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the Compton group - ground rent
jucie_lucie
Posts: 32 Forumite
Hi All,
I've seen quite a few threads about the Compton group on this forum, but none for a while so thought I'd start a new thread.
My boyfriend and I bought a leasehold semi-detached house in Cheadle, Greater Manchester last December. We were told by the estate agent that the ground rent hadn't been collected in years, and the previous owners claimed they didn't even know who owned the freehold, so we thought that the property being leasehold wouldn't affect us at all.
A couple of months after moving in, we received a letter from the Compton group asking for ground rent of £4 a year. I paid it, and also contacted them to ask how much it would be for us to buy the freehold.
A month later, I have had no quote for the freehold, but have had a letter demanding that we pay them £60 for 'notice of transfer'.
We bought the house (in a very, very run-down state) as a project and so, as you can imagine, don't have much spare money. I do not want to pay this £60 unless we have to. I also don't want to have to pay ridiculous fees if we want to do any building work in a few years, as we are hoping to do.
Please can anyone let me know if they can actually make us pay them £60? I have checked the original lease (from 1936) and it states that the transfer fee is 'ten shillings and six pence' (about 50p according to my dad). The ground rent (£4) is the same as it was in 1936 (no inflation), so surely this fee should be the same??
If anyone also has any general advice about buying the freehold I would be really grateful. I'm expecting it to be about £500 (is this about right? - 924 yrs left on the lease), in which case we would buy it to get rid of the Compton group. However, we have no idea whether we'd have to get a solicitor to act on our behalf to purchase the freehold - if we did, this would escalate the costs to well over £1000. Does anyone know if we would need a solicitor??
Many thanks in advance,
Lucie
I've seen quite a few threads about the Compton group on this forum, but none for a while so thought I'd start a new thread.
My boyfriend and I bought a leasehold semi-detached house in Cheadle, Greater Manchester last December. We were told by the estate agent that the ground rent hadn't been collected in years, and the previous owners claimed they didn't even know who owned the freehold, so we thought that the property being leasehold wouldn't affect us at all.
A couple of months after moving in, we received a letter from the Compton group asking for ground rent of £4 a year. I paid it, and also contacted them to ask how much it would be for us to buy the freehold.
A month later, I have had no quote for the freehold, but have had a letter demanding that we pay them £60 for 'notice of transfer'.
We bought the house (in a very, very run-down state) as a project and so, as you can imagine, don't have much spare money. I do not want to pay this £60 unless we have to. I also don't want to have to pay ridiculous fees if we want to do any building work in a few years, as we are hoping to do.
Please can anyone let me know if they can actually make us pay them £60? I have checked the original lease (from 1936) and it states that the transfer fee is 'ten shillings and six pence' (about 50p according to my dad). The ground rent (£4) is the same as it was in 1936 (no inflation), so surely this fee should be the same??
If anyone also has any general advice about buying the freehold I would be really grateful. I'm expecting it to be about £500 (is this about right? - 924 yrs left on the lease), in which case we would buy it to get rid of the Compton group. However, we have no idea whether we'd have to get a solicitor to act on our behalf to purchase the freehold - if we did, this would escalate the costs to well over £1000. Does anyone know if we would need a solicitor??
Many thanks in advance,
Lucie
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