Rent charge owner

[Iamthedom]

Anyone bought a property or sold a property with a rent charge owner named in the deeds
My late father house had this in the deeds as a covenant but I have no idea who this rent charge owner is .
Can’t work out anything from the deeds who they are and I have all the original deeds going back to when the house was originally sold in the 1890s

I am positive my parents never paid anything other than the mortgage
There is a licence to access the property via a back entrance communal gate and that was £12 a year in 1976
Now £50 a year as I’ve just paid that and have the paperwork for that
But no idea who this rent charge owner might be

Is that not ground rent? Common in some areas. Have lived in houses where it was between £6 and £50 a year. Happens when the house isn’t freehold. Original owner collects the ground rents as a sort of income.

As I'm currently trying to buy a property with a rent charge I've looking into this a lot. Unfortunately it the rent charge owner doesn't exist any more it's very tricky to find out if it's owned by a new company unless they make a demand. You'll probably need to take out indemnity insurance against the rent charge when seeking unless you have a cash buyer as mortgage companies will not cover the property unless the risk is mitigated.

This is common in the north of England and known as ground rent.

You would probably not have known that your parents paid it as it might have been collected by cheque of even someone calling round from the managing agent.

If the owner is absent then there is a procedure to follow if you wish to buy the freehold or you can purchase an indemnity policy for a sale.

• or even...

@CheltenhamLady

This is common in the north of England and known as ground rent.

You would probably not have known that your parents paid it as it might have been collected by cheque of even someone calling round from the managing agent.

If the owner is absent then there is a procedure to follow if you wish to buy the freehold or you can purchase an indemnity policy for a sale.

Rent charge is slightly different from ground rent. Ground rent is on leasehold properties. There is also estate rent charge which is for properties after the legislation got changed in the 70s rent charge is a little trickier as it's medieval law and allows the rent charge owner to take possession of the house or apply a 99 year lease if not paid in a timely manner. But also also ask rent charges will be removed by law in 2037. Apparently it's morey common in Bristol and Manchester. www.gov.uk/guidance/rentcharges

Thank you
The property is in Bristol and it’s definitely called a rent charge
the property is freehold
My parents had a mortgage and a remortgage on it with no problems in mid 90s

I did find this online the rent charge was in the deeds when the property was built back in 1890s so will this mean that because it’s more than 60 years ago it’s no longer in place

Rentcharges were granted for either an indefinite or a fixed period. Subject to limited exceptions, every rentcharge, if it has not previously been terminated, will be extinguished on the later of 22 July 2037 or the expiry of 60 years from the date when the rentcharge first became payable.

I’m absolutely positive my parents never paid anything other than £12 a year to Western Power for the back access to the property which is now £50 a year and I’ve just paid this
and have proof of it and the licence

The expiry will be 2037 as that's the later date. The wording of the law is a bit confusing. I'm still waiting to exchange on my purchase and I'm almost certain you'll need the indemnity insurance to satisfy lenders. However having looking into this the insurance cost should be under £50 and would only take a few hours to put in place, but your conveyancer will be able to confirm when you get to that stage. It's good you found out now though. My vendors (probate sale) had no idea and it only came to light quite late in the process.

Mines a probate sale as well
The buyers solicitors want a deed of variation — not going to happen as they are long dead
No other charges by any company on the land registry titles
I’ve been nosy and checked on the land registry for the most recent house sale and which was Dec 2021 and they had the same charge and they got it removed
So I may go and ask them about it - play dumb and not say I nosed at the deeds 😂 but I noticed they had just bought it and did they have a problem

Is it me that gets the indemnity policy

From what I believe it's usually the seller who take out the policy, although that's all down to discussion with conveyancer. Not looked into deed of variation yet, but I'm not a solicitor!

@Bobbingtons
Thank you
I can get an indeminity policy that I can pay for and pass on to the buyers so I don’t mind doing that
I’ve had some useful information from local people as well who all seem to have rent charges on their property
Most have never paid it

My home in Manchester, another city where they are common, is freehold with a rent charge. The house was built late 60s so dates from close to when they were ended. My charge is approx. £30 PA.
A lot of the earlier ones were for much less and over time they have lapsed as the cost of collection exceeded the revenue. They were a way of a developer paying less for land but offering the original owner an ongoing income from it. If neighbouring properties are still paying there is a danger that it could still be in effect. There is no requirement for the rent charge owner to attempt to collect the rent. However, as discussed above after a certain period of arrears the rent charge owner can then convert the freehold to a leasehold and charge the former freeholder what they like both for granting the lease and ground rent. Rent charges re scheduled to be abolished in a few years. Be aware that some opportunistic companies are buying up rent charges and then imposing swinging charges for people to keep their home.

@Timperleybell
None of my fathers neighbours are paying anything although they are aware of it
However I have all the original paperwork and original deeds of the properties owners since 1870
I found a paper with Requistions of Title dating from 1975 from the owner who bought it for a year and then my parents bought the property in 1976
On this If has the details of who the rent charge is paid to I believe them to be solicitors
However no chance of finding them as the address is now a multi storey car park and shopping mall 😂 I did some digging and can’t find any further mention of them anywhere and it’s been like this for at least 30 odd years

Even the purchaser solicitors address is a Tescos Express and they aren’t around anymore

I live in a rentcharge house. I pay £3 a year. The solicitor highlighted it to me when I was buying, but the owner didn’t know anything about it! He had a few years to catch up on payment wise. Mine is with morgoed estates.

Morgoed Estates have done some wicked things to people with rent charge arrears. They put leases on owned freehold properties making them unsellable unless they paid their ransom. They seemed to have done so in Greater Manchester from Google searches.

Buyers need indemnity insurance for sure and even then I'd think twice about buying a property with an unknown rent charge owner. Can invalidate the insurance to try and find out who the owner is.