Has anyone heard of Freehold Managers Ltd?

ispartacus75 · 28 February 2006 at 11:27AM

My wife bought our house approx 9 1/2 years ago as a freehold property.

Since then every year we have had a letter from a company called Freehold Managers Ltd demanding £4.00 Chief Rent. We have spoken to them before and they told us that although the house is freehold that land that its on isnt.

The have offered us the option to buy the Chief Rent for £2240. As it has been such a small amount up to now my wife has just paid the £4.00 per year, but Im getting a bit sick of it.

As I have never bought a house before (my wife bought it before I met her) I dont really know whether something like this is common or not.

Does anyone have any comments or advice?

Thanks in advance

Paul

J_P_S · 28 February 2006 at 11:49AM

I hought the idea of buying freehold meant you owned the land and no rent, ive never heard of this before though.

im sure someone with more knowledge will post soon.

if its £4 a year, £2240 makes 560 years rent, why would anyone buy that?

Edna_Bucket_2 · 28 February 2006 at 12:02PM

I would agree with JPS on what "freehold" means. I've never heard of the term Chief Rent - which isn't to say it doesn't exist.

If these people had a case, surely it would have been detailed in the legal paperwork when you bought? You should go back and check that.

You could also check ownership with the Land Registry - it'll cost you £2, but you can check for sure here on the ownership:

http://www.landregisteronline.gov.uk/

There are only two companies listed by Companies House with similar names to these people:

FREEHOLD MANAGERS (NOMINEES) LIMITED
MOUNT MANOR HOUSE
16 THE MOUNT
GUILDFORD
SURREY GU2 4HS

and:

FREEHOLD MANAGERS PLC
LYNWOOD HOUSE
10 VICTORS WAY
BARNET
EN5 5TZ

If it is the latter, there is more info on them here:

http://www.solitairegroup.com/more.asp

Is it either of these? If not, it is sounding very dodgy indeed

mystic_trev · 28 February 2006 at 12:12PM

Hope this explains it to you all - and yes you have to pay it!

Chief rent

This is a small sum of money in rent payable by the owner of a freehold property to the Lord of the Manor (yes, really!). In the past Chief Rent was payable indefinitely but may now be redeemed by a lump sum payment.

It"s similar to the ground rent payable by a leaseholder

Edna_Bucket_2 · 28 February 2006 at 12:14PM

I've now found a couple of definitions of it:

CHIEF RENT
Similar to 'ground rent'. It refers to the payment of a small sum of money in rent payable by the owner of a freehold property to the Lord of the Manor. Chief Rent was payable indefinitely but may nowadays be redeemed by a lump sum payment.

and:

Chief Rent
An Annual charge on a Freehold property founding certain parts of the United Kingdom. The freeholder pays the chief rent forever although the amount cannot be changed or increased.

The only good thing is that if these people are legitimate, they can't raise it from your £4 it seems!

I'd still refer to my earlier point and check the legal details of the purchase. I'd also ask neighbours - from the definition it would seem that these rents are likely to occur on former estates that were built on. If that were the case you would for example expect everyone in your street to be paying it.

A remnant of the English class system by the look of it!

ispartacus75 · 28 February 2006 at 1:05PM

the paperwork is from the surrey company though payment has to be made to a London PO Box.

I do remember something about 4 of the neighbors having to pay chief rent, but neighbors of the other side (mid-terraced property) dont.

I will have to see if we can get a look at the legal papers. As I stated earlier my wife bought the property before I met her so I had nothing to do with the original purchase.

gerryfitz · 21 April 2007 at 1:32PM

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread.

I am trying to trace Freehold Managers PLC who have an address of
PO Box 2098,
London,
SE1 1WY

They hold the lease for the Ground Rent for my daughters flat. We know there must be a payment due, but despite writing to them to ask for an update on the situation, she has heard nothing from them.

I have telephoned the company trading as Freehold Managers PLC at the Barnet address and they say they have no connection with that PO Box address and it is not their firm?

Did anyone find a way of contacting the firm at the SE1 address?

As an ancillary question, how does she stand if this firm suddenly appears out of the woodwork saying she is in arrears etc. ,and claiming interest etc.?

GOP · 3 May 2007 at 7:16PM

Hi

Following recent changes to property and landlord and tenant acts they must serve notice to your daughter in a prescribed manner in order to collect their ground rent. This includes the address of the Landlord as required by Section 48 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1987.

The registered address of Freehold Managers PLC is:

FREEHOLD MANAGERS PLC
LYNWOOD HOUSE
10 VICTORS WAY
BARNET
EN5 5TZ

I suggest you write by registered post addressed to the Company Secretary and ask them for the details in order to pay the ground rent. However, given their internet track record it seems that they are not likely to respond........

Therefore you should be able to check the terms of the lease to see what the ground rent amount is and when it should be paid. Regardless of the terms in the lease, following recent changes in legislation it must be demanded in the correct form. Failure by the landlord to demand it in the prescribed format means you do not have to pay it until they demand it correctly. However, they'll possibly just claim they sent it and you didn't respond......and send you another one with a late payment charge.

The change in law came about because dodgy landlords didn't bother to send out demands and then demanded the ground rent with late payments charges to bump up their earnings from their portfolio's. Strangely enough, the practice seems to have continued reading various forums.......

perigee · 4 July 2007 at 1:12PM

Chief rents are an anachronism, left over from time immemorial. There is a procedure from buying them out through some Government agency, can't remember which one. I believe you pay about 10 times the rent and the owner has to accept it.

As far as lease rent payments are concerned, the law has changed and has been tightened up in favour of the lessee. Now a rent has to be demanded and it is no excuse on the part of the landlord to say that it got lost in the post. Check with neighbours - assuming they are lessees as well - and see whether they got a demand. I believe that you don't have to pay if rent isn't demanded - but PLS CHECK, because I'm not a lawyer

McKenzie_2 · 25 July 2007 at 10:16PM

ispartacus75 wrote: »

My wife bought our house approx 9 1/2 years ago as a freehold property.

Since then every year we have had a letter from a company called Freehold Managers Ltd demanding £4.00 Chief Rent. We have spoken to them before and they told us that although the house is freehold that land that its on isnt.

The have offered us the option to buy the Chief Rent for £2240. As it has been such a small amount up to now my wife has just paid the £4.00 per year, but Im getting a bit sick of it.

As I have never bought a house before (my wife bought it before I met her) I dont really know whether something like this is common or not.

Does anyone have any comments or advice?

Thanks in advance

Paul

Review of Freehold Managers Plc - see below link

http://www.touchguildford.com/business/list/bid/2247737#reviews

McKenzie_2 · 25 July 2007 at 10:19PM

If you are trying to trace Freehold Managers Plc - see below

http://www.touchguildford.com/business/list/bid/2247737#reviews

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Has anyone heard of Freehold Managers Ltd?

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