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Pickles calls for green probe into Toxteth demolition

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has called for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to be carried out into Liverpool City Council’s plans to demolish several hundred homes in the Welsh Streets area of the city.

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Peers table new sustainable development clause

Two Liberal Democrat peers have tabled a new clause to the Localism Bill intended to make sustainable development the objective of the proposed general power of competence for councils.

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Leeds LEP recommends Aire Valley for enterprise zone status

The Leeds City Region local enterprise partnership has selected Aire Valley as its preferred location for enterprise zone status.

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RSS revocation will hit gypsy sites, says study

Regional Spatial Strategies (RSSs) are being abolished just as they were beginning to provide much-needed gypsy and traveller sites, a report has concluded.

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Pan-Humber LEP approves separate sub-boards

The new pan-Humber local enterprise partnership (LEP) will have separate sub-boards representing the north and south sides of the river in a bid to tackle the different economic concerns of the councils involved, it has emerged.

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RTPI labels Lib Dem Localism Bill amendment as ‘significant’

The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) has described a Liberal Democrat amendment to block the Government’s controversial “cash for permissions” clause in the Localism Bill as ‘highly significant’.

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Study: offshore wind has greatest potential

Offshore wind has the greatest potential to contribute to the UK’s renewable energy capacity, followed by onshore wind and solar power, according to a government-commissioned report.

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Hammerson signs deal to restart Sevenstone plans

Developer Hammerson has signed a new deal with Sheffield City Council to progress its stalled Sevenstone retail development.

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Cost worries over building purchase orders

Plans to give residents more ability to force councils to take action over empty buildings will do little to boost community empowerment, charities have warned.

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O’Rourke looks to London office

Bournemouth-based planning consultancy Terence O’Rourke is considering setting up an office in London to tap into the growing planning market in the capital.

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Westminster waives affordable housing rule

Conservative councillors in Westminster have voted to waive affordable housing contributions worth nearly £900,000 for two developments against the advice of planning officers.

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Doubts over land auction disposal plans

The Government has increased the target for the number of homes that it wants to see built on previously developed public land – some of which is to be auctioned – by two-thirds.

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Edinburgh mulls developer for homes initiative

City of Edinburgh Council says it expects to appoint a developer next month to deliver the first affordable housing project funded by a new financing model.

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Peel plans five inland docks for Mersey Ports area

Plans to build and redevelop a series of docks that would allow more freight to be transported along the Manchester Ship Canal have been outlined in a 20-year growth strategy for the area.

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Ministers aim for waste incentives

The Government is to meet industry representatives to discuss the possibility of setting up community benefits packages to compensate local people affected by controversial waste proposals.

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12 nature conservation zones planned

Consultants and campaigners have welcomed government moves to boost biodiversity through large-scale nature conservation schemes and better management of existing sites.

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Minister vows to act soon on green presumption for Wales

The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) intends to amend Wales’ collected planning guidance to include a presumption in favour of sustainable development, the country’s new planning minister announced last week.

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Planners expect drop in solar farm applications

Planners are anticipating a significant drop in the number of planning applications for large-scale solar farms following a government decision to cut the subsidies available for such schemes.

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Business fears emissions goals will be missed

The Government will fail to meet its targets for reducing carbon emissions unless it finds ways of boosting investor confidence in the green economy, a study has warned.

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Newcastle council leader appointed to board of 1NG

City development company 1 Newcastle Gateshead (1NG) has made two new appointments to its board of directors.

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Planning objection petition – River Lane, Leatherhead, Surrey

The residents of River Lane, Leatherhead, Surrey, are in a legal battle over the inappropriate use of Green Belt land.

There has been a temporary gypsy and traveller site on the land for the past 8 years, having been granted temporary planning permission twice, under the grounds that Mole Valley District Council had the legal obligation to find an alternative site.  The council failed to do so, having done no research at all until November 2010, and are now allowing the gypsy families to apply for permanent planning permission.

The site has been deemed by the Government Planning Inspector as “inappropriate development in the Green Belt” and it is paramount that this development is rejected in order to stop this becoming an example for the allowance of future similar developments.

This has been an ongoing battle for the last 8 years and it is coming to a conclusion this year, so PLEASE can you sign the petition and preserve the green belt of River Lane.

THIS IS A SERIOUS PLANNING ISSUE. THIS IS NOT AN ISSUE OF PREJUDICE. IT IS A LEGAL ISSUE.

THE LAND IS DESIGNATED GREEN BELT AND IT HAS BEEN AGREED BY THE PLANNING INSPECTOR THAT THE CURRENT SITUATION IS “INAPPRORIATE DEVELOPMENT IN THE GREEN BELT.”

The petition can be found at the following address: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/riverlaneleatherhead/

If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact us at claracuffe@aol.com

Thank you so much for your support,

The residents of River Lane

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Problems mount for Peverel and Solitaire

Peverel property management faces tenant rebellion over service

Excessive fees and poor service are some of the accusations residents level against Peverel. Now they are taking action

The Peverel tenants who are fighting back

  • Patrick Collinson
  • tenant frank gadd

    Tenants Frank Gadd and Bernard Allwork of Church Crookham, Hampshire. Photograph: Graham Turner for the GuardianThree years ago Frank Gadd saw a two-bed maisonette for sale near Fleet in Hampshire that seemed perfect for his retirement. Yes, it was small, but it was affordable and it was relatively new, so maintenance would be minimal.

    “When I saw it, I thought what a lovely place to be in,” says Gadd, now 67. “But after just eight or nine months I felt I’d made a mistake. It was grim.”

    It wasn’t the property that was a let-down. It was the huge service and maintenance charges Gadd was being forced to pay out of his modest pension. The bill hit £4,400 a year for a run of four maisonettes with no common parts. This year, after taking on the agents, he will pay just £200.

    Gadd’s story is one of despair both at the lack of service and excessive costs for things such as buildings insurance. And his tale may not be unfamiliar to leaseholders and flat dwellers around the country.

    His managing agent was a firm called Solitaire Property Management, which in 2008 became part of the Peverel group of companies. Peverel is one of Britain’s most controversial property companies. It owns or manages hundreds of thousands of properties across Britain, under brand names such as OM, Consort and Pembertons Property Management. It looks after 65,000 retirement homes, largely at McCarthy & Stone developments. It runs security company Cirrus, which installs CCTV and entry systems for flats, and Kingsborough, which organises buildings insurance.

    Behind Peverel and a web of connected companies stands multimillionaire property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz, whose flamboyant spending – before the credit crunch at least – was legendary.

    Aside from the Rolls Royce (at one stage he reputedly owned five), he boasts a £10m-plus luxury yacht, called Veni, Vidi, Vici (I came, I saw, I conquered). His brother Robert also built a huge financial empire, much of it based on loans from Kaupthing Bank in Iceland.

    As Iceland’s financial system collapsed in October 2008, many of the loans were called in, wiping out a large swathe of Robert Tchenguiz’s business empire, and also affecting Vincent.

    But far from the yachts on the French Riviera, numerous tenants of properties around Britain ultimately controlled by Tchenguiz are furious at the charges they pay, and the service they receive.

    One website alone, where tenants share stories about their treatment and what they can do about it, has received nearly 120,000 visitors over the past 16 months. The awkwardly named The Truth About OM Property Management (formerly Solitaire Property Management) & Peverel Group Companies, was set up in 2008 by a disgruntled Solitaire customer

    When he spoke to Guardian Money it was on the basis that we only publish his first name: Adam. “I was fed up with being palmed off with various stories, services not being provided yet the fees kept going up. But it soon became apparent it wasn’t just me.”

    The site is now peppered with allegations, although they are firmly rejected by Peverel. In a statement, it said: “Solitaire Property Management only became part of the Peverel Group in mid 2008. Given Solitaire’s poor history, immediate changes were made by Peverel to improve the company, including centralising customer service management and closing poorly organised regional offices … Since taking control of Solitaire we have made it our number one priority to make a fresh start with residents who felt they had been let down by Solitaire.”

    But some leaseholders continue to press ahead with tribunal claims. In the coming months, a tribunal will hear a £2.6m claim for overcharging alleged by more than 300 leaseholders at the striking St George Wharf development on the river Thames. Residents of five blocks in Nottingham, called City Heights, set off fireworks to celebrate wresting control of their development from Peverel after a long legal battle. Across the city, residents at Weekday Cross have won £730,000 at a tribunal, although Peverel is appealing this.

    Every tenant’s story is different, but there are a number of strands that feature regularly among complaints.

    Service charges Residents, many of whom are on fixed incomes, talk of rampant charge inflation. In the Weekday Cross development, also in Nottingham, the service charge on a flat went up 75% in just two years.

    Service provision Residents say they understand the need to pay service charges, but allege that services are not provided. Often it is the mundane details of daily life. In Gadd’s case, he claims the person supposed to cut the grass didn’t turn up for six months. In other instances it’s about critical repairs and security.

    At Weekday Cross, residents allege promises were repeatedly made but not kept, and in August 2009 at a leasehold valuation tribunal, Solitaire/Peverel were ousted as managing agents.

    Insurance costs Some residents claim they are overcharged for buildings insurance, which is usually arranged for Peverel by its sister company Kingsborough. Residents say premiums can be as much as double the rate on the open market, driven up by commissions of up to 40% earned by Kingsborough for arranging the policies. Peverel says it regularly tenders risks to the open market and is legally allowed to obtain commissions.

    Transfer fees When the owner of a retirement home dies and the property is sold, a seller may be charged 2% of the value of the property. Peverel says the fees are passed on to the landlord, and it does not benefit. But often the landlord is a company called Fairhold, which although not part of the Peverel Group shares a common beneficial owner – the trustees of the Tchenguiz Family Trust.

    Late charges Residents allege that accounts may be filed late, and that as a result, they are faced with “balancing” charges, sometimes years after the work has taken place.

    Legal representation Individual residents complain that taking on the legal firepower of the Peverel Group is a daunting prospect. One individual says he was faced with nearly 1,000 pages of legal documentation sent just 72 hours before a tribunal, and stood alone against teams of lawyers and barristers acting for Peverel.

    Peverel replies

    We understand how important a person’s home is to them and for more than 25 years, we have taken great pride in our service to residents. We adhere rigidly to industry best practice, including The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and The Association of Residential Managing Agents standards. But as a market leader, we often bear the brunt of criticism for things that not only affect the whole property management industry, but are beyond our control.

    Service charges are collected from residents so communal areas and grounds can be maintained, buildings insured and utility costs paid. The money residents pay goes into a development specific ‘trust’ account and is spent on their development alone.

    Charges are dictated by the lease, a document drawn up by the developer. All charges should be explained by the buyer’s solicitor, but when they are not, the property manager is the resident’s first port of call.

    That doesn’t stop us striving for better practice. For years we have lobbied for greater regulation to raise standards across a largely unregulated industry. Any business faces challenges as it grows, and when Solitaire Property Management (SPM) became part of the Peverel Group in mid 2008, it quickly became apparent it had a number of serious operational and customer service issues that would take time to resolve. Peverel took immediate steps. A three-year, £4m improvement plan was set in motion, customer service management was centralised, poorly organised regional offices closed and Solitaire’s entire senior operations team changed. One of the first actions taken by PPM was to introduce a formal customer complaints procedure for Solitaire. Some of these complaints went as far as tribunals. As part of our commitment to correct errors made under a previous management, we have accepted many of the rulings.

    Since taking control of Solitaire we have made it our number one priority to make a fresh start with residents who felt they had been let down by Solitaire.

    All properties formerly managed by SPM came under the control of our OM Property Management division on 6 January 2011. As we begin the final year of our improvement plan, we are confident former Solitaire customers are now seeing industry-leading standards of customer service, value for money and transparency.

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Peverel Ownership Change

Tchenguiz forfeits £220m offshore companies

• Banks have control over web of property interests
• One firm, Peverel faces £2.6m claim for alleged overcharging

  • Simon Bowers
  • guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 February 2011 19.01 GMT
  • Article history
  • Robert Tchenguiz
    Icelandic bank Kaupthing called in £1.8bn loan to Robert Tchenguiz, above. Photograph Micha Theiner/City AM / Rex FeaturesA complex offshore corporate structure created by Mayfair real estate tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz to hold Britain’s largest property maintenance and residential freeholds business, has been quietly surrendered to lending banks.

    The freeholds and maintenance contracts are spread across the UK and include thousands of McCarthy & Stone retirement home developments as well as several luxury residential complexes on the banks of the Thames such as St George Wharf in Vauxhall, Charter Quay in Kingston-Upon-Thames and Putney Wharf Tower.

    Tchenguiz effectively forfeited shares in a web of holding companies valued at more than £220m two years ago having pledged them, just months earlier, as collateral in an ill-fated attempt to stop Icelandic bank Kaupthing calling in a £1.8bn loan to his brother Robert.

    Despite Vincent’s efforts, the loan to his brother continued to sink into negative equity and was called in as Kaupthing itself collapsed in October 2008. The collateral backing the Tchenguiz loan was later seized by the bank’s liquidators.

    The assets underlying shares surrendered by Vincent Tchenguiz amount to a multibillion-pound property empire. It includes a portfolio of residential freeholds which earns hundreds of thousands in ground rents from tenants and leasehold transfer fees from those who sell.

    Vincent has also effectively lost control of Peverel, a controversial group of companies which offers property maintenance, repairs and other additional services such as CCTV and buildings insurance.

    Accounts filed by UK companies do not make clear that the property tycoon has lost control of holding company shares but the full picture is laid bare in court papers filed as part of a legal claim being brought by trustees to the Tchenguiz Family Trust (TFT) against Kaupthing.

    As reported in Saturday’s Guardian Money, recent years have seen a groundswell of frustration among tenants, variously claiming unreasonable rises in service charges, buildings insurance charges and leasehold transfer fees.

    Some disgruntled tenants claim Peverel companies have also failed to adequately carry out maintenance and repairs. A website, thetruthaboutsolitaire.co.uk, set up by angry tenants, has had almost 160,000 visitors in the last 16 months. Solitaire Property Management is part of Peverel.

    Meanwhile, residents at St George Wharf, a 900-apartment luxury riverside development overlooking Parliament, have for years been in dispute with landlord companies, including Tchenguiz-linked firms, and Peverel group service companies. A claim for £2.6m in alleged overcharging, supported by more than 300 residents, is to go before the leasehold valuation tribunal in May.

    Much anger has been directed at Vincent Tchenguiz as company accounts for relevant UK-registered businesses state that the ultimate controlling party is the TFT, where the property tycoon is an adviser and a beneficiary.

    But court papers from an ongoing case reveal shares in 14 holding companies incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, and a further four UK firms, are under the control of receivers acting for Kaupthing.

    Unfortunately for Kaupthing creditors, however, the shares may not hold the value they appeared to promise three years ago. The vast majority of assets within the complex web of companies are already pledged to other banks – Deutsche Bank, Bank of Scotland (now part of Lloyds Banking Group), Merrill Lynch, BayernLB and Allied Irish Banks (UK) – under pre-existing long-term senior loan agreements.

    Moreover, these agreements contain so-called “change of control” clauses which give these banks the right to call in loans if Tchenguiz fails to keep control of the corporate structure. Receivers from Grant Thornton, appointed by Kaupthing, could therefore officially take control of the underlying businesses at will. They have not technically done so, however, for fear of triggering a chain of defaults which could leave the shares that Kaupthing took as security from Vincent Tchenguiz three years ago valueless.

    According to court papers filed by TFT trustees, Kaupthing’s decision to appoint joint receivers over several companies’ shares has already triggered various events of default. The papers claim Vincent had repeatedly warned Kaupthing liquidators of “the ruinous impact of … the appointment of receivers … on Kaupthing’s security position.”

    The document claims that, while negotiations are still ongoing, “in effect Merrill Lynch have, as a direct result of the events of default, assumed control of the underlying portfolio, [the parent company behind the Peverel group].”

    The bank has converted the loan from a long-term agreement to an overdraft repayable on demand. A 1% additional default rate of interest is being charged, adding pressure on the group to maximise the earnings it can extract from tenants’ service charge contracts.

    Similarly another big loan, arranged by Lloyds and advanced against part of the ground rents empire, has drifted into trouble. Lloyds, the taxpayer-backed bank, is charging a 1.75% additional default interest on the loan. According to court papers filed by TFT trustees, despite ongoing attempts to restructure the Lloyds loan, the bankers “in effect have … assumed control”.

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Highland Housing Fair / Expo – The wheels come off…

Months after the Highland Housing Fair closed little has changed with the development in Inverness, Highlands, Scotland.

Properties remain incomplete, landscaping leaves a lot to be desired and roads wait for Tarmac.

Not surprisingly, properties remain unsold and given the current financial climate it remains to be seen how those who organised the shambles will repay the reputed cost of £6Million funded mainly by the long suffering tax payer.

We are now told a “sales drive” will take place later this year – at what cost and who is going to pay?

Quite frankly, those who promoted the benefits of the event should be jailed. Little concern was demonstrated as the costs of the fiasco rocketed and this at a time that the Directors of Highland Council were fully aware that the council had massively overspent and was largely running out of control.

The term “Development at any Cost” springs to mind. The NIMBY’S who insisted that the location was suitable and would benefit the region should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves – will they all be eventually taken to court? Only time will tell, but one thing is certain, when the full financial facts are forced out the information will generate massive criticism.

Those who campaigned against the event have proven to be very accurate with their thoughts about the issue, yet still Susan Torrance and her team of supporters are in denial.

The only winner is Tulloch Homes, reported to have made a cool £500,000 profit on the sale of the land involved to Highland Housing Alliance!

Earlier this year, it emerged that taxpayers handed Inverness building firm Tulloch Homes a profit when land on the outskirts of the city was sold to the organisers of the fair.

Tulloch Homes bought around 40 acres of agricultural land at Balvonie Braes for £850,000 and sold it with one extra acre nine months later to the council-funded Highland Housing Alliance for £1,350,000.

Barrie Haycock, chairman of Planning Watch UK, said he was outraged by the way the Balvonie Braes project had been handled.

“I think the whole affair is a complete disgrace and indicates the contempt which the Scottish Government and the Highland Council demonstrate to the community and the planning process in general,” he said.

It transpired hundreds of brochures — designed to attract government support — had to be destroyed because they contained inaccurate information relating to community facilities claimed to be in place, but not provided at Milton of Leys.

This latest twist has prompted furious opponents to demand sackings at the highest management level.

Editor

Published:  18 January, 2011, Inverness Courier

ORGANISERS of Scotland’s Housing Expo are preparing for a major event to help boost the sale of 24-eco homes so that £6 million of public money can be repaid.

Highland Housing Alliance, which led the expo project, has a deadline of April 2012 to sell the houses – some worth in excess of £300,000 – which are still on the market five months after the event closed.

The Expo, a development of 52 homes at Balvonie Braes in Inverness, showcasing sustainable and energy efficient design, was open to the public throughout August last year and attracted more than 30,000 visitors.

Yesterday it was revealed only one of the 24 homes built by the alliance has been sold but the organisation’s chief executive Susan Torrance is unperturbed.

Cash from each sale is to be returned to the public purse as part of an agreement with the Scottish Government, which underwrote the controversial housing scheme with £6 million of taxpayer’s money.

As part of the deal, if the alliance fails to sell the homes, they will be converted to affordable housing either through low-cost ownership or affordable rented accommodation.

Mrs Torrance remains confident all the homes will sell by the time the deadline comes around.

“I would be extremely surprised if it takes longer than 18 months,” she said.

“Not a lot of new houses are being built but people are still looking for new homes.”

Whilst sales have been slow she revealed there have been expressions of interest from buyers in all the homes with some proving more popular than others.

She went on to reveal plans for a major event in April which would properly launch and market the expo homes for sale.

Scotland’s Housing Expo at the city’s Balvonie Braes where 24 eco-homes remain unsold. Gary Anthony

The alliance is waiting until spring because some work, such as laying roads and landscaping, is still to take place and it wants the site to be completely finished.

Prolonged snow and ice over recent weeks has caused some delays to the work schedule.

“What we want to do is really show off the houses to their best in April when all the landscaping is complete,” said Mrs Torrance, explaining until recently some of the houses also still required work.

Ideas for the April launch, which will form part of the alliance’s marketing strategy, include staging a farmer’s market, fashion show, music event and competition giveaways at the site.

Mrs Torrance also revealed plans were in the pipeline to host a professionals’ day on 18th March for architects, developers and other interested parties who may have missed the exhibition in August.

“Since the expo we have had umpteen folk wanting to see around the site,” she said.

“This will be the last chance for folk to see around the houses.”

The remainder of the expo development is made up of a further 20 affordable homes, built for local housing associations, and eight private houses funded directly by developers to the tune of £2.3 million.

Albyn Housing Society has sold 10 of its 11 homes and O’Brien and Robertson are understood to have sold each of their plots.

Link to original article

Courier reader comments:

Wee jamie
The Expo was a scam from the very start.
I visited with an architect. His opinion – Houses – Rubbish.

Today, 13:37:59
Jack
The Expo site is never going to feel like a proper housing estate. The houses are too close together
Yesterday, 16:31:52
Mmm
I bought one of the Albyn houses and feel very lucky. It’s very energy efficient and a great opportunity for myself and partner to get on the property ladder in such difficult times. The site is far from complete and it does feel like we’re living in a show room. We have ‘visitors’ constantly peering through our windows which has become very tiresome. I don’t think people realise that there are families living on site now.
Today, 14:17:39
Stewie
It looks like the Expo is being EXPOsed as a bad idea!
Today, 09:14:25
Be specific
“Umpteen”?. Such a comment is almost as much use as the imaginary 30,000 plus figure that those responsible for this shambles are still touting. Any chance of some ACTUAL accounts related to the none Common Good Fund income generated before April? Take away the £60,000 grant and the double counted free children used to inflate the numbers and the Expo is exposed as a joke.
Today, 09:12:22
Jack
Prepare to be discussing this in 18 months. The public will NOT take out mortgages to purchase experiemental houses on a cramped experimental estate which will contain a number of social housing units. The resale value of these egotistical follies is being indicated by the fact that the only one sold to date was bought by someone with a financial involvement in the project.
Yesterday, 22:26:48
Another MoL Resident
To recover £6M they would need to average £222,222 PROFIT on each of the 27 houses to recoup the monies spent. Clearly the cost of construction and the running of the event has to be covered.
Will the public purse see all its money back?
Yesterday, 22:11:23
James
I wish Mrs Torrance the best of luck in selling these houses, but with £300,000 a person could buy a very nice house in Crown or down by the river, so it’s difficult to see how these houses at Balvonie will take preference to such houses which are also on the market, despite what Susan Torrance says. Hopefully, for the sake of the public purse, the properties sell.
Yesterday, 21:34:11
Denise
This is a disgrace of monumental proportions.
Yesterday, 18:41:21
Anon
Watch for the begging bowl going to the Common Good Fund once more.
Yesterday, 12:17:42
M.O.L. Resident.
Were all these extra openings and events part of the original plans for the Housing Expo? Or are we now expected to suffer more disruption with visitors parking on the side of the roads or better yet, on the actual pavements without any say at all. I remember the words “No extended opening” being used at the end of the actual show, this sounds very much to me like the Housing Expo is being reopened. Lets hope they can sell some of the houses and pay the taxpayers back the £6 million they owe.
Yesterday, 08:37:42
BMac
“…Yesterday it was revealed only one of the 24 homes built by the alliance has been sold but the organisation’s chief executive Susan Torrance is unperturbed…”It’s wonderful how unconcerned one can be when it’s public money.
Yesterday, 00:44:27
Bogbain
Good Luck! to Ms Torrance with her marketing scheme. If it is half as good as the one that she executed for David Sutherland whereby all the new home builders had to contribute to the cost of his Milton of Leys link road then her latest scheme should land in clover.
For the uninitiated. Mr Sutherland’s Tulloch builders could not build more than 600 homes at Milton of Leys without building a new link road. Part of a planning condition. Enter Susan Torrance, ex Tulloch director who fronted the housing fair development for the benefit of Suds. Suds had bought the Balvonie farm fields for way above the agricultural rate in the belief that  HC planners would nod another development through the system.
But up sprang disenchanted Milton of Leys Tulloch Home buyers who joined forces with Bogbain and exposed anomalies in the Highland Council planners system.A new Highland Council planning committee was formed which owed Suds no favours, so that the whole housing fair farce got a rough ride in the media.
Can Susan now explain to taxpayers just how much each new housebuilder has had to contribute to the cost of Tulloch’s new Milton of Leys link road. The question has been asked many times before but Susan and Suds remain silent. And why not? Nice little bit of Inverness business.
2 days ago, 17:53:24
laxdale
one word albatross
Yesterday, 20:33:39
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Peverel ripping off more home owners – Daily Mail

Homeowners ripped off by managing agents charging sky-high fees

By Lauren Thompson
Last updated at 10:51 PM on 26th October 2010

A million homeowners in flats and retirement homes are being left at the mercy of managing agents who charge exorbitant service fees while ­providing poor maintenance.

These property owners are being exposed to a multi-million-pound rip-off by an unregulated industry.

They range from more ­vulnerable elderly residents in sheltered accommodation to wealthy ­businessmen in multi-million-pound riverside flats.

People power: Neil Healey successfully fought a two-year legal battle against ­Solitaire Property ­Management, now owned by Peverel, and got £156,000 in unfair service charges refunded to residents

People power: Neil Healey successfully fought a two-year legal battle against ­Solitaire Property ­Management, now owned by Peverel, and got £156,000 in unfair service charges refunded to residents

Complaints include:

  • Overcharging.
  • Fees that rise inexplicably every year.
  • No explanation of what charges are for.
  • Managing agents using their own ­companies to provide hugely expensive insurance and ­maintenance services.
  • No regulation to protect people from shoddy practices.

Michelle Mitchell, of charity Age UK, says: ‘These companies have a free rein to ride roughshod over residents and hold them hostage to a range of unfair ­practices due to the sector’s lack of ­regulation.’

Some of the worst examples are seen in sheltered ­accommodation, where ­vulnerable older ­people can pay huge charges for wardens and alarm systems.

Age UK has serious concerns about managing agents failing to obtain ­competitive quotes and instead using subsidiaries of their own company to ­provide ­insurance and maintenance work. This, in turn, leads to ­unnecessarily high service charges.

More than two million people are thought to own leasehold ­properties, with just over half being those who bought former council homes under the Right to Buy scheme.

It can be difficult for residents, whether in sheltered accommodation or normal flats, to know if the same company runs their ­managing agent and the firms they use to ­provide services.

For example, the ­biggest player, Peverel Limited, owns dozens of managing agents, including OM Property ­Management, Solitaire Property Management and ­Pembertons Residential.

Peverel and its subsidiaries manage 200,000 ­leasehold ­properties across the country, from ­million-pound apartments in central ­London to modest retirement flats.

Peverel also owns ­Kingsborough ­Insurance ­Services, which arranges ­building and contents cover; Cirrus ­Communication Systems, which installs CCTV; and CarelineUK, which provides emergency alarms in retirement homes.

All of these are used to provide services in Peverel-managed properties — although Peverel says it carries out a ‘strict ­tendering process for all contracts’.

Residents have complained that insurance premiums, in ­particular, are kept ­artificially high because of large ­commission fees. For example, Kingsborough obtains ­buildings cover but only acts as a middleman bet-ween Peverel and Oval, the insurance broker.

In return, it adds commission fees of up to 33 per cent on ­insurance premiums and this cost is passed directly to residents.

A spokeswoman for Peverel says: ‘Kingsborough receives a ­commission from the insurer and Leasehold Valuation Tribunals have determined that this is reasonable.’

Residents at Stow Court in ­Cheltenham, a block of 44 flats managed by ­Solitaire (owned by Peverel), became so fed up with sky-high ­insurance that they got a quote from an independent ­broker to ­compare costs.

Solitaire had been charging them £7,057 per year — but ­similar cover could be obtained through local firm Lansdown Insurance Brokers for just £2,165 — saving a staggering £4,892.

A spokeswoman for Peverel says: ‘Oval compared the two ­premiums and found the ­alternative quotation provided substantially less cover. Oval was, ­however, able to reduce its ­premium to £4,062 — a 42 per cent reduction on the ­previous year.’

A group of angry residents have set up a website called The Truth About Solitaire (soon to be OM Property Management) & Peverel Group Companies (including Consensus Business Group ­Companies), which has a wealth of information for ­leaseholders wanting to take on their ­managing agent.

James Butler, of Landmark Leasehold Advisory Services, says: ‘Several pieces of ­legislation, including The Landlord and ­Tenant Act 1985, make it a legal requirement for managing agents to openly tender contracts.

‘Sadly, some agents routinely flout the law by using firms owned by or linked to them to provide ­services. Ultimately, it is the ­residents who end up paying the increased costs.’
Charities such as Age UK have lobbied the Government for years to enforce regulation of ­managing agents and are confounded by the lack of protection for ­residents in leasehold properties.

Leaseholders can club together and boot out their managing agent under a process known as Right to ­Manage. The agent’s consent is not needed and there is no need for ­residents to prove mismanagement.’

It can be a lengthy and complicated process. Go to www.lease-advice.org for more information.

Bob Suvan and his neighbours exercised their Right to Manage a block of flats in Regent’s Park, ­central London. Mr Suvan was fed up with the way Peverel managed his three-bedroom flat and was being charged almost £5,000 per year in service charges.

So he set up a management company, BlocNet, and has reduced service charges in his building by 20 per cent. Find out more about leaseholds at www.thisismoney.co.uk/leasehold.

CASE STUDY

Neil Healey, 33, successfully fought a two-year legal battle against ­Solitaire Property ­Management, now owned by Peverel, and got £156,000 in unfair service charges refunded to residents.
Mr Healey (pictured) took the ­property giant to a Leasehold ­Valuation Tribunal (LVT), the dispute resolution service, on behalf of 165 apartments at City Heights development in ­Mapperley, Nottingham.
He was fed up of Peverel’s poor ­management and service charges of £1,600 per year on his two-bedroom apartment, as well as extras.
Mr Healey says: ‘From the minute I moved in, I had ­problems.’
And from January 1, 2011, the entire estate will be managed by Mr ­Healey’s new company, ­Mapperley Property Management.
A spokeswoman for Peverel says: ‘The LVT related to service charges levied by Solitaire ­Property ­Management between March 2004 and March 2009. ­Solitaire became part of the Peverel Group in mid-2008.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1324001/Homeowners-ripped-managing-agents-charging-sky-high-fees.html#ixzz13a1ZYYVi

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