peppercorn rent 
noun British
A very low or nominal rent: the houses were let for a peppercorn rent...
- Payment of the peppercorn rent has been an annual ceremony ever since Henry Whistler, a London merchant, leased the Ouse-side structure from the city in 1677 to use as a water tower supplying York.
- Now they want to privatise it for a peppercorn rent of one pound.
- The city council eventually bought the site and agreed to rent it out on a peppercorn rent for art and culture.
Origin
From the (formerly common) practice of stipulating the payment of a peppercorn as a nominal rent.