Section 681BM: Lease, lessee, lessor and rent
1028.This section concerns the meaning of “lease”, “lessee”, “lessor” and “rent”. It is based on sections 24(1) and (6) and 780(8) of ICTA.
1029.Subsection (3) says that “lease” does not include a mortgage. This is based on section 24(1) of ICTA as applied by section 780(8) of ICTA. In fact, section 24(1) of ICTA says that a lease includes neither a mortgage nor a heritable security. A “heritable security” is the Scottish equivalent of a mortgage, although post-1970 heritable securities take the form of a standard security. Subsection (6), which is new, states that in the application of the section to Scotland, “mortgage” includes the Scottish equivalents.
1030.Accordingly, subsection (3) has to be read as if it said that a lease includes neither a mortgage nor the Scottish equivalents. Subsection (3) therefore achieves the same effect as the source legislation, even though subsection (6) is a definition of the Scottish equivalents that contains more detail than the words “mortgage or heritable security” in section 24(1) of ICTA. The approach is the same as that already taken for income tax purposes when the definition of “lease” in section 24(1) of ICTA was rewritten in sections 364(1) and 879(1) of ITTOIA.