Ground Rents

EDM number 212 in 1996-97, proposed by Gordon Prentice on 19/11/1996.

That this House calls for the abolition of 999 year ground rents, noting that in many cases ú2, ú5 and even ú10 annual rents are costing more to collect than they are worth; recognises that many reputable and conscientious owners of ground rents are selling them, and they are being bought by unscrupulous people, who are in some cases, making threats to households requiring information and offering to sell the individual ground rent at exhorbitant prices with very high legal costs; notes that in other cases companies are behaving like Simarc Property Management Ltd. of 5 Spring Villa Road, Edgware, who are ignoring the custom and practice of the previous owners of the ground rent by not sending out reminders to the householders, and claiming massive legal bills on the strength of late payment, for example claiming a bill of ú171.48 for a late ground rent; and believes that all householders should be aware of such practices, and should either ensure prompt payment of the annual charge or consider using the government scheme to buy out the ground rent with its modest charges.

This motion has been signed by a total of 28 MPs.