McCarthy and stone profit warning

lessonlearned

Thanks for that Kittie, very interesting. The findings more or less echo my own experiences, both when I worked as a manger in a sheltered housing complex and when my dad lived in one, especially Inappropriate kitchen design.

Most residents do end up of having to tweak the kitchen layouts and add extra storage etc. That's why I think it's often a good idea to buy a resale because some of the money saved can be spent on upgrading kitchens, bathrooms and extra comfort features for tailor made solutions.

[Deleted User]

moneybox live, today, saturday, I was in the car and heard some of it, was about management and ground rent charges in the small print of retirement properties. Big boys making lots of money out of the elderly. It is on iplayer, I am just about to listen to the whole of it

buglawton

By coincidence todays Radio 4 Moneybox had an in depth feature on retirement homes ground rent vs the new legislation banning it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b7cdp3

The CEO of M&S was there defending the typical £600 annual ground rent saying there are a lot of common areas in the property and these leases are sold on to investors for e.g. £15,000 apiece which helps keep new build sale prices lower.

All very well, however my experience of leasehold is that the said investors appoint a management company that uses the detailed lease terms to gouge even more fees from their leaseholders.

Sterlingtimes

buglawton wrote: »

By coincidence todays Radio 4 Moneybox had an in depth feature on retirement homes ground rent vs the new legislation banning it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b7cdp3

All very well, however my experience of leasehold is that the said investors appoint a management company that uses the detailed lease terms to gouge even more fees from their leaseholders.

However, residents often exert their legal right to set-up their own management company. This can be a good idea on initial investigation, but I have noticed that some elderly residents can be reluctant to invest in the upkeep of the common areas. This can lead to a depreciate asset which may impact upon those who inherit their estates in due course, e.g. why wallpaper corridors when a brush of paint is adequate? It also gives rise to many arguments and squabbles, e.g. why should I pay for the upkeep the lifts when I live on the ground floor?

[Deleted User]

setting up a self managing group is difficult, having done it twice and at present taking on two of the officer roles in our small group. All the paperwork, the agm, dealing with the accountant and other people sitting back relying on yours truly to get everything orgaised. McC are quite big communities, our last was 42 and believe me you get all sorts of personalities and a few anti everything. The moaners, several were in their 40s and 50s, who do nothing to contribute. My next home will have no shared anything.


Many of those in McC and similar would rather pay an outside company than go through the hastle. It is no fun trying to claim money and remain friendly

lessonlearned

kittie wrote: »

setting up a self managing group is difficult, having done it twice and at present taking on two of the officer roles in our small group. All the paperwork, the agm, dealing with the accountant and other people sitting back relying on yours truly to get everything orgaised. McC are quite big communities, our last was 42 and believe me you get all sorts of personalities and a few anti everything. The moaners, several were in their 40s and 50s, who do nothing to contribute. My next home will have no shared anything.


Many of those in McC and similar would rather pay an outside company than go through the hastle. It is no fun trying to claim money and remain friendly

Absolutely Kittie.....I have done the shared management thing....an absolute pain. Half the time people would drag their heels and refuse to cough up.

My new house will be detached, freehold, free from any encumbrances, and like you say, no shared anything. I won't touch a shared drive or access.

I prefer to be responsible for my own little patch so I can do my own timely maintenance, repairs, decoration etc. My new home is going to be a chalet style bungalow so even stuff like maintaining the roof and cleaning the guttering etc will be easier and cheaper.

(No scaffolding costs for a start.....spent £3k on scaffolding alone on DS1s house).

So often in these shared situations maintenance is not carried out regularly enough so that what could be a simple inexpensive job becomes a very expensive mammoth undertaking.

I'm a great believer in the "stitch in time, saves nine" school of household maintenance.

And then if it ever comes to the stage where I move into an apartment then I would chose a building with an outside management company.

longleggedhair

I had an aunt who purchased one of these from new, she managed to get it at a low price, as it was during the recession in 2009. It was a beautiful place, but eventually she had to sell due to the ever increasing service charges (ended up almost £250 PCM). She just got back what she paid, but looking at the prices now they have halved.