Ground Rent Payments

pjt201

Hello,

I have recently received an invoice for ground rent adressed to the previous owner but one of my property. The charge is minimal (£3/year as per the original lease) and claimed for the previous five years (which is the extent to which the ground rent can be claimed as I understand).

While I have no doubt that this rent is due, there are no details registered with the Land Registry of the party claiming to be the current freehold owner. Only those of the original lease and parties to that lease. Would it be unreasonable/a mistake to write to the party claiming the ground rent to ask them to demonstrate their right to make such a claim?

Also at the end of their invoice they state that if there is a different leaseholder there may be a registration fee payable "as per the terms of the lease". Again this registration fee is not set out in the original lease, so should I ask them to demonstrate why this is payable?

The original lease has 800 years remaining so I see no benefit in trying to buy this out.

TrickyDicky101

Why do you care? It's too little to even be bothered replying. They aren't going to start legal proceedings to recover £15 (whoever 'they' are). The only time this could be an issue is when you come to sell the property (and let's face it £15, £30, £45 then is peanuts)

G_M

I would be inclined to sort out the legal anomalies to save future problems (further claims, sale of property etc).

That means
1) establishing for sure who the current freeholder is and
2) registering with them your ownership of the lease (which should have been done when you purchased - did you use a solicitor or do the conveyancing yourself?)

A claim for ground rent must be in the prescribed form to be valid - was it?

If no registration fee is mentioned, it cannot be charged. However there may be a more general clause about fees for administartion?

there are no details registered with the Land Registry of the party claiming to be the current freehold owner

.
So who IS registered at the LR as the freeholder?

pjt201

Hi G_M, thanks for your advice. I do want to sort this out as it may become a problem in the future/when looking to sell.

Conveyancing was carried out by a solicitor and the registered leaseholder is the original party to the lease signed in 1888. The original lease contains no fee for registration (however I now know i'm not allowed to keep livestock ).

The title has been registered with Land Registry and as good leasehold title.

G_M

pjt201 wrote: »

Hi G_M, thanks for your advice. I do want to sort this out as it may become a problem in the future/when looking to sell.

Conveyancing was carried out by a solicitor and the registered leaseholder is the original party to the lease signed in 1888. The original lease contains no fee for registration (however I now know i'm not allowed to keep livestock ).

The title has been registered with Land Registry and as good leasehold title.

It is the registered freeholder you need to identify.

You should be the registered leaseholder. If you are not, you do not own the property and your solicitor has messed up twice!

Are you sure you downloaded the freehold Title from the LR, or did you look at the lease?

Land_Registry

pjt201 wrote: »

Conveyancing was carried out by a solicitor and the registered leaseholder is the original party to the lease signed in 1888.
The title has been registered with Land Registry and as good leasehold title.

A Good Leasehold title can be registered in several situations and the most common is when no evidence is supplied as to the Freeholder/Landlord's title.

The registration of the actual lease will probably have been triggered by it's purchase some years ago BUT the freehold has perhaps never been registered. The Good Leasehold title will have been based on the lease as lodged, namely the 1888 lease and the particulars of the lease entered accordingly.

In the circumstances your suggestion to contact the party claiming the ground rent to prove their right to do so would seem a reasonable next step as tracing the ownership from 1888 to the present date may prove impossible but tracing the details back in time is likely to be easier.

fred7777

You need to sort out who is the freeholder, if only because when you come to sell the buyers solicitor may insist on contacting the freeholder to make sure no money is owing on the ground rent.

As there is no registration fee for changing the leaseholder listed in the lease don't get into an argument with them by asking them to demonstrate why they can charge a fee just point out they can't in your case.