Peppercorn Rent

peppercorn_rent

Please help
For 4 years i was on a peppercorn rent. The lease on the property I live in is 99 years.The landlord asked me to sign a shorthold tenancy agreement, to claim housing benefit and pay him £320 per month rent as he has hit hard times and now needs money ?
Is this allowed I am a 73 year old widowed pensioner !

saajan_12

We'd need more information to help..
* Date you moved in
* Dates you signed any agreements / paid any rent
* Type of agreement you signed (assured tenancy? AST?)
* Where you live (England/Wales/Scotland/Northern Ireland)
* Is the 99year lease between you and your landlord (if so, what does it say about rent) or is it between your landlord and the freeholder?

elverson

Also, do you own the property as leasehold or are you a tenant?

Mr.Generous

Is it rent or ground rent? how much do you pay per month and what's the property like? what are rents like in the area?

HouseBuyer77

The landlord asked me to sign a shorthold tenancy agreement, to claim housing benefit and pay him £320 per month rent as he has hit hard times and now needs money ?

To me this sounds like the landlord is trying to setup some kind of scam. OP lives in property (being a leaseholder) paying very little. Freeholder is trying to browbeat them into signing up to an AST then assuring them it won't actually cost them any money because they can claim housing benefit. Though I don't think the AST would be valid assuming the OP is the leaseholder the freeholder cannot give them an AST unless the freeholder is also trying to get them to sign away the lease.

Did you actually purchase the property or simply start renting it at a low rent? If the latter I guess you may be on a tenancy that isn't an AST and has limited scope for either evicting you or raising rent. Either way sounds like the landlord is trying it on and you shouldn't sign anything!

G_M

peppercorn_rent wrote: »

Please help
For 4 years i was on a peppercorn rent. The lease on the property I live in is 99 years.

Do you own this lease? Are you the leaseholder?
If you download the leasehold Title from the Land Registry (£3 here), are you the neamed owner?

If the answer to the above is "yes", then you do not eed to do anything, sign anything or pay anything.

If the answer is "No", then the peppercorn rent and 99 year lease are irrelevant, so why tell us?

Additionally, if the answer is "No", then are you a tenant? Give full details of your tenancy agrement.

teddysmum

Also, why was the rent peppercorn, as this kind of agreement is usually in exchange for some benefit in kind, such as caretaking or work without payment ?


It does seem odd that the landlord wants someone else to claim aid so he/she can benefit and there's also the consideration that housing benefit may not cover the whole amount, especially if the premises are large and occupied by just one person.