December 4, 2024

The Times says families ‘lost £3 billion’ on resales of leasehold retirement flats, while developers and freehold speculators made millions

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

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. […]

Did government concession on ground rents stuff new thinking in retirement housing?

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 […]