Residents at the Oakland Court retirement development in Worthing today accepted a £68,500 settlement of their dispute with their landlord over the notional rent of the house warden’s flat. Sadly, two of the original applicants have died and three have moved to full-time nursing care since the application to the LVT was made in April […]
Archives for August 2012
‘Legal torture’ Oakland Court residents settle for £68,500 … but two of the original applicants have since died
August 24, 2012 By
The Dear Leader of Peverel addresses her adoring supporters with a frank and informative statement
August 21, 2012 By
The Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation chairman draws on his experience of North Korea to translate the latest pronouncement from Peverel HQ Not since I was a young reporter sent to North Korea, and had to sit through hours of bum-numbing adoration of the Great Leader Kim Il Sung, have I read anything quite as […]
Dispatches reveals a host of leasehold fiddles on TV
August 21, 2012 By
The long awaited Dispatches documentary last night, Property Nightmare: The Truth About Leasehold, was an excellent and welcome overview on the issues facing leaseholders. The best part of it was the report on the plight of those leaseholders who have bought ex-local authority properties but where the block is still run by the council. Profligate, […]
The Guardian money editor wades into leasehold
August 20, 2012 By
The Guardian is the latest media group to write about leasehold today, with an online article by Patrick Collinson, the personal finance editor. Collinson, who has written on leasehold issues several times in the past, says The Dispatches documentary tonight will feature the case of Rona Buretto, who bought her one-bed flat in Hounslow, London, […]
Think tank urges £2 per flat owner to regulate leasehold
August 20, 2012 By
The leasehold sector “is not fit for purpose” and requires immediate regulation that could be paid for by a charge of £2 per leaseholder, according to the CentreForum report published today. An independent regulator – that is, not one originating from the compromised existing trade bodies in the sector – would ensure all managing agents […]
‘Some of the worst spivs in property are in leasehold,’ O’Kelly tells The Times
August 20, 2012 By
Ahead of tonight’s Channel Four Dispatches documentary on leasehold, ‘Property Nightmare: The Truth About Leasehold’ (C4 8pm), The Times today quotes Sebastian O’Kelly, of Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation and the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, saying that there is “industry-wide fiddling” in the sector. “Leasehold gives some of the worst spivs in property the opportunity to […]
The FT’s shocking page 3 today … a report on leasehold
August 20, 2012 By
Ahead of tonight’s Dispatches programme on Channel Four (8pm) and the CentreForum think tank report on leasehold, the Financial Times carried a report on leasehold. It can be read on the FT website here, although you must log in.
Radio Four Today programme highlights leaseholder “rip-offs”
August 20, 2012 By
“There are clear instances of leaseholders being ripped off,” Chris Paterson, the author of the CentreForum report into leasehold, told Radio Four’s Today programme this morning. Interviewed by Justin Webb about the report, Paterson claimed that LVT complaints by leaseholders had increased four fold over the past ten years. There is unanimity for greater regulation […]
Countdown to a media storm over leasehold
August 19, 2012 By
Tomorrow (Monday August 20) sees the Dispatches documentary on Channel Four and the release of an influential report on leasehold by the liberal think tank CentreForum. There will be an article on the subject in The Times by property writer Deirdre Hipwell. But first off is an excellent polemic in today’s Independent on Sunday by […]
Property Nightmare: The Truth About Leaseholds on Channel Four August 20 at 8pm
August 10, 2012 By
This is the first of two documentaries about leasehold to be shown on Channel Four. Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation gave extensive support and encouragement to the documentary. The views expressed are those of the Dispatches filmmakers. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/episode-guide/series-111/episode-3
Green MP steps in to help leaseholders who face £30,000 legal bills after bungled right to manage
August 9, 2012 By
Residents from the Kingsmere development in Brighton – who face legal bills of £30,000 following a bungled right to manage application – are to meet their local MP today (August 10). Caroline Lucas, of the Green Party, has taken an interest in the issues raised and is demanding to know how ordinary families at the […]
Why does Shapps want to regulate park homes, but not leasehold?
August 9, 2012 By
Housing Minister Grant Shapps is alone in resisting leasehold regulation saying it will add to costs and landlords don’t want it … even though the British Property Federation, which represents the country’s largest landlords, has assured LKP that it favours the move. But why – for the sake of consistency – does this minister feel […]
