The Wilsons - 875 buy to let property empire

phil_b_2

Unless they have to sell for any reason they will continue to get richer in the long-run.

As for their greed, well... I'm sure many here would have played the same get-rich-quick game if they'd had the knowledge, ability and forsight before it all kicked off.

brit1234

How about this one. The Wilsons have been so bad that Watchdog did a program on them after complaints from their tenants..

The Wilsons

Some tenants of Fergus and Judith Wilson have had trouble getting their deposits back, and have been charged large sums of money in 'landlord's charges'. Watchdog investigates.


18 April 2007Fergus and Judith Wilson look set to become Britain's first buy-to-let billionaires. Fifteen years ago they gave up their jobs as maths teachers and now own and rent out several hundred properties in Kent and the south-east. They say they know how to spot a bargain and have made their money through rising house prices.

They own a huge amount of properties on Park Farm, an estate just outside the centre of Ashford. Unfortunately, some of their tenants there are not happy.
When Julia Gowlett moved into her property in November 2005 she felt the house was in need of a lot of work and a good clean. There were problems with the water system; the taps on the bath were broken and had to be opened with a wrench, and it took 30 to 45 minutes to run a bath. A year later, these problems were still not fully resolved so she decided to terminate her tenancy.

Anxious to get her £700 deposit back, Gowlett cleaned and painted the house from top to bottom before she moved out. An independent inventory clerk checked out the property and found it was now in a cleaner condition than when she moved in. However, she'd also left small picture hooks in three of the rooms and for this she was facing a charge of up to £200 per room. Wilson himself then visited the property and Gowlett was told she would now have to pay £1,200 'landlord's charges' for redecoration.

Gowlett disputes the charges and feels they're disproportionate to the work needed on the property, and they don't take into consideration the improvements she made to the house while she was living there.

Simon Strickson and his family lived in one of the Wilson's properties for six months last year. When he moved out in November 2006 his official check-out report included a £50 charge for marks on the carpets, which Strikson accepted. He was then sent another letter, which included 'landlord's subsequent recommendations', an extra charge from the Wilsons. They were looking to charge him £1,650 for 'excessive wear'.

Strickson disputed this charge and the Wilson's gave him two choices, settle at £2,500 or go to court.

Fergus Wilson disputes the details of these two cases, and says the marks in both properties were hardly normal wear and tear. He maintains neither case has raised their complaints in the proper way and insists the recommendations in their check-out reports are not those of the landlord, although he also makes clear he considers them to be correct and reasonable. The figure of £200 per room for redecoration is consistent with county court judgements, and less than contractors would charge. He says in both cases he'll be starting proceedings to recover the costs, and they'll have considerable difficulty defending their cases.

The government launched a new scheme on 6 April 2007 that aims to help protect tenants in the future. Under the Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme, the deposit will be paid into one of three independent government-appointed schemes. In addition, if there are disputes over deposits at the end of tenancies, the scheme will provide a dispute resolution service.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watchdog/reports/homes/homes_20070418.shtml

It seems the Wilsons were fleecing tenants out of their deposits to buy extra race horses.:mad:

Gorgeous_George

brit1234 wrote: »

Does anyone know if their is a bubble in horse prices as well?

www.horsepricecrash.com



GG

ps Did I really sign off with 'GG'?

lostinrates

phil_b wrote: »

As for their greed, well... I'm sure many here would have played the same get-rich-quick game if they'd had the knowledge, ability and forsight before it all kicked off.

Yes, I often think that. alt might not be though I can see the difficulties its created in their area its legal. How good landlords they are is (while a problem if they have no competition) a slightly removed issue.

It might not be popular but I don't begrudge people legally getting rich. I'm envious though:o

neverdespairgirl

brit1234 wrote: »

I'm sure all the first time buyers in Ashford love them for buying ever first time buyer home up. There will be a big party there when they go bust.

Lets see how the GCSE maths teachers sums add up after a few months.

My sister is a journalist in Kent, and lives c. 10 miles from Ashford. Apparently "Wilson" is a 4 letter word.....

m00m00

they would be in a much stronger position if they had stopped buying in say q3 2005 and consolidated their empire around that time. If they continued to leverage buy in the bull trap following the 2005 rate cut, then ouch.

brit1234

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

My sister is a journalist in Kent, and lives c. 10 miles from Ashford. Apparently "Wilson" is a 4 letter word.....

hopefully that 4 letter word will shortly be changed to BUST:rotfl:

Gorgeous_George

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

My sister is a journalist in Kent, and lives c. 10 miles from Ashford. Apparently "Wilson" is a 4 letter word.....

That'll be the quality of the teaching.



GG

Austin_Allegro

Never mind - if things go badly for them they can always invest in a canoe... :rolleyes:

mewbie_2

Watched a program about them a while back. They were bulding their dream home. It seemed to be a very modest affair, three bed detached or similar, in the middle of a non descript patch of land without any particular views. It seemed not to be the sort of thing that a person with 250,000 grand would build let alone the sort of money they claim to have made.

It didn't seem to fit their self projected image.