Errr.. am I freehold or Leashold ?

jbrennand

I am not certain whether my property is Freehold or Leasehold. I have lived here for 30 years and never paid any "rent".

The deeds say...

1) The freehold land shown edged in red on the attached plan.
However in CHARGES REGISTER it says..

The land in the title is subject to a perpetual yearly rentcharge of £5 dated 8/8/1933 created by a covenance between Mr X & Mr Y (assume Y is original buyer)

Deed also contains said covenants

20/Sep/1996 REGISTERD CHARGES june 1996 to secure the moneys including the further advances therin mentioned

20/Sep1996 Proprieter Northern Rock BS.

So, does this mean that the leasehold was bought out by me when I remortgaged with Northern Rock ?
How can I find out ?
A quick (free) search on the Land Registry site lists the property as "Freehold"" but no data to support that.

Thanks John

elverson

What sort of property is it? Old, new, house, flat?

jbrennand

elverson wrote: »

What sort of property is it? Old, new, house, flat?

Its a 1932 semi-detached house.
We bought it in June 1989

andrewjb3

You can have a nominal rentcharge (sometimes called chief rent) on a freehold property. These are to be abandoned in 2032 (I think it is..) The house must be older than the 70's. They're common in the North West and a couple of other areas in the UK (thought I can't remember where!)

It could be one of those!

jbrennand

andrewjb3 wrote: »

They're common in the North West and a couple of other areas in the UK (thought I can't remember where!)
It could be one of those!

I am in Manchester

jbrennand

andrewjb3 wrote: »

It could be one of those!

Also begs my original question - who or what agency knows this for sure ? Is it the Land Registry ?

John

andrewjb3

So.. it's freehold with a rentcharge. You should have had this dealt with when you purchased i.e. solicitor would have wanted to see that there were no arrears. (But might not have..!) It's not actually due until you receive a demand. And they can only go back 6 years if they've not claimed for it..

Lots of these have been sold off to companies which collect them. Or you (or someone) could have bought it out. Or the owner has died or simply doesn't think it's worth the effort for a fiver..

G_M

The clue is in the registered Title:

1) The freehold land shown edged in red

Could not be more clear.

Yes, it's subject to a historic annual rent charge. This does not alter the freehold status.

If no one has collected the rentcharge it does not have to be paid. A rentcharge claim can be back-dated 7 (or is it 6?) years, so £35 max. I assume that's not significant enough to worry you?

I assume in 1996 you took out a mortgage? That does not alter the freehold status.

jbrennand

G_M wrote: »

The clue is in the registered Title:

Could not be more clear.

Yes, it's subject to a historic annual rent charge. This does not alter the freehold status.

If no one has collected the rentcharge it does not have to be paid. A rentcharge claim can be back-dated 7 (or is it 6?) years, so £35 max. I assume that's not significant enough to worry you?

I assume in 1996 you took out a mortgage? That does not alter the freehold status.

Cheers that makes sense,

Davesnave

I had one of these on my freehold property. No one ever collected the rent charge; I assume because it was such a small amount relative to administration costs.

Rambosmum

andrewjb3 wrote: »

You can have a nominal rentcharge (sometimes called chief rent) on a freehold property. These are to be abandoned in 2032 (I think it is..) The house must be older than the 70's. They're common in the North West and a couple of other areas in the UK (thought I can't remember where!)

It could be one of those!

We have one of these, also Manchester. Again, no one has ever collected the rent. When we bout the property in 2008 we received a cheque from the vendors on completion for £3.60 to cover 6 years rent as they'd never paid either.