Chief Rent
Encyclopedia
Chief Rent also known as a rentcharge is an annual sum payable on some freehold
Fee simple
In English law, a fee simple is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. It is the most common way that real estate is owned in common law countries, and is ordinarily the most complete ownership interest that can be had in real property short of allodial title, which is often reserved...

 property common in North West England
North West England
North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...

, but found throughout the UK.

Chief rent should not be confused with ground rent
Ground rent
Ground rent, sometimes known as a rentcharge, is a regular payment required under a lease from the owner of leasehold property, payable to the freeholder. A ground rent is created when a freehold piece of land or a building is sold on a long lease...

, confusingly also sometimes known as a rentcharge, which is a regular payment required under a lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...

 from the owner of leasehold property, payable to the freeholder
Fee simple
In English law, a fee simple is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. It is the most common way that real estate is owned in common law countries, and is ordinarily the most complete ownership interest that can be had in real property short of allodial title, which is often reserved...

. Such rentcharges have been in existence since Statute of Quia Emptores
Quia Emptores
Quia Emptores of 1290 was a statute passed by Edward I of England that prevented tenants from alienating their lands to others by subinfeudation, instead requiring all tenants wishing to alienate their land to do so by substitution...

 in 1290 and were originally payable to the Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...

 in perpetuity. The rentcharge can now be redeemed by making a lump sum payment under the Rentcharge Act 1977. Although many rent owners will try to make a private settlement with the rent payer, the Act provides a formula which enables Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), following the closure of the Government Office for the North West, to calculate the redemption figure that the rent payer has to pay the rent owner in order to redeem their rentcharge. When the transaction has been completed DCLG, on behalf of the Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....

, issues a redemption certificate to the rent payer. Such rentcharges still in existence by 2037 will be extinguished.
A Rentcharge is a peculiarity of Conveyancing in Bristol (in Manchester these additional payments were known as Chief Rents)
A Rentcharge was a device which permitted an annual payment to be continually levied on a freehold property in Bristol after it had been built.
Rentscharge (plural) was a payment payable to a third party, sometimes but not always the original builder.

Rentscharge caught on in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as, a ruse for income to be obtained from the property after it had been sold.
Luckily, inflation has taken the sting out of the payment which typically were between £2 to £5 pounds per annum.

A UK law passed in 1977 allowed existing freehold owners to buy out these rents and barred the creation of new Rentscharge from 1977 onwards subject to very few exceptions.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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