asked the Minister for Justice (a) the estimated total annual revenue from ground rents; (b) the estimated total number of home owners liable for ground rents; and (c) the number of home owners who have applied for information or assistance in relation to the purchase of their ground rents.
Written Answers. - Ground Rents.
354.
The question of the total amount of money being paid in ground rents was investigated by the Ground Rents Commission, which sat between 1961 and 1964. However, the Commission were unable to arrive at any reliable figure. As regards the number of home owners who are liable for ground rent, a study that was made in connection with proceedings on the Bill that became law as the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No. 2) Act, 1978 resulted in a very tentative estimate of some 250,000 ground rents on dwellinghouses. As regards the final part of the Question, some 7,000 persons had, between the introduction of the purchase scheme on 1 August 1978 and 24 November last, approached the Land Registry, by way of personal call, telephone call or letter, for information or assistance in relation to the purchase of ground rents under the Act that has been mentioned. Many of these persons were inquiring on behalf of other individuals or groups, such as residents' associations.