Wilsons Selling Up. The Lot. All 700 Houses.

bluey890

PasturesNew wrote: »

I think (google would be your friend for research) they had a house at the bottom of the last crash and bought another cheap .... but couldn't sell the first. By sheer coincidence and luck a company wanted to rent a house so they rented out their first house to them. They then (I think) saw next door to their new house was up for sale, so they contacted the agent and said they'd just bought theirs for £30k (which was a bare-faced lie) and convinced them to sell that one to them for £30k too. They then remortgaged it and it was worth £120k, so they took that money and went on a property buying spree... which ended in 2008. They bought and re-mortgaged all the way "up".

Thanks Pastures. IMO there's something worng with wealth distribution when crooks like the Wilsons get ahead, the rental market needs reform to encourage decent landlords at the expense of the selfish one's. I know of some pension funds which were looking at buying into the non-corporate rental market. Perhaps this would help set some sort of minimum standard.

bluey890

PasturesNew wrote: »

Looks like they started a lot earlier than I thought. Early 70s. Wage and house inflation time.

Found a link: http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article1131136.ece

There's more on that link.

I liked that last bit "And look to buy off-plan. By the time it’s completed, the value will have gone up and you can capitalise on the equity.”

The Wilsons seem to have taken a lot from country. I wonder how much they have given back to the community?
Probably not much, other than lawsuits for unsuspecting tenants.

PasturesNew

Here's a report from the horse's mouth, one of his tenants:

Until the heating died at home.........7 yr old son, no heating, no water, 2 weeks before Christmas.........I told our Landlords (it was clearly in the lease that it was THEIR responsibilty to fix) and they were having none of it....copper emailed them..no good. They were having none of it......i went to the Citizens Advice Bureau, who told me that my landlords (Mr and Mrs Wilson, actually) were known for this sort of behaviour - in fact, they had hundreds of complaints against them, but the CAB were unable to do anything. At this point, I was having a nervous breakdown, there was mould growing on the walls and I had to boil the kettle to have a wash. I went to my GP - who told me - and these are his exact words........."you cant fight the Wilsons, they have too much money"

RED RAG = BULL! By this time - and I remember this clear as day - it was xmas eve - and who was on the telly, but the rogue Landlords, the Wilsons, bragging about how they were about to become "Kents first Billionaire Landlords" I was !!!!ing wild (scuse my french) they were about to become BILLIONAIRES, yet they wouldnt fix my heating and they were sending me vile emails (if you cant afford to fix the heating, maybe you shouldnt be in one of our houses - you arent the sort of tenant we want and you would be better of renting a cheaper house - maybe a terraced one, nearer town.....) Im not joking - they were SICK, just SICK.

http://dorsetloife.blogspot.com/2009/05/landlords-tenants-trouble.html

Mind you, she sounds a bit chaotic in lifestyle choices.

PasturesNew

Here's another story of a tenant, that made it to Watchdog
http://landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=54090

MissMoneypenny

PasturesNew wrote: »

Looks like they started a lot earlier than I thought. Early 70s. Wage and house inflation time.

Found a link: http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article1131136.ece

I read that article as that he bought their first house (to live in) in the 70s, but didn't start the BTL until 1986?

"I had a pigeon, Maidstone Monarch. In 1973, I entered her in a national race to the Cherbourg peninsula. She came first in the whole country. Out of 8,947 birds. I’ll never forget that figure. I made enough in prize money to buy our first house in Boughton Monchelsea, Kent.

... really got airborne in 1986, when they realised they had sufficient equity to buy the house 11 doors down. “I had it in mind that I ought to buy a house for each of our two daughters,” says Mr Wilson.
“We rented out the first one and made a loss on it of about £10 a week. Then we noticed prices were shooting up, and so the rent went up. "

carolt

I liked the idea at the end of that one of all the Wilson's tenants getting together and forming a union and organising a one-month rent strike.

What truly awful people the Wilsons are.

baby_boomer

If the buyers went on strike they might be in trouble - but they're probably going to get away with it.

But it's bizarre that he is almost telling the buyers that they will be buying at the wrong time IHHO!

MissMoneypenny

bluey890 wrote: »

Probably not much, other than lawsuits for unsuspecting tenants.

In the days before the deposit protection scheme, a LL could take what they wanted from the tenants deposit. The only recourse a tenant had was to take a landlord to court and I wonder how many did? Many LLs viewed the deposit as theirs to keep regardless, hence why the deposit protection scheme came in.

In 2007, the deposit protection scheme came in and house prices started their crash.

carolt

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

In the days before the deposit protection scheme, a LL could take what they wanted from the tenants deposit. The only recourse a tenant had was to take a landlord to court and I wonder how many did? Many LLs viewed the deposit as theirs to keep regardless, hence why the deposit protection scheme came in.

In 2007, the deposit protection scheme came in and house prices started their crash.

Oooh, I see a lovely conspiracy theory just waiting to do the rounds.

MissMoneypenny

carolt wrote: »

Oooh, I see a lovely conspiracy theory just waiting to do the rounds.

I was thinking more along the lines of that the deposit scheme must have financially hurt landlords who had been use to keeping a deposit as part of their income. Lost income and lost equity in 2007 and beyond.