A very good article by Michael Voges, who heads the Association of Retirement Community Operators – that is, Audley, Extra Care Charitable Trust, Retirement Security Limited, Anchor etc).
Mr Voges writes:
“The quality of services and staffing has by far the largest impact on whether customers will recommend a scheme to a friend, so services are key. But the leasehold system was created to govern a relationship between farmers and (feudal) landowners.
We need to move beyond the feudal leasehold system
I am struck by the tension between those interested in retaining the old leasehold system, which has its origins in feudal times, and those arguing for a move to other forms of tenure, such as commonhold.
“This has resulted in gaps in what leasehold law can address. For example, it has little to say about mental capacity and dementia, or the protection of vulnerable residents from services being withdrawn by a majority decision taken by (more able-bodied) residents. And leases are inflexible as they go unchanged for decades – when the needs of the residents or the community might change considerably over time.
Related posts:
APPG July 11: Retirement event fees ‘align interests of buyers and operators’, Michael Voges tells meeting
Crisis in retirement housing is all down to planners, says ARCO (not greedy operators drawing up sneaky revenue-earning leases or management companies on the fiddle)
Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation meets McCarthy and Stone, but let’s talk about making the leases fair
Should my 90-year-old mother move into a retirement leasehold flat?
It has been viewed previously on this website by Sir Peter, where he made comments such as:-
* Criminal behaviour in leasehold
* Price-fixing cartels
* Cheating Freeholders,
* Exit Fee fiddles,
* Opportunist lawyers playing the system
* Feeble judicial intervention
This has escalated recently to include
* Excessive doubling Ground Rents
* Cheating Estate Managers
* Cheating Conveyancing solicitors
* Developers who created the latest scandal using Government Funding.
I read the article by Michael Voges and you can see the Landowner/ Freeholder/ Landlord how they used the peasants/farmers of the day to work for them and tie them to the land and able to move them on when they were no longer useful.
We do need to move beyond The Feudal Leasehold System to Commonhold and Right to Manage (RTM).
We also need to uncover the Managing Agents and Landlords who along with some Freeholders who have for years exploited as Rackman did after the war on rented property.