12. Scouts Leases 1997 (& 2014)

The second formal arrangement relating to occupation of the site concerns the Scout headquarters.

Unlike the Social Club, which operated under a licence, the Scouts occupy their building under a leasehold arrangement. This reflects the fact that the Scout group funded and constructed their own headquarters on part of the site.

The building was brought into use in 1986. A formal lease was subsequently completed in 1997, over ten years later, granting a long-term lease at a nominal (peppercorn) rent.

The lease is between Mulbarton Parish Council, as freehold title holder, and the Scout Association (acting in a trustee capacity for the local Scout charity) as tenant.

The arrangement provides the Scout charity with security of tenure for its building, which is typical where an organisation has invested its own funds in constructing premises.

A further lease was completed in 2014, replacing the earlier agreement. This was formalised by a deed of surrender of the 1997 lease and the grant of a new lease on updated terms.

The leasehold interest has been registered at the Land Registry.

Observations from the Record

The documentation relating to the site shows that:

• the Scout headquarters has been treated as a separately occupied part of the wider site
• occupation has been on the basis of a long-term lease at nominal rent
• payments under the lease have been limited to nominal sums over the life of the arrangement

Further details of the lease terms are not reproduced here. Copies of the relevant agreements may be obtained from the Parish Council.