UPDATE June 8: McCarthy and Stone has no ongoing relationships with Lloyds Bank
It is a fantasy figure which Housing Minister Mark Prisk has already consigned to the bin: 10 Manchester sized cities over the next 20 years is required to house the ageing population.
This nonsense comes from McCarthy and Stone, which is in hock to Lloyds Bank – that’s us taxpayers – following its lunatic £1.1 billion takeover deal in 2006. (This is one feckless deal among many that earned HBOS executive Peter Cummings a lifetime ban as a banker.) More here
A city for 500,000 needs to be built every two years, says McCarthy and Stone, to release up to 3.75 million [perfectly good, freehold] existing family-sized homes and meet shortfalls.
Even at the height of the property boom the construction industry only managed to built 230,000 new homes. Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, McCarthy and Stone admits that only 1,600 specialist retirement dwellings were built for ownership last year.
There has to be a question mark over whether McCarthy and Stone will be around to build them. The Co-Op Bank and Japanese banks were dumping McCarthy and Stone loans at 78 – 83 per cent of values. More here Retirement housing is desperately required, but not sneaky retirement leasehold with all the hidden revenue streams that we are now so over-familiar with. The full McCarthy and Stone report can be read here
Related posts:
Our ground rents are fair, says McCarthy and Stone (even though they go up to £600 and are for no service whatsoever)
McCarthy without Stone: Churchill Retirement Living ‘to spend £500 million on new sites’
Elderly Accommodation Counsel says half new-build retirement flats fall in value on resale
Love over 50: something we can agree about with McCarthy and Stone
Mcarthy and Stone Ltd (holding companies) appear to be owned by LLoyds TSB, Lloyds Banking Group,
HBOS, Bank of Scotland and Uberior Investments. The last published accounts appear to show a net book value of -£8,000,000.
We don’t need the M&S supply of leasehold retirement homes anymore since their overcharged prices for first sale of property is causing a weapon of mass wealth destruction for the retired customers and their heirs. The onsite warden system can be replaced by off -site wardens, responding to digital callers. Every estate should be controlled by a RTM company answerable to the home owners.
Lloyds TSB Bank are 42 % owned by Govt using money collected by taxation from the taxpayers. So it is really the tax payers who are financially supporting M&S.
We should ask the Government to order M & S into bankrupcy .and transfer the M&S architects design team and building companies to building retirement homes for Local Councils.
Totally agree with Ollie. I would suspect MS have an hidden agenda coming out with such tosh. I recon what they are really leading up to is to obtain government funding/backing to build lots more their retirement apts, at the taxpayers expense, and then be able to fleece even more of the elderly and vunerable (No doubt some silly minister will back them one day)
Saying it will “release” homes with 3 or 4 bedrooms for the younger generation is incorrect in my opinion.
If there is that much of a housing shortage why are so many of the current ones up for sale not selling like hot cakes. It is because people can no longer get silly mortgage deals any longer (thank god)
Only when houses keep selling within acceptable/short timescales can we say there is a shortage.