Recommendations by the Competition and Markets Authority to make right to manage applications less problematic appear to have been rejected by the government. The rebuff came the same day of the Budget speech (March 18) that said the government “will take forward CMA recommendations, and other actions agreed with the CMA, to improve the market […]
Lord Ahmad rejects easier right to manage – contradicting the Budget statement on the same day
March 20, 2015 By
We must stop freeholders and their managing agents ‘abusing’ leaseholders, says Bottomley in Budget debate
March 19, 2015 By
Sir Peter Bottomley intervened in the Budget debate yesterday calling for adequate resources to protect leaseholders from predatory freeholders and the managing agents that they employ. He also repeated his call for Parliament to bring in “commonhold properly” and stop perpetuating the flawed leasehold system.
Stop keep asking who our members are, ARMA tells pensioner
March 17, 2015 By
Michael Hollands, an indefatigable letter-writer on retirement leasehold issues, has been told to stop writing to ARMA for to find out who are the current members of the trade body. The ARMA membership has been in a state of confusion since the January 1, the supposed deadline for application through the more rigorous ARMA-Q membership […]
Peverel / FirstPort pays back £39,377 wrongly taken from Hillside Court, but residents say another £3,498 is owed
March 11, 2015 By
UPDATE March 12 2015: The residents estimate that the underpayment still outstanding now amount to £4148, not £3,498. The amendment concerns a flat sold in August 2001. Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation strongly advises the residents not to accept that this matter is concluded until all the data is thoroughly examined, ideally by a third […]
Peverel / FirstPort paid ‘£40,000′ of residents’ contingency fund money to Mr Tchenguiz ‘by mistake’
March 5, 2015 By
In an extraordinary admission, Peverel / FirstPort says it has paid over thousands of pounds of contingency funds at Hillside Court, Ormskirk, to the landlord “by mistake”. Residents estimate that up to £40,000 is at issue, involving the one per cent contingency fund fess payable on sale of the properties.
Oldies should downsize and give retirement house builders lots of money, reports Telegraph
March 3, 2015 By
The Daily Telegraph has repeated a load of retirement house builder propaganda in a story about oldies downsizing. Story link is here It is basically a re-hash of the 2013 report by the think tank Demos, called The Top of the Ladder – which was paid for by the House Builders’ Federation on behalf of […]
20% of ARMA members ‘walk out over new ethical scheme’
March 3, 2015 By
… and if ARMA’s Twitter feed is to be believed, two-thirds of the membership has dropped out At least of a fifth of the membership of ARMA has ditched the trade association that on January 1 brought in more rigorous membership criteria. This is the figure reported by ARMA insiders, although many think the […]
Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation: What we want
February 27, 2015 By
The Campaign Against Retirement Leasehold Exploitation (Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation) exists to protect the elderly in leasehold flats and to help create a fair and healthy retirement housing market. It is part of the wider Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, which is a registered charity (registration above). Retirement leasehold is a sector with a poor […]
Tchenguiz’s £2.2bn compo claim ‘liberally interspersed with assertions of fraud, falsity, dishonesty and improper motive’, says judge
February 26, 2015 By
(Sounds like an email to Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation from an aggrieved leaseholder …) Vincent Tchenguiz’s £2.2 billion legal action against accountants Grant Thornton has suffered a set-back as his documentation was described by a judge as “too long and failed to make clear the facts of the case”. Tchenguiz wants compo from Grant […]
Metcalfe Court overcomes 11th-hour frustrations to break free of Tchenguiz and Peverel
February 24, 2015 By
The long-running saga for right to manage at Metcalfe Court, in Romiley in Cheshire, has at last come to an end and the pensioner residents are now rid of the Tchenguiz-appointed Peverel / FirstPort management. On February 20, the management of the site passed to family-run Macclesfield firm Jones Associates, which is accredited to the […]
Watch out! There’s a lease running out
February 23, 2015 By
Michael Hollands was appalled to discover the expense and difficulty involved in extending a lease in a retirement site There is one culprit in this unsatisfactory leasehold system that can end up being a big cost to leaseholders, particularly those who reside in retirement complexes: an even bigger cost than inflated management charges or exit […]
Cycle ride to celebrate the life of Neil Dalton
February 19, 2015 By
By Sebastian O’Kelly Please could I ask all those who have been helped by Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation to sponsor me in a two-day cycle ride across the Pennines to celebrate the life of medical student Neil Dalton, 22. Neil was murdered last summer in Sarawak, Borneo, with his friend Aidan Brunger.
