What is ground rent & why is it on freehold property?

ScouseIrish

Hi,

I'm due to exchange contracts by Wednesday on a repo and have just been issued the contract and special conditions. One which caught my eye was:

"10a - if the Seller is unable to trace the current Lessor/landlord by the completion date, failure to obtain the consent of the Lessor/ Landlord shall not entitle the Buyer to refuse to complete the contract..." There is a bit more to this but its just filler! The bit that worries me is:

"10b - If the name and address of the person entitled to collect the ground rent/rent charge is not known to the Seller or the Seller is otherwise unable to discharge the rent payments up to the date of completion the Buyer will, if required by the Seller, accept payment of a sum equivilant to six years rent allocated to the property, to discharge all liability for rent on the part of the Seller"

The house is a freehold so their shouldn't be a Lessor/Landlord. Its all legal speak but worries me - is this normal stuff?

Thanks

SplanK

you would be best to clear this up with your solicitor... they will be able to advise you if the house is free or lease hold and what charges there are (if any)

Richard_Webster

They will probably be using a one size fits all contract that has conditions to deal with all sorts of eventualities and types of property. If the property is freehold (and is not subject to a rentcharge - unlikley but possible - check with your solicitor) these clauses will simply not be applicable because there won't be any issues about ground rent etc.