Ground Rent Options - Advice Required

[GeddyMortgage]

Hi All,

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, it was the closest I could find.



I have a leasehold property on a BTL, the leaseholder is Simarc and my ground rent to them is usually £270pa

However I was instructed recently by them, that the ground rent has gone up to £411pa, and not only that.... but for some reason that I cannot comprehend, it's actually £481 this year.

They say they'd sent physical correspondence of these price hikes to my residential address back in October 2020, but I had moved by then so would've never been in receipt of them. Though sounds like I would've had no chance to challenge it anyway even If I had received the correspondence.

Naturally on seeing the price raise by 50% I started looking around online to see what my options were and how (if at all) shady they're being.

I came across lots of literature online regarding new rights being given to extend leases etc and abolishing ground rents for lots of people.

Obviously interested in what my options are but ahead of contacting a solicitor I thought it prudent to ask on here to see if anyone had experienced similar or in a position to comment and give some informal guidance with regards to next steps.

Some of the literature I found online regarding reforms and changes

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/g...O3KKIAUNKwjJak

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ne...ders-to-buy-t/



thanks so much

G

[MrSoffit]

my ground rent to them is usually £270pa

However I was instructed recently by them, that the ground rent has gone up to £411pa, and not only that.... but for some reason that I cannot comprehend, it's actually £481 this year.

I take it you have read your lease? Would save paying a solicitor. Admittedly GR increments can be devilishly worded but the lease must spell out the ground rent and escalators. If based on RPI, I'd imagine they have to tell you how they calculated the increase.

In an ideal world you would get an itemised invoice showing you a brought forward balance and current year amount due and match the lease periods and amounts - half year in advance or whatever etc.

[GeddyMortgage]

I take it you have read your lease? Would save paying a solicitor. Admittedly GR increments can be devilishly worded but the lease must spell out the ground rent and escalators. If based on RPI, I'd imagine they have to tell you how they calculated the increase.

In an ideal world you would get an itemised invoice showing you a brought forward balance and current year amount due and match the lease periods and amounts - half year in advance or whatever etc.

A fair assumption and question, but at this stage no, i recall the lease being with the solicitor and she's away on holiday. Are the leases generally a piece of literature that's accessible to the public domain?

In an ideal world you would get an itemised invoice showing you a brought forward balance and current year amount due and match the lease periods and amounts - half year in advance or whatever etc.

In an ideal world, yes, though they dont appear to want to email me, I think they prefer to stick to post on the off-chance it's not received so they can slap late charges on you. Perhaps that's harsh of me, though they don't appear to want to help me regardless. Fair enough I guess.

Is anyone familiar with any of this by the way? :- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/g...O3KKIAUNKwjJak

Had a breif chat this morning with a few landlord friends who think a lot of that bill will only pass next year and too preliminary currently to act on.

[MrSoffit]

Hi again. If you haven't yet read the lease, pay the GR demand under protest. Never wise to owe ground rent you might owe. Your bill is higher than the trigger for forfeiture action. It's legal fees that cause downfall, not the original debt.

The government has promised much and delivered little to date. They say they will make it easier and cheaper to do certain things it is true. Time will tell. Even an Act if ever passed might not do what it claims on the tin. Remember the 2002 Act. Nicely written to be fair.

[GeddyMortgage]

Hey,

It's already paid - i'm just not overly keen on the thought of it going to £411 per annum for the next 30 years or however long I intended to keep it.

Looking to see what I can do to prevent that from happening.

[Gordon999]

What year did your lease start and what was the ground rent ? What is the interval between ground rent increase ?

https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/leasehold

[MrSoffit]

Looking to see what I can do to prevent that from happening.

It depends on the lease, innit. You can apply to the land registry for a copy of your lease. Not expensive.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/land-reg...s-of-documents

Use the gov.uk site.

[andydd]

We can't help much unless you have the lease in front of you..some gr is fixed, others allow it to be increased

[Section20z]

GeddyMortgage,

Once you've owned it 2 years, just get a statutory lease extension at nil ground rent. Even if your lease is already long it may be worth doing. I've just extended one that already had 95 years left but saving the £250 ground rent was much better than 16k in the bank at present !!

[GeddyMortgage]

I thought that was only an option for flats currently? doing the peppercorn extension?

[GeddyMortgage]

What year did your lease start and what was the ground rent ? What is the interval between ground rent increase ?

https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/leasehold

I had it looked over, it started in 2006, opportunity to revise the rent every 15 years. I just challenged the way they calculated the rise, and was successful in the final figure being much closer to the figure pre-them trying to rise it this time.

cheeky, but result.

[eagle2]

Well done, it is always worth checking the charges which you receive, but it is surprising how many leaseholders do not.