mlfc Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 We own a flat built in 2008 and weren't asked pay ground rent until last year when we were landed with a bill for £360. I was unhappy at this naturally as we had presumed it was included in the service charge When I investigated I found that the freeholder could only claim backdated ground rent when the total got over £350 which suggests they had originally forgotten to charge it and then decided to wait until it hit this amount before asking for it. This might apply in your case too perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchcoll Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 I'm in the exact same situation as the OP. Coppen own my freehold but I've never received a bill & never paid any ground rent. The previous owner of the house never did either. She told me that as ours is in a block of 4 the end house pays it for all of us and never collects the money back. I don't know if this is true or not. The ground rent is £1.50 a year so it might well be true! Jeffrey Shaw did the conveyancing on my house purchase and I can highly recommend him. I will be using his services when I am ready to purchase my freehold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mc55 Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 watcholl it is potentially true - I get charged for next door .. it is bizarre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchcoll Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 It can be a problem when it comes time to sell. The lady i bought my house from had to pay for indemnity insurance as she had no receipts to say the ground rent had been paid while she owned the lease. Despite my solicitor informing Coppen of the sale they have never been in touch with me to either acknowledge the transfer of ownership or request rent. So she won't get her money back for the indemnity until 6 years has passed! I'm not sure what will happen when i come to ask to buy the freehold on my house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Shaw Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 No doubt Jeffrey will be able to give advice on this Yes. It's uncharacteristic for Coppen to omit ground rent collection. Here's some guesses at why this might be so: 1. Your solicitors did not notify Copen that you'd purchased the leasehold. 2. Coppen might not know your address if you live elsewhere (although it could still send demands to the house). 3. The lease might demise not just your house but others too- so demands for the entire block might be going to the leaseholder of one of the other houses. ---------- Post added 07-04-2015 at 18:47 ---------- It can be a problem when it comes time to sell. The lady i bought my house from had to pay for indemnity insurance as she had no receipts to say the ground rent had been paid while she owned the lease. Yes. The point is s.45(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925. It reads thus: Where land sold is held by lease (other than an under-lease), the purchaser shall assume, unless the contrary appears, that the lease was duly granted; and, on production of the receipt for the last payment due for rent under the lease before the date of actual completion of the purchase, he shall assume, unless the contrary appears, that all the covenants and provisions of the lease have been duly performed and observed up to the date of actual completion of the purchase. Its meaning: a clear (= unqualified) ground rent receipt obliges P to accept that V has complied with all leasehold covenants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Beech Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 I get where you are coming from, but not dealing with the issue may exasperate the situation in the long term. Leasehold is a bad situation and should have some government intervention to eradicate these cowboys who holding leaseholders to ransom. check out this breaking news http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40711013?SThisFB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Shaw Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 check out this breaking news http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40711013?SThisFB It has virtually no impact on Coppen's freehold reversions. These do not include 'doubling ground rent' problem properties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shuhockey Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 Has anyone purchased the freehold of their house recently and care to share how much it cost? We have 900 or 800 years until it expires but would like to purchase. Yearly rent is about £6. Don't want tostart the process if its going to cost 000's Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowt2pctoday Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 Has anyone purchased the freehold of their house recently and care to share how much it cost? We have 900 or 800 years until it expires but would like to purchase. Yearly rent is about £6. Don't want tostart the process if its going to cost 000's Thanks whats the point if its got that long on it? would estimate £2-2500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-H Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 whats the point if its got that long on it? would estimate £2-2500. It shouldn't cost anywhere near that. If the lease has more than 21 years on it (which this does) and they've lived in the property for more than 2 years, than the freeholder has to, if asked, sell the freehold to them - called a freehold reversion I believe. They are not allowed to just name any price to prevent you from being able to buy it, it has to be a sensible figure. The rough rule of thumb is between 15-30 times the annual ground rent. In this case it would be only £90-180. On top of that there would be legal costs, but these shouldn't be prohibitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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