Both the FT and the Sunday Times are suggesting that the hedge-funders who took on the debt at McCarthy and Stone could be in for a killing if it floats next year for £500 million. Both papers report that says hedge fund owners pumped £367 million of equity and a five-year loan to slash borrowings.
Ground rent doubled on mum’s flat
July 19, 2014 By
Q: My sister and I inherited Mum’s flat in Poplar Court, St Anne’s, Lancashire at the beginning of 2013. I noticed a large increase in the ground rent just before Mum died when it jumped from £250 pa to £527.17 pa (111% increase), which is very high when compared with the £60 pa ground rent […]
Family ‘horrified’ at £30,000 price difference between new and resale Churchill Retirement flats
July 18, 2014 By
Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation has received an anguished communication from a family considering a purchase of a flat from Churchill Retirement at Elgar Lodge in Malvern. It is priced at £172,000, but the family says it is “horrified” to discover a very similar resale flat in the same block, advertised by Churchill’s own […]
Judge Siobhan McGrath apologises to pensioner over the Benjamin Mire debacle
July 17, 2014 By
Judge Siobhan McGrath has apologised to the pensioner whose complaints led to Benjamin Mire losing his judicial appointment. The apology to Colin Dennard, 73, of Ferndown in Dorset, is an acknowledgement that the Residential Property Tribunal Service (RPTS), of which McGrath was the Senior President, bungled the issue. (She is now president of the new Property […]
Why are housing associations exempt from Freedom of Information Act?
July 10, 2014 By
Why are housing associations exempt from Freedom of Information Act? Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation has received inquiries concerning a disastrous investment by the Hanover housing association of £500,000 in Smartsource Water. The supplier offered 8.3 per cent “guaranteed savings and price protection” to consumers, but it went bust in October last year. Some Hanover […]
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 […]
Peter Whalley leaves Peverel
July 5, 2014 By
Peter Whalley, a Peverel regional manager for the North West and Midlands, left the company’s employment yesterday, it is claimed. A statement from Peverel to Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation reads: “Peter Whalley resigned from his position to pursue other career opportunities and he leaves on 22 July. We are in the process of recruiting […]
AHRM: now we DO want to talk about Cirrus …
July 5, 2014 By
Within hours of Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation reporting ARHM’s silence over the Peverel / Cirrus price-fixing scandal, we received another email from Paul Silk, chairman of the trade body. On this occasion, he did address the issue of Cirrus sponsoring last month’s ARHM annual conference. His full correspondence is below, and includes the justification […]
After SEVEN months, the ARHM breaks its silence over the Peverel / Cirrus scandal to say … ‘no comment’
July 4, 2014 By
… and yes, of course, Cirrus was a co-sponsor to its annual meeting two weeks ago The Association of Retirement Housing Managers has finally made a statement about the Peverel / Cirrus price-fixing racket. But it amounts to making no comment at all. The ARHM chairman Paul Silk, who is employed by the Hanover housing […]
ARMA tells Y and Y Management to mind its manners and hold its temper
June 28, 2014 By
ARMA’s regulatory panel announced on Friday June 27 that it had admonished Y and Y Management following a complaint over “intemperate and unprofessional language” to a leaseholder who visited its north London offices. A letter of admonishment has been sent to the company, headed by Joseph Gurvits, whose business partner is freeholder Israel Moskovitz. Both […]
Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation / LKP holds Westminster meeting on commonhold
June 28, 2014 By
Last Thursday (June 26) Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation / the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership held an all-party meeting on commonhold in the House of Commons. The meeting was organised by Martin Boyd, co-director of LKP, and hosted by MPs Ed Davey (LibDem), Sir Peter Bottomley (Conservative) and Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour). More than 50 delegates attended […]
