If there is one thing that those seeking reform of the retirement housing sector and those employed in it can agree on – actually there is rather a lot we now agree on – it is that this time the impetus for leasehold reform is different. ARHM chair Richard Wheeldon made the point in his […]
Sebastian O’Kelly addresses the retirement property managers. Were you lynched? No, they agreed: leasehold ‘granny flats’ have no future
November 21, 2017 By
Not a single voice was uttered in favour of the leasehold volume retirement flat model at the annual conference of the Association of Retirement Housing Managers. The keynote speaker was Sebastian O’Kelly, joint trustee of LKP and director of BetterRetirementHousing.com, who said: “The era of knocking out “granny flats”, loading the leases with sneaky fees […]
ARHM cannot see a future in traditional ‘granny flat’ volume retirement sales
November 21, 2017 By
Annual conference hears why renting, mutuals or guaranteed buy-back schemes are more attractive than leasehold flat sales Not one attempt was made to defend the volume retirement housing business model as it came under sustained attack at the annual conference of the Association of Retirement Housing Managers last week. The keynote speaker Sebastian O’Kelly, of […]
ARHM code of practice is launched
June 10, 2016 By
The Association of Retirement Housing Managers launched its new ARHM code of practice this week, which has at last obtained approval from the secretary of state. This means breaches of the code can be referenced in litigation, which can be very useful in a property tribunal dispute. The code has been worked on for some […]
Regulator to rule on whether scandal-hit Peverel / FirstPort Retirement is fit to be a member of ARMA
March 3, 2016 By
FirstPort Retirement, formerly Peverel, should not be admitted to ARMA because it has an unaccounted-for portfolio of house managers’ flats and has a track record of misleading residents when trying to sell them. These were the arguments put on Monday to Keith Hill, a former New Labour housing minister, who is the regulator of ARMA […]
If Peverel Retirement is admitted to ARMA-Q, what message does that send thousands of cheated pensioners?
October 24, 2014 By
Ten months after being found guilty by the OFT of systematically cheating residents in retirement sites, Peverel Retirement is now lining up to join ARMA-Q. This is the new ethically enhanced membership scheme that ARMA hopes will demonstrate greater professional rigour in leasehold management. The announcement will be a shock for the ARHM (Association of Retirement […]
AgeUK: Retirement leasehold IS NOT WORKING and needs urgent reform
September 24, 2014 By
– Self-regulation (by ARHM, ARMA, RICS) has failed – Leasehold tenure itself disempowers residents and makes them vulnerable – Commonhold should be explored – Right to manage needs to be made easier for the elderly – LEASE’s ‘problematic’ role serving all sides in leasehold – CMA’s skimpy Ipsos MORI poll ‘should not be used as the basis […]
ARHM’s pathetic response to the Peverel / Cirrus scandal
August 1, 2014 By
… while “under review”, Cirrus sponsors the ARHM summer conference and is doled out generous contracts In the club: Richard Wheeldon, ARHM vice chair, part of the Cirrus review team and an executive of Housing and Care 21 housing association. It handed out a bumper contract to Cirrus in February, two months after the OFT […]
Nine months late, the ARHM makes ruling on Cirrus scandal …
July 31, 2014 By
… and accepts Peverel’s assurance it REALLY won’t happen again ARHM STATEMENT INTO PEVEREL PRICE FIXING / COLLUSION FOLLOWING INVESTIGATION BY FORMER OFT. Starts The ARHM Audit and Regulation Committee has been working with Peverel to review the outcome of the OFT investigation into collusive tendering in relation to the supply and installation of certain […]
ARHM rejects complaint that Peverel pushed Mere Court residents into agreeing house manager’s flat sale …
July 25, 2014 By
… a flat that, it emerged, Peverel itself owned The daughter of a resident at Mere Court in Knutsford who believed Peverel was urging the sale of the house manager’s flat for financial gain has had her complaint rejected by the ARHM. Alex Ellison was appalled to discover that Peverel was encouraging the sale of […]
ARHM action over Cirrus has ‘involved ONE inquiry to Peverel’
July 9, 2014 By
The cosy insiderism at the heart of retirement leasehold management is displayed in an email exchange by Peverel to a Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation reader. It suggests that the resolve of the Association of Retirement Housing Managers to hold Peverel / Cirrus to task over the collusive tendering scandal is a rather less robust than the […]
Seller at Felbridge Court expresses frustration at unending sales fees
July 8, 2014 By
Adam Schmidt, who inherited a retirement flat at Felbridge Court in Feltham, has written to the Sunday Times and to Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation about his frustrations at the raft of fees payable when the flat is sold. He has written to 10 MPs, the ARHM, ARMA, FPRA, OFT, the Leasehold Advisory Service, Campaign […]
