Q&As

Releasing Fixed & Floating Charges on Property Sales

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Produced in partnership with Chris Bryden of 4 King’s Bench Walk
Published on: 14 July 2020

Where land being sold for value is subject to a fixed and floating charge with negative pledge at Companies House in respect of a charge which is also registered at the HM Land Registry, is anything else required to release the charge and pledge over the property beside a DS2/electronic discharge of the charge and a certificate of non-crystallisation?

It is often the case that a company will secure borrowing by way of a fixed and/or a floating charge over its assets. A fixed charge is a charge that specifically relates to an asset, whereas a floating charge is one which crystallises into a fixed charge on the happening of a particular event. A negative pledge is an agreement not to give a charge or debenture to any other person.

A discharge of a charge is effected by either Form DS1 or Form DS3 (the latter relating to release of part of the land from a registered charge), which are completed by the lender. Form AP1 or Form DS2 must then be used to make the

Chris Bryden
Chris Bryden

Barrister, 4 King’s Bench Walk

Chris was called to the Bar in 2003 and since that time has built a busy practice across a range of areas, with an emphasis on Chancery practice. He enjoys a well-deserved reputation for his knowledge and expertise in each area. He appears regularly in the County Court, Family Court and the High Court as well as various specialist Tribunals, and has been involved in cases up to and including the Supreme Court. He regularly is instructed at Appellate level. He has extensive and wide-ranging experience particularly in the areas of wills, probate and inheritance disputes; property including adverse possession, boundary disputes and issues arising out of trusts of land; company and commercial work and financial remedies. Chris is head of the Family Group and head of the Property Team at 4KBW.

Chris is the author of numerous articles in publications such as the New Law Journal, Counsel and Family Law, amongst many other titles, and is the co-author of Social Media in the Workplace: A Handbook (2015, Jordan Publishing).

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Key definition:
Floating charge definition
What does Floating charge mean?

A charge held over assets that may not be fixed and may be changeable. Usually secured by way of a debenture.

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