The two sons of 96-year-old Margaret Fenn, who had a stroke last Wednesday and is in hospital, have appealed to Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation after being barred from her flat by Retirement Security. This is the retirement housing firm headed by founder Bob Bessell. In a communication that was sent to the local MP […]
Archives for 2016
Let us into our dear mum’s flat … No, says Retirement Security. She did not want you in, and police have been notified
June 28, 2016 By
Dear ARMA and ARHM, why does FirstPort not put Appello contract out to tender?
June 23, 2016 By
A day after FirstPort Retirement was admonished by the Association of Residential Managing Agents a letter has just been sent off to the trade body’s CEO Nigel Glen questioning its tendering processes. Alan and Ann Merryweather, of Lyon Close in Clacton on Sea in Essex, want to know why a quote for a emergency cord […]
ARMA rules against FirstPort Retirement …
June 22, 2016 By
Humiliating criticism for the trouble property manager, but the path is now clear for it to apply for membership of the trade body The regulator of the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) has admonished on two counts Peverel / FirstPort Retirement, which was applying to join the organisation. But the decision means the controversial […]
57% of leaseholders regret buying their property, finds Leasehold Advisory Service
June 18, 2016 By
And two-thirds of leaseholders don’t feel they get a good service from their managing agent These are two of the results of the survey of leaseholders – and RMC directors –by the Leasehold Advisory Service. According to the LEASE website, the leasehold survey “is a tool designed to support the sector and not a commercial or […]
Anchor CEO makes donation to Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation
June 13, 2016 By
Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation and the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership would very much like to thank Jane Ashcroft, CBE, the chief executive of Anchor housing association, for a donation last week. At the launch of Lord Best’s Making Retirement Living a Positive Choice at the House of Lords, Jane noted that the resources of our […]
Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation welcomes Lord Best’s ‘flaws and all’ study of retirement housing
June 13, 2016 By
The controversial issues surrounding retirement housing have been addressed in an important parliamentary report written by Lord Best, the acknowledged expert on the subject in the Lords. “Leaseholders and their concerns have not been forgotten in this report,” Lord Best told guests at Parliament on Wednesday, who included senior figures in housebuilding, housing associations, the […]
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 […]
ARMA regulator to rule on whether to admit FirstPort Retirement ‘within days’
June 10, 2016 By
After more than three months of deliberation, the Rt Hon Keith Hill, regulator of the Association of Residential Managing Agents, is poised to make a decision on whether Peverel / FirstPort Retirement is a fit and proper candidate to join the association. Alex Ellison, and others, made a series of complaints concerning Peverel / FirstPort […]
McCarthy and Stone stops hyping ‘virtual freeholds’
May 16, 2016 By
McCarthy and Stone has changed its publicity after claiming that by selling 999 year leases it was offering buyers homes that were “virtual freeholds”. Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation took the issue up with chief executive Clive Fenton and the over-hyped expression has been dropped from McCarthy and Stone publicity. Its website has been amended. […]
After 30 years, can’t FirstPort contracts go out to tender? And, what’s happened to the chairman of LEASE?
April 29, 2016 By
At the Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation / LKP roundtable at Westminster yesterday there were a couple of interesting questions from attendees. One gentleman asked: “I own a portfolio of [50] retirement properties. Most are in sites that were built by McCarthy and Stone and are managed by FirstPort formerly Peverel formerly etc … “In […]
Woodchester Valley Village: How we turned a disaster into the first mutually owned retirement village
April 29, 2016 By
MPs were told yesterday of how residents took control of a bankrupt retirement village, raised £2 million and turned it into the first mutually owned retirement site in the country. Professor Peter Wilson told the Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation / LKP roundtable, hosted by the charity’s MP patrons Jim Fitzpatrick and Sir Peter Bottomley, […]
No more think tank ‘research’ into retirement housing paid for by housebuilders, please
April 29, 2016 By
The Westminster roundtable heard yesterday that think tank ‘research’ paid for by housebuilders or their trade bodies routinely avoided all reference to problems in the retirement housing sector. The event was organised by Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation / LKP, and hosted by the charity’s MP patrons Jim Fitzpatrick and Sir Peter Bottomley, and was […]
