Evidence based on sales since 2010 Evidence includes unverifiable discounts – ‘incentives’ – from the retirement developers LKP refused to be associated with the report and urged non-publication In spite of abundant evidence on the Land Registry of catastrophic falls in value of retirement properties, today (August 20 2019) the Elderly Accommodation Counsel reports that […]
Elderly Accommodation Counsel says ‘recent retirement flat resales have increased in value’
August 20, 2019 By
Family save £25,000 over McCarthy and Stone shared equity lease, thanks to Better Retirement Housing
July 31, 2019 By
A family selling a McCarthy and Stone retirement flat with a rip-off lease condition have been saved £25,000 after the case was taken up by Better Retirement Housing. Rita May Bailey, who is now deceased, bought the one-bedroom flat at Bridewell Court, in Widnes, Cheshire in February 2008, which has a registered price of £167,450. […]
Government will cave in to retirement house builders over ground rents, says Times
May 11, 2019 By
What does this say about setting new in wider market to zero? The government is poised to exclude retirement house builders from the much delayed ban on ground rents. Headed by leading retirement builder McCarthy and Stone and Churchill Retirement (which is privately owned by the McCarthy family), have been lobbying hard for an exclusion. […]
£15,000 for Pegasus Court leasehold retirement flat in Rochdale – which once sold for £85,000
May 1, 2019 By
Another disastrous retirement leasehold resale price, where neighbours have paid £165,000 A leasehold retirement flat at Pegasus Court, in Rochdale – built by Pegasus Retirement – is up for auction with a headline price of £15,000 later this month. The property has been sold twice before: for £59,750 when new in 1997, and for £84,950 […]
MP Huw Merriman tells prime minister retirement ground rents should be zero
March 6, 2019 By
Tory MP Huw Merriman called for zero ground rents for retirement housing at prime minister’s questions today. He talked of pensioners trapped in McCathy & Stone properties, which have fast depreciating values. He named Vincent Tchenguiz, whose Tchenguiz Family Trust in the British Virgin Islands ultimately owns the old McCarthy and Stone freehold book, and […]
Your Housing Group shared equity retirement flat sells for £39,000, after three years on the market
January 9, 2019 By
A Your Housing Group shared 75% equity retirement flat has sold for only £39,129.26, after three years on the market. The property is at Your Housing Group’s Heyeswood Retirement Village, in Haydock, Merseyside. The property was bought by the mother of Cath White in August 2015 for £92,213 but has now sold – after three years […]
Family outraged by £50,000 exit fee at Retirement Villages’ Mayford Grange
January 7, 2019 By
But a cash loss from purchase of only £5,000 is not THAT bad, in UK retirement housing … By Sebastian O’Kelly Yet again retirement housing is in the news: this time Retirement Villages charging £50,000 in exit fees to a family who sold a two-bedroom flat at Mayford Grange, in Woking in Surrey. The Sunday […]
Move beyond feudal leases, says Association of Retirement Community Operators
December 14, 2018 By
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 […]
Downsizing pensioners assailed by ‘fleecehold’ charges, reports Daily Mail
December 14, 2018 By
Fleecehold charges have been reported in the Daily Mail: Retired engineer Walter Wright and his wife Peggy thought they had found the perfect place to downsize,. The three-bedroom detached home was only a couple of years old and would need less upkeep than their bungalow, which had a very large garden. When they purchased the £269,000 […]
Rectory Court slashes service charges after dumping Stonewater for right to manage LKP accredited managing agent
December 5, 2018 By
Cherry Jones has managed to drastically reduce service charges using local contractors … The epic right to manage victory at Rectory Court – where Stonewater was given the boot and the new manager is LKP-accredited Cherry Jones of Swindon-based Home from Home – has made it to the national press. The leaseholders at the 44-flat […]
VAT on house managers’ wages will cost leaseholders £50m a year, says Rendall and Rittner
November 16, 2018 By
Changes to impose VAT on the salaries of house managers and concierges in blocks of flats will add £50 million to service charges, Rendall and Rittner tells LKP. Founder Duncan Rendall said: “This is a huge own goal by the Government given their stated objectives of trying to reduce the cost of leasehold. “The capitalised […]
Did government concession on ground rents stuff new thinking in retirement housing?
November 14, 2018 By
The new chief executive of McCarthy and Stone John Tonkiss is delighted the government has caved in over retirement housing ground rents, while announcing strategic changes that were prompted by the prospect of this reform. The company argued strongly in favour of ground rents because it was disadvantaged by having to provide communal areas at […]
