• Accident & Medical Claims
    • Accident Claims
    • Road Traffic Accidents
    • Medical Negligence
    • Asbestos Claims
    • Serious Injuries
    • Funding Your Personal Injury Claim
  • Divorce & Children
    • Divorce & Separation
    • Children Law
    • Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements
    • Living Together
    • Domestic Violence
    • Same Sex Families
  • Wealth Management
    • Pensions
    • Financial Advice
    • Tax
    • Life Insurance
    • Residential Care Home Planning
    • Trusts
  • Wills & Inheritance
    • Wills
    • Dealing with a Death
    • Inheritance Disputes
    • Powers of Attorney
    • Court of Protection
    • Notary Services
  • Business Services
    • Business Disputes
    • Business Agreements & Contracts
    • Debt Recovery
    • Corporate Services
    • Insolvency Advice
    • Intellectual Property
  • Employment & HR
    • Employer Legal Advice – Managing Your Workforce
    • Employee Rights
  • Property Services
    • House Sales & Purchases
    • Commercial Property
    • Property Disputes
    • Landlord & Tenant
    • Planning Law
    • Construction & Engineering
  • Sectors
    • Education Law
    • Academy Conversion Services
    • Services for Academies
    • Education Training
    • Charities
  • About Us
    • Our People
    • Find Us
    • About
    • Careers at Nelsons
    • News
    • Events
    • Blogs
    • Fusion Legal
  • Pay Online
  • Our People
  • Find Us
  • About
  • Careers at Nelsons
  • News
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Fusion Legal
  • Pay Online
logo
0800 024 1976 Email us
logo
For advice and support 0800 024 1976
Email us
  • Accident & Medical Claims

    Accident Claims icon arrow

    Compensation for your injuries

    Asbestos Claims icon arrow

    Asbestos exposure and related diseases

    Road Traffic Accidents icon arrow

    Car, bike, bus and lorry accidents

    Medical Negligence icon arrow

    Advice when you need it most

    Abuse Claims icon arrow

    Abuse compensation claims

    Serious Injuries icon arrow

    Head, brain and spinal injury claims

  • Divorce & Children

    Divorce & Separation icon arrow

    Resolving your relationship issues

    Children Law icon arrow

    Child arrangements and adoption

    Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements icon arrow

    Drafting and reviewing marital agreements

    Family Mediation icon arrow

    Resolving separation disputes

    Living Together icon arrow

    Legal protection for living together

    Domestic Violence icon arrow

    Protecting you from abuse

  • Wills & Inheritance

    Wills icon arrow

    Making or changing a Will

    Dealing with a Death icon arrow

    Probate and inheritance services

    Inheritance Disputes icon arrow

    Challenging or disputing a Will

    Powers of Attorney icon arrow

    Managing your financial and legal affairs

    Court of Protection icon arrow

    Making decisions for your loved ones

    Notary Services icon arrow

    Witnessing your documents

  • Wealth Management

    Independent Financial Advisers icon arrow

    Investment management planning and strategies

    Pensions icon arrow

    Corporate and personal pension planning

    Cash Flow Modelling icon arrow

    Strategies to calculate your future income

    Tax icon arrow

    Personal tax planning

    Residential Care Home Planning icon arrow

    Planning ahead for your future

    Trusts icon arrow

    Creation and administration

  • Business Services

    Business Disputes icon arrow

    Resolving commercial and business conflicts

    Business Agreements & Contracts icon arrow

    Commercial agreements for your business

    Debt Recovery icon arrow

    Collecting money owed to your business

    Corporate Services icon arrow

    Company law, banking and finance

    Professional Negligence icon arrow

    Compensation for negligent advice

    Restructuring & Insolvency icon arrow

    Corporate and personal, bankruptcy and liquidations

    Intellectual Property icon arrow

    Agreements, trade marks and disputes

  • Employment & HR

    Managing Your Workforce icon arrow

    Managing and supporting your workforce

    Employee Rights icon arrow

    Your rights in the workplace

  • Property Services

    House Sales & Purchases icon arrow

    Get an instant online quote

    Commercial Property icon arrow

    Real estate acquisitions, leases and disposals

    Property Disputes icon arrow

    Resolving property and land issues

    Landlord & Tenant icon arrow

    Services for landlords and commercial tenants

    Planning Law icon arrow

    Planning applications and appeals

  • Sectors

    Construction & Engineering icon arrow

    Contracts and alternative dispute resolution

    Education Law icon arrow

    Legal services to the Education sector

    Charities icon arrow

    Legal support for charities

    Dentists & Dental Practices icon arrow

    Specialist advice for dentists and dental practices

    Manufacturing icon arrow

    Specialist legal support and advice for manufacturers

    Family Businesses icon arrow

    Specialist advice for your family business

Ground Rent Claims

Compensation for leaseholders due to negligible ground rent advice

  • Home
  • Professional Negligence
  • Ground Rent Claims
Thinking about making a ground rent compensation claim? Contact us to find out how we can help

How we can assist with leasehold ground rent claims

At Nelsons, we have a dedicated team of experienced solicitors, which includes Partners, Daniel Brumpton and Cathryn Selby, who are both leading individuals in this area and are recognised by independently researched directories, including The Legal 500.

Our team are vastly experienced in advising on and investigating claims for leaseholders (both individuals and businesses) in these circumstances. The team focuses on the advice buyers were provided with by their conveyancing solicitors when they purchased the properties. If the leaseholder wasn’t provided with clear advice about the existence and implications of ground rent clauses and could not, therefore, understand the risk and impact, they may be able to successfully argue that their solicitor had been negligent and claim compensation which may assist them with the costs of buying the freehold.

We can offer comprehensive advice on the merits of a ground rent claim and how it can be funded. In the right circumstances, we will offer a Conditional Fee Agreement (also known as a No Win, No Fee agreement).

Meet The Team

Cases we have advised on

Our team have acted in numerous leasehold ground rent compensation claims in recent years, which includes the following:

  • Acting for a group of leaseholders in one block of new-build flats in London where the ground rent doubled every 15 years. We are in the process of obtaining damages from our client’s former conveyancing solicitors (and in some cases, we have settled cases) that will allow them to extract themselves from the onerous ground rent provisions.
  • Settled a claim against a client’s former conveyancing solicitor in Newcastle for failing to advise on the impact of a ground rent clause that was calculated by reference to the Retail Prices Index (RPI) every 15 years.
  • Acting for a professional client who owns a number of new build homes in the North West who have houses affected by doubling ground rent clauses and RPI clauses.
  • Acting for a landlord with a small portfolio of buy to let properties that have a doubling clause for the first five reviews and will then be calculated by reference to RPI.
Contact Us

Press coverage regarding the ground rent scandal

In recent years, the ground rent scandal has continued to make headlines in local, national and trade media and we have had substantial press coverage about this issue. Here are some of the articles in which we have been featured/quoted:

  • City AM – June 2021
  • The Phoenix Newspaper – June 2021
  • The Daily Telegraph – July 2021
  • Landlord Today – December 2019
  • Housing Management and Maintenance – December 2019
  • Property Reporter – December 2019
  • Letting Agent Today – December 2019
  • Central Housing Group – December 2019
  • Nottingham Post – July 2019
  • “Nelsons...client roster includes high-net-worth individuals, sports professionals and property businesses. It handles claims against solicitors and barristers, financial advisers, insurance brokers, surveyors and architects, among others. It has a notable specialism in defending professionals against claims where there is no insurance cover in place or where cover has been reserved. Although it predominantly acts for claimants, the team is also engaged by insurance companies on the defendant side.”

    The Legal 500
  • "Good communication. Helpful. Responses in good time."

    Client Feedback
  • "The terms of engagement were well set out and presented. Engagement, when the time was right, was good."

    Client Feedback
  • "Staff were extremely polite and courteous, tactful and diplomatic."

    Client Feedback

For more information on how we can assist you in making a claim, please contact our expert team of professional negligence solicitors in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham via our online enquiry form or call us for a guaranteed response.

FAQs in relation to ground rent

Below, we have answered some regularly asked questions regarding ground rent.

  • What is ground rent?

    Ground rents are annual payments property leaseholders (someone who has a temporary right to occupy property and land) have to make to freeholders (someone who has outright ownership of the property and the land on which it stands with no time limit on the ownership period).

    The relationship between the freeholder and leaseholder is governed by the terms of a contractual document called a lease.

    In recent years, housebuilders have been selling new build properties to buyers on a leasehold basis meaning the housebuilder retained ownership of the freehold. In many cases, housebuilders then went on to sell the freeholds to third parties, such as investment companies.

    The leases granted by the housebuilders to buyers are usually for a long period, such as 250 years or 999 years. One payment often provided for in long leases is a “ground rent” meant to reflect the value of occupying the land/ground.

    Other payments provided for in long leases can include fees charged by the freeholder for considering and granting permission for the buyer to make any changes to the property, such as building an extension or for agreeing to a remortgage of the property.

  • I’m a leaseholder and pay ground rent. Do I have a problem?

    Historically, ground rents were low, no more than say £50 per year. However, in the last few years, housebuilders have started to increase ground rents to an initial charge ranging from £250 to £500 a year. They have also added clauses in the lease that allow them to review the ground rent periodically, for example, every five, ten or 25 years.

    Typically the review clause allows the freeholder to increase the ground rent at each review. Problems have arisen because housebuilders have included clauses in the leases which provide for ground rents to double or increase with the Retail Price Index (RPI).

    If you are a leaseholder who purchased a new build property in the last ten years you should check your lease to see what it says about ground rent and what you can expect to pay.

  • Is a ground rent that doubles every 10, 15 or 25 years that bad?

    In theory, it’s not. However, most new leases are set for a long term such as 999 years. If a ground rent of £250 per year doubles every ten years you can expect to pay £16,000 per year after 50 years. For many people that is simply unmanageable.

  • Will I have a problem selling my leasehold property due to escalating, doubling or RPI linked ground rent?

    Unfortunately, because of national publicity, many buyers are now aware of the problem and will not buy a property with an onerous ground rent clause. The existence of such clauses has also led to banks and building societies refusing to lend on those properties.

    This means that in the unlikely event that a buyer is still prepared to buy a property affected by a ground rent clause they are highly unlikely to be able to obtain a mortgage to complete the purchase. This clearly has a huge effect on the value of these properties and in some cases they may well be worthless.

    Even to a cash buyer, a property affected by the onerous ground rent terms will be unattractive, as the burden of the clause will be inherited via the purchase.

  • What can I do if I am affected by escalating, doubling or RPI linked ground rent?

    If you have the finances you could try and purchase your freehold from the freeholder but in many cases, the price of the freehold is vastly inflated amounting to tens of thousands of pounds.

    In theory, it might also be possible to agree to amendments to the terms of the lease and the ground rent clause but this is also likely to come at a significant cost.

    Finally, you may have a claim against the solicitors that you instructed to help with the purchase of the property. If the solicitor failed to give you clear advice about the existence and implications of an onerous ground rent clause so that you could understand the risk and the impact then you may be able to successfully argue that your solicitors have been negligent.

Thinking about making a ground rent compensation claim? Contact us to find out how we can help

Nelsons Solicitors Derby

Nelsons Derby

Nelsons Solicitors Leicester

Nelsons Leicester

Nelsons Nottingham

Request a document we are storing for you

Email us

Join our mailing list to keep up to date with our latest news and events

Sign up
Nelsons logo
Nelsons Derby

Sterne House
Lodge Lane
Derby
Derbyshire
DE1 3WD

01332 372 372
Nelsons Leicester

Provincial House
37 New Walk
Leicester
Leicestershire
LE1 6TU

0116 222 6666
Nelsons Nottingham

Pennine House
8 Stanford Street
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire
NG1 7BQ

0115 958 6262
  • Our People
  • Our Offices
  • About Us
  • Careers at Nelsons
  • News
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Fusion Legal
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Notice
  • GDPR FAQs
  • Client Records Retention Schedule
  • Cookie Policy
  • Complaints
  • Accessibility
  • Sitemap
  • Website by Hallam
  • Design by M&D
  • Lexcel logo
Cyber Essentials logo

Nelsons Solicitors Limited is a limited company registered in England and Wales (Reg No: 07219010) and a wholly owned subsidiary of Nelsonslaw LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales (Reg No: OC335458).  Their registered offices are at Pennine House, 8 Stanford Street, Nottingham, NG1 7BQ. A list of members of Nelsonslaw LLP may be inspected at the registered office. Nelsons Solicitors Limited and Nelsonslaw LLP are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Nelsons Solicitors Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our notaries are regulated by the Faculty Office. Nelsons Solicitors Limited’s VAT No is 385 184 329.

 

We use the word “partner” to refer to a member of Nelsonslaw LLP and/or a director of Nelsons Solicitors Limited and its use in connection with the business of Nelsons Solicitors Limited should not be construed as an indication that any member or director carries on business in partnership with any other member or director within the meaning of the Partnership Act 1890.

We use cookies to improve your experience of our site (we do not track your identity). To comply with the new e-Privacy Directive we need to seek your consent to set these cookies. If you do not make a selection, we will assume that you consent to the cookies being set. Find out more. Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT