UPDATE July 10 2013: Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation received this email from the Office of Fair Trading this afternoon, shortly after a Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation meeting with Sir Peter Bottomley: I am the team leader for the OFT’s investigation into certain access control and alarm systems companies, with respect to which the […]
Archives for 2013
Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation whistleblowers furious as OFT may give Peverel immunity over price-fixing
July 8, 2013 By
Rebellion at Blagdon Retirement Village over 12.5% exit fees
July 4, 2013 By
Residents at Blagdon Retirement Village, an upmarket retirement complex near Taunton in Somerset, are mobilising to fight 12.5 per cent exit fees involving all Retirement Village sites. Blagdon is a complex of 85 cottages, bungalows and flats “clustered around Blagdon Lodge where communal facilities can be found”. With 20 “interest and social groups”, the Lodge […]
Meet your freeholder, poised to ‘butcher’ his enemies
July 1, 2013 By
Here’s a rare chance for Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation visitors to see their freeholder Vincent Tchenguiz speak courtesy of Bloomberg … Things might seem tough for Vincent Tchenguiz right now, with Lloyds Bank poised to pitch a fifth of his freehold portfolio into administration (subject to a court hearing this week). Plus there’s his […]
LEASE threatens Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and demands apology
June 26, 2013 By
LEASE, the Leasehold Advisory Service, has demanded that the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership remove a critical article from its website and issue an apology, or it “reserves the right to take appropriate further action”. It is an open question what is meant by this threat, which comes in the form of a letter from LEASE chairman […]
Tchenguiz: is this the end?
June 22, 2013 By
Vincent Tchenguiz could lose a fifth of his freehold portfolio after failing to agree repayment terms on a £230 million debt with Lloyds Bank. The taxpayer-owned bank sought court approval on Thursday to appoint KPMG as administrators over more than 50,000 residential freeholds. It is not known which portfolios these may be. It is possible […]
My recipe for retirement leasehold happiness
June 20, 2013 By
By Michael Hollands Searching for the Ideal Retirement Home Despite all the horror stories I read I have not been totally put off and continue my quest. So far I have been searching for 3 years
Peverel meets Homepine House over £70,000 fire safety upgrade
June 18, 2013 By
Ninety residents were present at an “unruly” meeting at Homepine House yesterday to hear Peverel representatives justify a £70,000 fire safety system most do not want. It is unknown whether a representative of Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe, was present, but a local newspaper journalist was.
Yet another desperate seller facing forfeiture …
June 17, 2013 By
Just received this: Dear Sebastian We are a charity which was helping an elderly lady living in a Peverel sheltered leasehold flat prior to her move to a Home and subsequent death in 2010. We had made some loans to the lady concerned and have been in touch with her son, who lives abroad, over […]
MP tells Metcalfe Court it has won ballot to end live-in house manager
June 14, 2013 By
The residents’ association at Metcalfe Court, in Romiley, Cheshire, has won its protracted and acrimonious struggle to end having a live-in house manager. The count of the vote was supervised in the London offices of freeholder Fairhold by local LibDem MP Andrew Stunell (left). Fairhold is a freehold owning company of the Tchenguiz Family Trust, […]
Prisk sets up mobile home advice line at LEASE
June 11, 2013 By
Housing Minister Mark Prisk has set up a dedicated advice line for park home owners at LEASE, the Leasehold Advisory Service. This is a “free and independent service, manned by experts who understand the issues faced by park home residents”, says Prisk. It can be contacted on: 0207 383 9800 or at www.lease-advice.org The change […]
Is our money safe if Peverel goes bust (again)?
June 11, 2013 By
Can anyone help this reader with his query about Peverel bank accounts? Please leave comments. I am contacting you to ask if you can give me some advice about an issue concerning Peverel Management Services. I am delegated by the leaseholders at XXX to deal with Peverel and Fairhold Homes on any matters concerning our […]
Homepine House involves MPs after Kent Fire Service says Peverel £70,000 ’elf ’n’ safety upgrade is unnecessary
June 6, 2013 By
Residents in Homepine House are involving MPs Damian Collins and Sir Peter Bottomley after being presented with a £58,000-£70,000 fire safety upgrade from Peverel, which they say is unnecessary. Kent Fire & Rescue Service also says the upgrade is unnecessary. In a letter to residents of December 12 2012, it writes: “Following the fire safety […]
