McCarthy and Stone has made a “goodwill” payment of £40,000 to Oak Court in Manchester which lacked fire compartmentation in the roof. But a leaseholder at the site, which featured in BBC TV’s Rip-Off Britain last year, withdrew a submitted article to LKP addressing the issue after receiving a phone call from the company’s senior […]
McCarthy and Stone makes ‘goodwill’ payment of £40,000 to Oak Court, but leaseholder drops article for LKP after phone call from the company’s lawyer
December 8, 2023 By
Shared ownership: Immensely complex; nothing shared when it comes to costs; clever ‘investors’ scent a revenue source to replace ground rents
October 11, 2023 By
By Sebastian O’Kelly This is a longer version of an article I wrote for the i Newspaper last week: Why shared ownership is the most problematic form of housing The shared ownership leases have come with the usual nasties designed to ramp up the value of the freehold interest, whether to the benefit of housing […]
Three quarters of Churchill Retirement flats have lost money when resold, says The Times
October 5, 2023 By
An analysis of Land Registry data has shown that three-quarters of the flats built by Churchill Retirement – owned by the McCarthy family who founded McCarthy and Stone – have resold at a loss, according to The Times. The average fall in value has been 18%, or £43,000, the newspaper said, with one flat in […]
We need retirement ground rent gaming like a hole in the head, says ARCO
July 7, 2023 By
Gaming the new ground rents ban by introducing them at the last possible minute was damaging to the entire retirement housing sector and “we need this like a hole in the head”, said the Association of Retirement Community Operators at its annual conference yesterday. Michael Voges, ARCO chief executive, deplored bad practices in retirement housing […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
APPG July 11: Robust debate over retirement ground rents and event fees
July 13, 2018 By
By Sebastian OKelly, LKP trustee The controversial issues of ground rents and exit fees in retirement housing were discussed at this week’s meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold and commonhold reform. These were the main event in a meeting which also had an insider’s examination of leasehold insurance commissions, and why developers […]
APPG July 11: The case for ground rents from McCarthy and Stone
July 13, 2018 By
By Clive Fenton, CEO McCarthy and Stone Hello, my name is Clive Fenton and until 31 August I’m the CEO of McCarthy & Stone. Thank you for inviting me here today. Today was never destined to be my easiest day in the office. I recognise that as a promoter of retaining ground rents for retirement […]
McCarthy and Stone and Churchill: are you blackmailing government over the ground rent ban and is your business model broken? Asks BBC R4 MoneyBox
June 25, 2018 By
Brilliant interview with outgoing McCarthy and Stone CEO Clive Fenton ‘Problem’ that retirement housebuilders have not been spoonfed profits, like others through Help To Buy Anyway, aren’t retirement housebuilders insignificant given the numbers of pensioners who are downsizing today, asks BBC? Radio 4’s MoneyBox quizzed retirement housebuilders McCarthy and Stone and Churchill Retirement Living on […]
