Leave and Licence Agreement Format in Word

A leave and licence grants permission to occupy without creating a tenancy interest in the property. It is the standard residential arrangement in Maharashtra and is used elsewhere too, precisely because the legal position on recovering possession differs from a lease.

The distinction is not decorative. If the document reads like a lease — exclusive possession, tenancy language, a transferable interest — a court may treat it as one regardless of the title on the first page.

This draft keeps the licence language consistent throughout, which is the single thing most downloaded formats get wrong.

What is in the file

• Licence-consistent drafting throughout — licensor, licensee, compensation rather than rent, and no grant of exclusive possession
• Interest-free refundable security deposit with a defined return timeline
• Licence fee, escalation, term and renewal
• Revocation, lock-in and notice as mutual obligations
• Maintenance split, society compliance and access
• Inventory and joint inspection schedules
• Registration block, since several states require registration of leave and licence agreements

Keep the language consistent

Licensor and licensee, not landlord and tenant. Compensation or licence fee, not rent. Permission to use and occupy, not a demise of the premises. A document that mixes the two vocabularies is the easiest thing in the world for the other side to attack.

Do not grant exclusive possession in the drafting

A licence is permission to occupy alongside the licensor's retained control. The access clause here is deliberately drafted to preserve that, which is why it reads differently from the equivalent clause in a lease.

Register it where required

Several states require registration of leave and licence agreements, with a specific stamp duty formula based on the compensation and the deposit. Maharashtra in particular has a well-established online registration process.

Confirm the requirement and the formula locally — an unregistered agreement where registration was mandatory is a weak position to be in.

Filled-in sample

A worked example of the licence-specific fields. Every name, address and figure here is invented for illustration — it is a SAMPLE, not a real agreement.

The same sample is on the last page of the download, after the blank draft.

State-by-state notes

What the official state and central sources say, read on the dates shown. Rates and rules change by notification — confirm on the linked page, or with the sub-registrar, on the day.

State	What the official source says
Maharashtra	Leave and licence up to 60 months: stamp duty 0.25% of the total of the licence fee, any non-refundable deposit, and notional interest at 10% a year on the refundable deposit (Article 36A, in force since 1 May 2013). Over 60 months it is charged as a lease. Source: Maharashtra Stamp Act schedule, master copy dt 31.07.2026, checked 19 September 2026
All states (central law)	The Registration Act makes registration compulsory for leases of immovable property from year to year, for any term exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent — the reason most residential agreements run for 11 months. Source: Registration Act 1908, s.17(1)(d) (IGR Maharashtra copy), checked 19 September 2026
Other states	Most states do not have a separate leave-and-licence article; the agreement is usually stamped as a lease or rent agreement. See the state-by-state rent notes on the rent agreement page. Source: Rent agreement format — state notes, checked 19 September 2026

States not listed are left out because their current figures could not be confirmed on an official source — not because nothing applies there.

Questions

This is a working template, not legal, tax or financial advice. Requirements differ by state and by transaction — have a lawyer and a chartered accountant confirm anything that matters before you or a client rely on it.