ParkFirst Early Redemption - Thread for any reports of successful redemptions

pika_doh9

Hi Guys,

I created a post a while back now about my investment with Park First and I was just revisiting the thread to see if anyone has been successful in getting their money back.

My year long wait should finish by end of this month and I have been calling Park First endlessly to see if they would pay me earlier but the answer was always no.

I have friends in a similar situation where they opted for the Early Buy Back and got bombarded by calls from Park First telling them to take the Lifetime Lease - they said they would think about it and just like that Park First signed them up and then refused to make any further communication. One of my friends had to contact their solicitor and this was the reply from the Park First Solicitor - Eversheds:

We as writing to you to let you know that we have been instructed by our clients not to proceed further with respect to this matter at the present time.

We have been advised that the clients are presently considering their financial position and the position of all creditors and are doing so independently of this firm.

Therefore the statements we can make at the present time are based only on our understanding of what is the position.

We understand that it is likely that investors will be notified by the clients as to their present intention directly, which may include the entry into protective insolvency proceedings, the intention of which would be to ensure that a proposal is put to creditors with respect to their repayment liabilities.

It’s not looking good - I don’t think I will get my investment back.

Is there anyone here who has been paid back? As the Early Redemption must be nearing a year for many people now.

AnotherJoe

This thread isa great demonstration of the phrase "hope over experience". You can't get blood out of a stone. You've been lied to every step of the way right from the very first profit projections and yet still rely on statements from the company as to what the situation is.
The best anyone can hope for is that in the very long term, when all this big mess is wound up, they get back a very small amount as buy back for their space, if they ever really did purchase a marked space. More likely these car park areas will be in limbo for years to come and/or new car park operators will arise from the ashes, start using the spaces and without really expensive legal action the owners of individual spaces will have their space used without their consent or knowledge

JohnRim

They have gone into administration on 4 July 2019, its on the FCA website.

eskbanker

JohnRim wrote: »

They have gone into administration on 4 July 2019, its on the FCA website.

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/park-first-limited-information-investors

https://smithandwilliamson.com/park-first/ (some familiar names here!)

Aretnap

Park First claim on their website to manage over 15000 car parking spaces... if that figure is accurate and the large majority of them were sold to punters at around £25K a pop then that implies that the total amount handed over by punters was somewhere north of £350 million. Big business indeed!

Meanwhile the FCA statement implies that there is around £33 million in the pot (plus whatever loose change can be found down the back of the sofa at Park First Towers) to pay back creditors (ie punters), before the administrators have taken their fees.

Have to say the sums don't look good for anyone hoping to get more than a small fraction of their money back.

pika_doh9

I saw the news about them going into Administration as well - funny because I called them last week and the receptionist was adamant that this 'rumour' was false.

I don't understand what happens to the Car Park space, doesn't the investor own that piece of land?

The website said the Car Parks will will be in operation, so what is happening to any income that is generating.

AnotherJoe

pika_doh9 wrote: »

I saw the news about them going into Administration as well - funny because I called them last week and the receptionist was adamant that this 'rumour' was false.
How on earth would an receptionist know that and why trust a company that essentially set out with a broken business model from the start to know whats happening apart from where the money they collected is stashed.


I don't understand what happens to the Car Park space, doesn't the investor own that piece of land?

The website said the Car Parks will will be in operation, so what is happening to any income that is generating.

Mostly, going to the administrators and what few staff are left fobbing off enquiries.


As was obvious from the get go with any scheme like this, be it parking spaces, hotel rooms, storage pods, the operator has a massive disincentive to use a space that they dont own and similarly to record who's using each space. If they say someone parked in space 123 and yours is 124, how would you know they didn't actually park in 124?

Malthusian

pika_doh9 wrote: »

I don't understand what happens to the Car Park space, doesn't the investor own that piece of land?

Nope. Park First own the land. The punters own a very long lease over a rectangle with 2 white lines drawn on it.

Quoting the brochure for posterity before it disappears from the Internet:

Park_First_brochure wrote:

Is this a leasehold or freehold property? Parking spaces are sold as a 175 year long leasehold property (banks consider anything over 100 years just the same as owning a freehold). This is the maximum leasehold that can be granted in Scotland.

A leasehold over a parking space in a car park that doesn't make money is however totally worthless. If the freeholder can't make money from running the car park then there will be no cars parked there. Nobody else is going to be interested in buying a freehold that comes with an obligation to pay randoms 8% a year for their parking space.

The website said the Car Parks will will be in operation, so what is happening to any income that is generating.

After the original illegal collective investment scheme was shut down in late 2017, investors will have either asked for their money back or agreed to a "lifetime leaseback" with Park First, in return for 2% per year plus a variable (non-existent) dividend. In the "lifetime leaseback" case any income from the car parking space is unambiguously Park First's (the investor gave it up for their 2% + non-existent variable dividend). In the former it theoretically depends whether the investor has handed back the title yet. But there is no reason why Park First would arrange for someone to park their car in someone else's space. This is why all landbanking schemes of this type (whether car parking spaces, storage pods or hotel rooms) never make make any money for the investor.

Short answer: not the investor. That's not how a scheme like this works.

AnotherJoe

Malthusian wrote: »

A leasehold over a parking space in a car park that doesn't make money is however totally worthless. If the freeholder can't make money from running the car park then there will be no cars parked there. Nobody else is going to be interested in buying a freehold that comes with an obligation to pay randoms 8% a year for their parking space.

I wonder, suppose that PF is wound up and a developer buys that car park, and decides to build a housing estate on it. Are they prevented from so doing by virtue of the leasehold, or do the terms of the leasehold say something like "only for car parking rights all other rights belong to the freeholder" or something like that?

JohnRim

The FCA website only mentions the company's that where created to deal with buy backs. I'm guessing the car parks can continue to operate for those who chose the lifetime lease.