition, which may have gift-tax consequences. Budget for it, and get the tax point confirmed in writing before you grant a 99-year lease. (Revenue, Stamp Duty Manual Part 5: Leases) (Revenue, consanguinity relief manual) (CAT rates and thresholds) Compare that with the roughly 30% tax bill on gifting freehold sites to unrelated people.
- Everything is governed by the lease you wrote, rather than by company law.
Why it fails in practice — read this twice. A house built on a leasehold site cannot easily be mortgaged. Most Irish lenders will not lend against it, so you are asking people to pay cash or self-build. And the person or body holding the land becomes a permanent property manager, whether or not anyone wants that job.
Do not draft this yourself. A badly drafted site lease — no repairing obligations, no dispute clause, no exit — is worse than no lease at all. Take this template to a solicitor, and take the tax point to an accountant. Before you grant anything, every dwelling still needs its own planning permission, a wastewater solution that passes site suitability, a water supply and safe access; a site that cannot percolate cannot be built on, whatever the lease says.
14. Signature
Signed by the landlord: [name] — Date: [ ]
Signed by the tenant: [name] — Date: [ ]
Witnessed by: [name] — Date: [ ]
Schedules attached: [map / rights of access / planning permission and plans / criteria for a future tenant / rent review mechanism]
One page of clear clauses beats ninety-nine years of goodwill. Fill it in, have it checked once, and reuse the wording for every site on the land. If you ever need to enforce it, there will be no argument about what was agreed.
Selling the idea to a household? The reasoning behind all four ways of sharing land — and the tax next to each — is in Who owns the land? A companion template for people who own land together outright is the co-ownership agreement.
Not legal advice. This is a template and a set of drafting prompts, not a document to sign as it stands. Leases, tax and planning rules change, and every site is different. Have a solicitor draft or approve the lease, and get the tax position in writing, before anyone signs or builds.
Free to copy, adapt and pass on.