Ground Rent demand
Discussion
So my SO and I purchased a leasehold flat in 2013 and have since then been paying the service charge that we assumed contained the ground rent as well.
Fast forward to today and we have received a letter from the leaseholder's solicitors stating we owe them £750 in rent plus interest that comes to £1100 or so.
We've never had a demand for ground rent before, if we had we'd have paid it. They also said in the letter that they are following up from a letter send on Jan 20th - never had that either.
Now I'm "happy" to pay the rent, but not the interest as we've never been asked for the rent before, why has it taken nearly 4 years to ask us and then add interest?
Can anyone savvy advise on if we have any grounds to not pay the interest on this?
Thanks
Fast forward to today and we have received a letter from the leaseholder's solicitors stating we owe them £750 in rent plus interest that comes to £1100 or so.
We've never had a demand for ground rent before, if we had we'd have paid it. They also said in the letter that they are following up from a letter send on Jan 20th - never had that either.
Now I'm "happy" to pay the rent, but not the interest as we've never been asked for the rent before, why has it taken nearly 4 years to ask us and then add interest?
Can anyone savvy advise on if we have any grounds to not pay the interest on this?
Thanks
Ground rent must be demanded using a notice in specific format served at a specific time (30-60 days prior to due) as set out in section 166 of the Commonhold and Leasehold reform act 2002. (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/3096/schedule/made)
The leaseholder is entitled to withold ground rent until they receive a correctly formatted notice.
The leaseholder is entitled to withold ground rent until they receive a correctly formatted notice.
As an update, they have supposedly been writing to us however with the incorrect house number as that's what's on the land registry.
Seems that when the house was registered it was put as number 16 which is not us!
Rather worrying that people may have been writing to us at that address for years about important info but that's a side point.
They've agreed to not charge the interest or fees, just the (exorbitant!) ground rent fees, so that's a plus.
Need to work out how to update the land registry now!
Seems that when the house was registered it was put as number 16 which is not us!
Rather worrying that people may have been writing to us at that address for years about important info but that's a side point.
They've agreed to not charge the interest or fees, just the (exorbitant!) ground rent fees, so that's a plus.
Need to work out how to update the land registry now!
I had the same earlier this year, no demand or letter or anything for 4 years and then all of a sudden a massive bill with interest and late payment fees etc. They claimed I was in serious arrears despite them trying to contact me many times. I wrote back and said when they can be bothered to send a properly formatted bill for each of the years outstanding I would pay them, until such time they can shove their demands up their collective arses, seemed to do the trick.
My neighbour recently told me of his similar woes with the same company, I'm beginning to think its a cunning scam.
My neighbour recently told me of his similar woes with the same company, I'm beginning to think its a cunning scam.
thecremeegg said:
As an update, they have supposedly been writing to us however with the incorrect house number as that's what's on the land registry.
Seems that when the house was registered it was put as number 16 which is not us!
Rather worrying that people may have been writing to us at that address for years about important info but that's a side point.
They've agreed to not charge the interest or fees, just the (exorbitant!) ground rent fees, so that's a plus.
Need to work out how to update the land registry now!
So how did they suddenly get the correct address to write to you this time...is what I would be asking!Seems that when the house was registered it was put as number 16 which is not us!
Rather worrying that people may have been writing to us at that address for years about important info but that's a side point.
They've agreed to not charge the interest or fees, just the (exorbitant!) ground rent fees, so that's a plus.
Need to work out how to update the land registry now!
Saleen836 said:
So how did they suddenly get the correct address to write to you this time...is what I would be asking!
Well apparently we're registered at number 16 and number 36 and they were writing to number 16 the whole time.How true that is I don't know, not sure how I can see the land registry details?
We are in a not dissimilar situation with our Ground Rent, and are looking to buy the freehold later this year. Although we have been paying the £15 per quarter, it has not been allocated to our property on their records.
They too have tried to charge interest, and are also wanting to charge an admin fee for the honour, with a threat of putting a charge on the house if we do not comply.
Helpfully, my other half has a lot fo experience with leaseholds and lease agreements. As the terms of our lease are now close to 50 years old, a lot of their claims and demands can not be substantiated against it, and as above, they have not complied with the 2002 act.
I too think that this is a scam at worst, at best it is taking financial advantage of people who do not know the rules and legislation as well as others.
They too have tried to charge interest, and are also wanting to charge an admin fee for the honour, with a threat of putting a charge on the house if we do not comply.
Helpfully, my other half has a lot fo experience with leaseholds and lease agreements. As the terms of our lease are now close to 50 years old, a lot of their claims and demands can not be substantiated against it, and as above, they have not complied with the 2002 act.
I too think that this is a scam at worst, at best it is taking financial advantage of people who do not know the rules and legislation as well as others.
OP seems to have a ground rent of about 190/yr and after 4 years is being charged 350 interest. What's the AER, must be about 100%. Total scam. I've no idea how many people could be in this situation but BBC Rad 4 Moneybox Paul Lewis may be interested to bring it to a wider audience.
SystemParanoia said:
note to self... avoid leasehold like the plague! 
Why? Prettynwell every house in the town I live in is leasehold on a 999 year lease, I've owned / still own around a dozen of these with the lowest rent being £2.60 a year on a 990 year lease which still had 867 years to run when I sold it, the most expensive £50 pa with 978 years left on the lease and it increases by £10 every 20 years. I pay the ground rent annually and that's it. There is no other contact with anyone. I don't get this obsession around leasehold vs freehold.
I'll lay odds that anyone who's posted anything negative about leasehold lives in the South East
Gavia said:
SystemParanoia said:
note to self... avoid leasehold like the plague!
Why? Prettynwell every house in the town I live in is leasehold on a 999 year lease, I've owned / still own around a dozen of these with the lowest rent being £2.60 a year on a 990 year lease which still had 867 years to run when I sold it, the most expensive £50 pa with 978 years left on the lease and it increases by £10 every 20 years. I pay the ground rent annually and that's it. There is no other contact with anyone. I don't get this obsession around leasehold vs freehold.
I'll lay odds that anyone who's posted anything negative about leasehold lives in the South East
MidlandsI hear what you're saying, but without much further research on my part... I just don't have reason to trust it, nor do i know the extent of power the freeholder has over me.
I'll do more research, but the distrust is currently strong
I.e : http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/a...
Stuff like this is why I'll never consider a leasehold http://www.naea.co.uk/news/november-2016/new-build...
You may be fine for now but a private equity company could buy it and then rinse you for thousands of pounds every year.
You may be fine for now but a private equity company could buy it and then rinse you for thousands of pounds every year.
The freeholder has no power over me at all. There's a big long list of stuff that's either unenforceable or they don't really care about once they've sold off the plot.
I can do whatever I want to my houses whenever I want and all I have to do is pay a nominal sum every year. In about 800-900 years it may be an issue with the lease ending but somehow I doubt I'll be around (or the houses) to worry about that.
Too much fear around leasehold
I can do whatever I want to my houses whenever I want and all I have to do is pay a nominal sum every year. In about 800-900 years it may be an issue with the lease ending but somehow I doubt I'll be around (or the houses) to worry about that.
Too much fear around leasehold
untakenname said:
Stuff like this is why I'll never consider a leasehold http://www.naea.co.uk/news/november-2016/new-build...
You may be fine for now but a private equity company could buy it and then rinse you for thousands of pounds every year.
999 year leases are nothing new. It's your solicitors job to advise you of any negatives. Anyone signing those leases are idiots. You may be fine for now but a private equity company could buy it and then rinse you for thousands of pounds every year.
5 of the 8 properties collectively purchased the freehold for our building when it came up to prevent the 'exorbitant charge' risk. Worked out around £3k each including granting ourselves 999 year lease extensions. The other three properties will be charged a fair price when they come to look at extending their leases (they're down to ~86 years at present so I can't imagine they'll bother doing anything until they get down to 75-80 years).
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