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Here are some of our most frequently asked questions, along with some more obscure ones too. If you can’t find what you’re looking for here, you can also connect directly with any of our panel of experts using the ‘Ask The Panel’ section on the right.

Note: any questions subsequently used on our FAQ page are completely anonymised.

Recently Added Questions

Q.

What is a peppercorn ground rent?

A.

This is a token or nominal rent, rarely collected by any freeholder. The name comes from leases where the rent is one peppercorn a year. Other kinds of token or nominal rents, such as £1, or a red rose each year, may also be referred to as peppercorn rents.

Lease Extensions
#19
Q.

What is a ‘statutory’ lease extension?

A.

This is a simple option to increase your existing lease length by 90 years and reduce your ground rent to a ‘peppercorn’ (a token or nominal rent), on the assumption you are not subject to a “shared ownership” and have owned the property for a minimum of 2 years

The name comes from leases where the rent is one peppercorn a year. Other kinds of token or nominal rents, such as £1, or a red rose each year, may also be referred to as peppercorn rents. A peppercorn rent is often found where a premium has been paid for a lease.

Lease Extensions
#18
Q.

What is stamp duty?

A.

Stamp duty or “Stamp Duty Land Tax” to give it its full title, is a government imposed levy that applies to all buyers of property in the UK. There are some exemptions to this tax, most notably for first time buyers buying properties under £500,000 where the rate is 0% on the first £300,000, and 5% on the remainder up to a maximum of £500,000. For most other situations, if you are buying a residential property you need to pay it. The amount of tax paid is based on the purchase price and must be paid on completion. Find out what you’ll need to pay at: https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/residential-property-rates

The other important point to remember is that the stamp duty cannot be included in your mortgage advance, so needs to be taken into account as part of your cash deposit and legal expenses.

Residential Sales
#17
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