Ground Rent

[starone]

I have just received my annual bill for ground rent on my house. It is not very much, only £12.50 and it is my understanding that it cannot be increased. However, I would like to get rid of it. Does anyone know if it is possible to buy it and if so how do you go about it. Is it likely to cost a lot and therefore not be beneficial to me? Thanks for any advice.

[dasherman]

You presumably own your house on a leasehold basis? Therefore you may be able to buy the freehold. The cost will depend on how many years left there is on the lease.

[starone]

Thanks dasherman. Yes I do own this house presumably with a leasehold (I don't really know what this means as I am a bit dim with regards to legal stuff). Does it have to be done via a solicitor or can I do it myself?

[Old_Geezer]

it has been some years since I last had to pay ground rent but I seem to recall a law passed that meant you could demand to be able to buy it outright making the place freehold. But the present owner sets the amount ? I recall I didn't bother for years but contimual shifting of ownership and late or forgotten bills arriving meant eventually I decided it was worth getting it out of my hair and buying it. Contact whoever presently sends you the bill.

[starone]

Thanks OG that sounds good. Too late for today but as soon as I can on Monday I will try ringing the company to see what they have to say. They might be glad to get rid of it, it can't be much of a profit for them.

[Old_Geezer]

i was regularly pestered to buy it. I formed the unsubstantiated opinion that a company would probably buy a bulk number of them in anticipation of a small income profit, but that the better profit for them was to sell it to the house owner.

[BRIGHT SPARK]

It depends on the situation but as a guide my sister has just purchased her freehold with a similar ground rent to yours and it cost £6500 plus costs

[Valmave]

Or maybe you have a rentcharge ? These are still common but can be redeemed - see https://www.gov.uk/rentcharges.

[Peter Pedant]

No I think Brightsparks was different
or perhaps in London

I pay £25 twice a year - it came up for auction and I either missed or was advised not to buy it
then when I came to tire of paying tiddly amounts
I asked my usual lawyer who said: 'don't'

and I have to say I thought it was ten times the ground rent or thereabouts - in your case £125

I think the argument is that it becomes not worth collecting faster than the outright cost.

Lots and lots of case law and statutes on this - basically a northern thing - when I bought the house the lawyer got five years gnd rent out of the vendor
and sure enough after a few years up popped a ground rent company and said pay up ! Seven years and they can only demand six....

then they tried saying I hadnt paid when I had. Oh God little tinkers they are

and their final wheeze was to say do you want to pay up five years in advance. and the answer is no. in my case they can only do it in arrears which I think is the general position. They admitted somewhat reluctantly they didnt have a right to five years up front- 'they were just asking'


so keep on paying and await the day when it becomes uneconomical to collect which cannot be far away.

[Peter Pedant]

I basically said the same thing to Wendy N whose question is just below.
I knew I had answered this before