BLM21320 - Defining long funding leases: funding leases that are not long funding leases: short leases: excluded leases: meaning of background plant or machinery

The ‘ background plant or machinery for a building’ is plant or machinery:

• of a type that might reasonably be expected to be installed in or on the sites of various types of building, and
• whose sole or main purpose is to contribute to making the building or its site usable as an environment within which activities can be carried on.

Note that, although the land that is leased with the plant or machinery must include a building, the background plant or machinery could be outside the building as long as it contributes to making the building or its site usable as an environment within which activities can be carried on.

The purpose of this definition is to capture plant or machinery such as lifts and central heating that is found in many types of building and without which the building would not be useful for any purpose. By itself, this definition might be unclear and so greater certainty is added by Statutory Instrument 2007/303, see BLM21325 onwards.