Anyone had dealings with Ladybrook Securities / Ashby Breweries claiming ground rent?

Chrstn

My ground rent is £16.00 and was always payable to Balfour & Co.As from last year it appears to have been taken over by Ladybrook.I had no change in details of how to pay the ground rent and so spoke to my bank who said the payment details have probably remained the same and so I paid the rent as usual.Touch wood I heard nothing else lastt year after doing so.This year I received a letter,which I mislaid,I only wish I hadn't.I think it was thrown out with my junk mail.It was to say this years ground rent was due.I received a reminder dated the 16th July but there is no information on how to pay the ground rent.The letter just stated that they suggest I pay by standing orde in the future.I again spoke to my bank and have gone ahead sending it using the same details that I have held for years.I was going to send Ladybrook a letter to explain but it appears from the postings on here that it is a waste of time.I feel a little afraid now.Has anyone asked Balfour &Co if they know anything about this Company ?

SchoolofSaving

We live abroad but have a house in Cheshire occupied by a tenant. We have now received a letter out of the blue for the chief rent of GBP 12 earlier in June. Like a few people here our previous interaction and payments were to a company called Balfour & Co. In fact I'd set up a standing order to pay Balfour and had had no issues for the last few years. This time however the standing order was credited back to my account. The letter is really unprofessional with no telephone details or details of their bank account. I am just quickly checking if anyone has managed to find the telephone contact details of Ladybrook. If so can you please post their number here. Thanks in advance.

TW9

I too have been paying £15pa rentcharge to Balfour & Co, although the payee was DB Brighton. I presume Balfour & Co were just administering the charge for DB Brighton.

I received a very shoddy and dodgy looking letter from Ladybrook Securities in June, notifying me that they had bought the rentcharge from DB Brighton, and that payment was now due. I've now had a second letter asking me to pay as the account is in arrears. It recommends a standing order, but gives no details of their bank account.

I checked my Land Registry title, and the £15 rentcharge is listed on there as payable to certain people. DB Brighton does not appear on there, nor does Ladybrook Securities, so I'd be interested to know whether any new rentcharge owner can legally request the charge unless they have recorded their entitlement?

Given that it seems correct that DB Brighton/Balfour & Co have passed the business onto Ladybrook Securities (although no-one has seen any proof of this), I am going to send off a cheque to Ladybrook - probably/hopefully a lot easier than trying to seek confirmation of entitlement or battling overdue charges/claims. But I'll wait and see.

I understand rentcharges are going to cease in 2037 anyway, so only 22 years to go! The gov.uk site suggests the charge can be redeemed for around 16 times the annual charge (for me, £180), although I'm not sure about legal fees for changing title deeds, etc. Anyone had any experience of that?

scamhunter1

yes he has one you can find it online, but he is trying to rip people off it will cost you £130 per minute, probable spend ages listening too an answering machine and be told he is not available, do not call it., he is a con man who is about to get his due.

oakworth

Hi all,

am in the process of helping my 81 year old mother move house. She pays ground rent to LS, and the solicitors have written to them to confirm payments are upto date. Received the following:

'we are aware of several changes made to the property by your client, without permission. We shall expect retrospective approval to be sought in respect of these'

Now, my Mum has lived in the property for 49 years. However, it remains as built with the only work undertaken to replace old windows doors etc when required. A quick google reveals that LS were charging £2500 for retrospective approval in 1999. Anyone else come across this? This is the only issue preventing completion and we are struggling to see how it can be resolved.

Sabretooth

Yup, I get these anonymous letters as well...

Rachel84AV

Hi,

Is anyone still having this problem? I know it's years later, but we're having the same issues now. But the original rent charge owner was Higsons Limited.

AdrianC

scamhunter1 wrote: »

yes he has one you can find it online, but he is trying to rip people off it will cost you £130 per minute

There is no such thing as a phone number that will cost you £130/minute. It simply does not exist.

A quick google finds two phone numbers. One is a normal landline number. One is a £2/minute 0900 number that is actually provided by the "business directory" site the details are appearing on, and is not the company in question.

Svejk

Like many others my property's ground rent was transferred in 2014 from Balfour & Co to Ladybrook.

The first I heard of it was when Ladybrook started sending demands for unpaid ground rent, even though I had paid it to Balfour & Co. I wrote and told them I had not been informed and the money had been paid to Balfour and heard nothing more.

A year later I wrote to them asking for bank details and set up a standing order to pay the sum annually.

I've since been chatting to a neighbour about this and he told me quite a number of properties in our immediate area are in the same boat. I now have a copy of a letter from Balfour that was apparently sent to all of us, but I don't recall every having seen it before. It lists 32 properties on our street and the neighbouring street.

I'm considering writing to all of the neighbours to ask if they would be interested in buying out their ground rent, figuring that if we do it jointly we can share the legal costs. Has anybody else had experience of doing this?

I'm going to speak to a local solicitor first for guidance.

Thanks!

chris.parker_2

I have exactly the same issue with a house I am in the process of purchasing. Ladybrook Securities own the ground rent on a freehold property. However they have written and said the property i am buying requires retrospective consent from them for double glazing and also that any future works required will need a full specification submitting to them for their 'consideration'. They are treating it as if they are a full leaseholder when it's freehold with a ground rent. My solicitor can't exchange until the retrospective consent is sorted with the vendors' solicitor and Ladybrook - however they are not responding.

They have no contact phone number and between us all we would be happy to buy out the ground rent but it's just proving so difficult. I am in a chain and I don't know how long this will take, it's very frustrating.

On average how long do people take to get a response from Ladybrook? I'm going to need to exchange on my own sale shortly or lose my buyer, but don't want to be in rented indefinitely while this gets sorted, or do I cut my loses and buy something else?

Any advice on people's experiences gratefully received. Thanks.