Will a peppercorn lease remove existing easement ?

jimbo19

My daughter has a house with an easement to allow parking of cars on parish council land as the parcel of land is in front of her house so she would have no access if no easement. The local parish council are offering her a peppercorn lease on the land. If she took up their offer would she loose the existing easement if for any reason they removed the peppercorn lease ? 

After some free legal advise before she signs the peppercorn lease.

Many Thanks

Keep_pedalling

You won’t get legal advice on here, that will come from the solicitor she uses to purchase the lease. The lease will run for a fixed period of time, typically 99 years it can’t be taken away by the council unilaterally. 

user1977

jimbo19 said:

After some free legal advise before she signs the peppercorn lease.

Is she planning to sign a lease without getting (proper) legal advice?

jimbo19

What I really want to know is would the peppercorn rent affect the easement they already have on this strip of land (it’s a very small parcel of land adjacent to the property they own.)
The proposed peppercorn rent is for a relatively short period of 6 or 7 years and will then be renewed after that.

propertyrental

jimbo19 said:

What I really want to know is would the peppercorn rent affect the easement they already have on this strip of land (it’s a very small parcel of land adjacent to the property they own.)
The proposed peppercorn rent is for a relatively short period of 6 or 7 years and will may then be renewed after that.

I don't see how purchasing a lease on Plot A would affect easements existing on freehold land Plot B.

Given that the easement already allows daughter to park on Plot A, I also don't see what benefit the lease gives daughter - though there may be other factors here that you have not told us about.

jimbo19

It’s just to protect the land from anyone else possibly leasing it and affecting their easement 

Thanks

eddddy

jimbo19 said:

It’s just to protect the land from anyone else possibly leasing it and affecting their easement 

What would the lease terms be? Would your daughter become responsible for maintaining the land? e.g. grass cutting, weeding, repairing pot holes, resurfacing

If somebody dumped an old car or fly tipped a truck of rubble on the land, would the lease mean your daughter is responsible for dealing with it, instead of the council?

If somebody started parking on the land without consent, would the lease make it your daughter's problem rather than the council's?



Do others have easements over the land? 

Has somebody advised you that somebody else leasing the land would affect the easement? 

What triggered the idea of leasing the land? Did your daughter make the first move, or did the council?

jimbo19

When they bought the house no one knew who owned the land its literally a small strip to the side of their land and a small strip in front. They were advised to start using it and fence if possible. The local parish council then came forward and said it was common land and they could purchase it. Then changed their minds and said they could have on peppercorn rent. Now they have said they can lease on peppercorn rent but not fence the area
or build on it etc. but they also want them To pay their solicitors fees of approx 1k before the solicitor will even let the see the draft agreement. They have an easement on it already to park cars and also due to proximity to their property it is also “excepted” think that’s correct terminology.

Thanks

propertyrental

jimbo19 said:

It’s just to protect the land from anyone else possibly leasing it and affecting their easement 

Thanks

Their easement exists. It is unaffected by who owns or leases the land. the council could sell the land, or lease it to someone else, but that new owner or leaseholder would still be bound by your daughter's easement.

So unless there is some other benefit to your daughter in leasing the land (and especially for such a limied period) I still see no point in incurring the cost.

NameUnavailable

Yes - what is the thinking behind leasing the land anyway? For what end?