Ground Bent

Ground Bent is the rent reserved by a lessor on a grant of lease. It is usually of smali amount, the lease being granted for a period of ninety-nine years upon the understanding that the lessee (the builder) shall within a fixed time erect upon the ground one or more messuages of a specified description. When these messuages are built they are sublet to occupants or others, who pay an increased rent estimated to repay the lessee with a profit. The builder's rent, viz. that which he pays to the ground landlord, is termed the ground rent The ground landlord is entitled under the statute 4 Geo. II., c. 28 to distrain on the premises for the rent, so that it is quite possible that the occupying tenant may have to pay this in addition to his occupation rent unless proper precautions be taken. In the sub-lease there should be a covenant on the part of the sub-lessor (that is, the holder of the original lease) to indemnify his lessee from such payment and to produce receipts from time to time verifying the payment of the ground rent. Also where several houses are comprised in one lease and then separately sub-leased the whole property is subject to the original ground rent and covenants unless the same have been apportioned (that is, reserved on each house). This makes the dealings with underleases very objectionable and considerably reduces the value of such property.