Peppercorn rent and the silent leaseholder

eddddy

nicegirl said:

What happens when you move though, don't you have to have proof it's paid? (I know that's the case with service charges etc.)

When you sell, the freeholder will be asked if any ground rent or service charge is owed. If it is, you can pay it then. So that won't be a problem.

(But if you receive a bill for ground rent or service charge - you should pay it, to avoid late fees, solicitors fees and legal action.)

Davesnave

nicegirl said:

Davesnave said:

We never paid our £5 p.a. ground rent in the 10 years we owned our leasehold house. It's a little late for anyone to come after us now, as we moved in 1987!

What happens when you move though, don't you have to have proof it's paid? (I know that's the case with service charges etc.)

People were not so risk-averse in 1987. The fact that we may have owed £50 wouldn't have bothered anyone much, especially as the freeholder was a local charitable trust with offices a stone's throw from our solicitors.Apparently, they didn't want to collect the money. Perhaps the admin costs outweighed any advantage in doing so.

Takmon

nicegirl said:

We've lived in our house for five years, paying a peppercorn rent every January. For the first three years an estate agent, acting on behalf of the leaseholder, sent us an invoice in December and we paid it in early January. In the fourth year, we didn't receive an invoice. I made several calls to the estate agent and was always told 'we will look into it and call you back'. No one did. Eventually I spoke to someone there who told me that the person who looks after the leasehold accounts had left suddenly and left them pretty much in the lurch. We agreed that on this occasion I would just make the payment to the bank account using a previous invoice and they would send me a receipt. They didn't - however I wasn't worried as I have the proof of payment from my bank account.
This year again we received no invoice. This time I just sent the payment to the bank account, however it was returned by their bank. I have called several times, and each time I'm told someone will look into it and call me back. No one does. They have confirmed that they have indeed changed bank accounts. All I have asked for is confirmation of the new bank account - either in writing or email. It's a small, local estate agent who have terrible reviews on Google regarding their customer service. (Not local enough for me to be able to see them in person, before it's suggested.)
I'm not really sure what to do next. We have put the money to one side, but would obviously rather pay it! Can anyone advise what we should do next please?

A peppercorn rent mean you literally have to pay a peppercorn so i don't see how you have sent a peppercorn via bank transfer  ... Out of interest how much is this annual ground rent? I can't see how it can be described as a peppercorn rent but then the value be large enough to have to put aside the money?