Peppercorn ground rent

[MrsBertMacklin]

Any legals about who can clarify this, please?

Virtual freehold - TP1 states that a peppercorn rent is payable.

Conveyancer saying that it is a nominal clause and in reality, I will never receive a rent demand.

I thought the principle of peppercorn was that a nominal amount was demanded in order to keep the relationship between landlord and tenant established. Doesn't the landlord have to demand said rent, even if it's a penny, in order to do this?

I don't understand why a clause would be inserted for the sake of it?

TLDR: my conveyancers are telling me that the mention of rent in the TP1 is nothing to worry about and I'll never receive a demand - is this correct?

Thank you.

No it's not correct. I used to own a freehold and the peppercorn was £100 a year. I always collected it.

In the northwest 999 year leases with tiny ground rents are the norm.
My old house was 38p per year. Our current house is £1.20 per year.
Our council doesn't collect a lot of them any more as it's more expensive to send the bill, but when a house is sold the arrears can be collected - when I sold my house 8 years arrears showed up at some point during the local searches so I paid it off.
They might mean something like that?

Is it actually a ground rent or a rent charge? There is a difference. My first house had what I thought was a ground rent of a piddling amount per year, which I always made sure I paid, and it turned out to be a rent charge when I read the title register before selling it.

A peppercorn is not £100 per annum; more like a £1 if it is quantified in monetary terms. £100 per annum is a relatively low ground rent, but not a peppercorn.

A ground rent should always be paid - it doesn't have to be demanded. If you don't pay it, there is the risk (albeit small) of the lease being forfeited.