Sir Peter Bottomley is to raise with Churchill Retirement – a private company owned by the McCarthy family – its decision to continue to charge ground rents on sites that have not yet opened. New ground rents were banned under the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, which came into force at the end of […]
Bottomley to raise with Churchill Retirement its decision to continue charging ground rents
April 28, 2023 By
Park home demonstrators demand end to 10% sales fees – as litany of crooked practice reported to MPs
November 29, 2022 By
Around 80 park home owners converged on 10 Downing Street yesterday to deliver a blunt message demanding reform of their scandal-hit corner of the retirement housing market. The residents, mainly in their 70s, are furious at the skulduggerous behaviour of certain park home owners – and, truth be told, have little good to say about […]
Letter to Michael Gove: Housing association retirement living … is much improved if there is badgering by a determined resident
November 25, 2022 By
The following is a letter to Housing Secretary Michael Gove recording the experience of being a Leaseholder Resident in a Social Housing Complex. The housing association landlord is a member of the G15 group, which represents the larger ones. Dear Michael Gove, I note you are taking a keen interest in the performance of Social […]
French resi service group Emeria clears out FirstPort management in take-over
August 25, 2022 By
Will much change with the take-over from the usual service – service, that is, to the freeholders who employ FirstPort? And what – sacrebleau – is going on with the leaseholders at St David’s Square, on the Isle of Dogs, who are litigating in January? FirstPort, the biggest residential property manager in the UK, has […]
Retirement housebuilder Platinum Skies breached shared ownership rules with onerous ‘staircasing’ charges in the lease
April 7, 2022 By
And ground rents are £500pa on Bournemouth flats selling for £151,600 The Times today reports that retirement developer Platinum Skies, which has close links with prominent Tory politicians, inserted admin fees of tens of thousands of pounds in the supposedly affordable shared ownership leases. Platinum Skies, chaired by former Tory treasurer and hedge funder Lord […]
Dudley Joiner’s Team Property Management that also managed RTM retirement sites goes bust owing £635,958
March 8, 2021 By
Dudley Joiner’s Team Property Management went bust owing £635,958.61, according to the liquidator’s report (below). His company the Right To Manage Federation Limited, which is not a federation but a private facilitator of right to manage applications, is still trading. Dudley Joiner informed told LKP in 2015 that being disqualified as a company director for […]
Pensioner loses £130,000 to escape Roseland Parc Retirement Village. But it is worth it, she says …
March 7, 2021 By
A leaseholder in Roseland Parc Retirement Village, Cornwall, is facing a £130,000 loss on a £350,000 flat in order to move out, but says it is worth it. Eileen Osborne, 72, moved into the property more than 10 years ago, but has now purchased another home locally and has moved out. She is trying to […]
Pensioners face £150,000 fire safety bill at Cestrian Court, but McCarthy and Stone isn’t reponsible (nor is FirstPort)
March 3, 2021 By
Pensioners at Cestrian Court in Chester-le-Street, Co Durham, are looking at bills for £150,000 to put right historic build defects even though the site was only built by McCarthy and Stone in 2008. The building appears to have fire compartmentation defects in the loft. These were also cited as defects at Gibson Court, in Hinchley […]
The Times says families ‘lost £3 billion’ on resales of leasehold retirement flats, while developers and freehold speculators made millions
November 23, 2019 By
The Times today suggests that families have lost £3 billion on the resale of leasehold retirement flats between 2001 and 2015 in a series of articles that add up to a devastating investigation of the sector. Some 80 per cent of the properties sold had fallen in value, with an average loss of £38,846, the […]
Churchill Retirement donates £150,000 to Conservatives. To retain ground rents, by any chance?
November 22, 2019 By
Churchill Retirement, which belongs to the McCarthy family who founded McCarthy and Stone, yesterday gave £150,000 to the Conservative party. Churchill Retirement has led the rear-guard action to exempt retirement housing from the government’s three-times repeated promise to reduce new ground rents to zero. McCarthy and Stone, on the other hand, more or less conceded […]
Guardian reports dismal retirement flat re-sale prices, as seller ponders £28,000 offer
November 18, 2019 By
‘My flat was £161,950 in 2007 – now I’m offered just £28,000’ When Tony Cross’s father was the first buyer at a McCarthy & Stone retirement development in Folkestone, Kent, he thought he was getting a bargain. The sales rep offered him an “early bird” discount, knocking £3,000 off the cost of a one-bed flat, […]
Your Housing Group shared equity retirement flat that sold for £38,000 on ITV
August 29, 2019 By
A family who bought a shared equity retirement flat and lost £50,000 on its re-sale will feature on ITV tonight. Housing Crisis: What Next For The Elderly? Tonight Housing Crisis: What next for the Elderly? Tonight Most experts agree we are in the midst of a housing crisis but much of the focus has been […]
