Landal Belvedere go into administration

StateofAffairs

jimjames said:

axolotl56 said:

JIMJames - use this link
https://specters.co.uk/investor-concerns-following-apple-invest-administration

So the only person mentioning a Kent connection is the person writing a blog for a solicitor, nothing from the actual developers. I'd safely assume that they have no idea what they are talking about and just googled the location Belvedere and added 2+2 to make 5.

Unless Belvedere Leisure has commissioned the blog writer for Specters to deflect attention from their JV with Apple Invest with a little stretching of the truth - thinking about that for a moment makes it feel quite unsettling.

StateofAffairs

Sarahspangles said:

I actually looked up the site in Scotland recently, because we used to stay there when it was a family owned farm with converted holiday cottages, and I wondered what it was like now. Only to find that it was now in the hands of property developers. It immediately looked shady because the marketing material was so ‘generic’

Wonder if you are able to enlighten us regards the name of the "property developers" you refer to? and which farm you are talking about? I thought Landal Barnsoul was operational site with over 200 chalets, maybe my mistake. Adding in the edit... what evidence of development did you see?

StateofAffairs

jimjames said:

Eyeful said:

mangoapple123:
This may be of help to you in future:

LOW RISK SAVINGS BONDS: are regulated.

Investments are not covered by the FSCS protection 

Problem is that many of these outfits skirt around the definitions and most avoid any mention of risk. Have a look for any risk warnings here. 

https://gladeparkinvestments.co.uk/landal-belvedere/

They also use words like guaranteed where the average person probably wouldn't think to ask "who is guaranteeing it and what is their status". Rather sad to see that their website is still active promoting sales when there are investors that may have lost most of their investments despite the claims made.

Google reviews also follow the usual pattern of people saying how fantastic they are for making payments before all turning negative when the payments stop and company folds.

The gladeparkinvestments website seems to be a dead duck now, says only: 

swan-creative-01.nh-serv.co.uk

Troubleshooting this page. Check this knowledge base article

axolotl56

masonic - there is only one physical  site named Landal Belvedere which is the farmland and semi derelict remaining dwellings at Barncrosh.  Yes the words Landal Belvedere and Belvedere do appear in companies connected to Apple so tread with care.

axolotl56

masonic - yes there possibly are other developments linked to Apple Invest and Apple's director and more than 4 in all probability.  Or the figure 4 may just mean it's been downloaded 4 times??

RAS

mangoapple123 said:

jimjames said:

mangoapple123 said:

Hoenir said:

Albermarle said:

Any idea what this dispute is?

Comprehensive administrators report on Companies House. Appears extremely messy with person at the centre somewhat uncooperative. 

Once again we sincerely apologise for the delay with your payment. This has been due to an internal dispute between the park owner and construction project manager. The park operator has therefore made the decision to retain income received from holidaymakers until the dispute has been resolved. We have of course objected to this and it is currently in legal dispute.

It seems very unlikely that the income deriving from a specific unit is attributable to you. If it was there is no way they could guarantee 8% income as there may be periods empty etc so there must be some mechanism to distribute income across all lodges. How that happens is up in the air but as previously mentioned there may be an element of Ponzi in terms of using new funds to pay existing investors. It seems unlikely but you might find that you are liable for fees on the site even without income. Look into storage pods for a similar story of selling plots to multiple people.

Have you visited the site to see what has actually been constructed if anything?

I think you are right I believed it was legitimate and it was my first investment so I do not have much experience. They have constructed lodges and they are available to stay in so the site is up and running. I received a years worth of rent so I thought that it is legitimate but clearly there is something up. 

One small issue. You believe you invested in Landsal Belvedere at Barncrosh which does not have planning permission, although there are several traditional holiday rentals based on the old farmhouse. 

The documentation you've posted refers to Apple Invest Ltd, developers of Landal Barnsoul which does have about 29 rental lodges on site. There may be more being built, but that's what appears currently to be available to rent.

So it's not only what did you buy but where?

Sarahspangles

StateofAffairs said:

Sarahspangles said:

I actually looked up the site in Scotland recently, because we used to stay there when it was a family owned farm with converted holiday cottages, and I wondered what it was like now. Only to find that it was now in the hands of property developers. It immediately looked shady because the marketing material was so ‘generic’

Wonder if you are able to enlighten us regards the name of the "property developers" you refer to? and which farm you are talking about? I thought Landal Barnsoul was operational site with over 200 chalets, maybe my mistake. Adding in the edit... what evidence of development did you see?

It was just an idle Google. I recreated it - Barncrosh (where we used to stay) takes you to a Daily Record article about insolvency of Apple Invest Ltd who are also involved in Barnsoul. In the article the developers are called VCL, I looked again at their web consultation site about Barncrosh, and it’s light in detail. Which would make me think they were trying to attract investors with minimum outlay. I’m sad it’s (presumably) vacant, some of the cottages were lovely.

I did think Barnsoul must be a site nearby, there were odd cottages dotted about the wider area that the family at Barncrosh managed. But I see it’s near Dumfries. I had a look on Google Maps and it looked like a static caravan site when the aerial survey went over but reviews suggest it’s partly open. It’s not the sort of place I’d stay though.

 https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Landal+Barnsoul/@55.0782924,-3.7648555,479m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m9!3m8!1s0x4862c7ca089be07b:0xc193c999aefa900e!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d55.0781529!4d-3.7636049!16s%2Fg%2F11rmz76d95?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTExOS4yIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

StateofAffairs

So far, the companies marketing were:
Advantage Investment (Acting for whom exactly? I mean like, is there perhaps a GreenParks connection?)
Knight Knocks (Known to market 200+ at Landal Barnsoul with BLR director signature)
Gladpark Investments (Also owned by Apple)
Were there any OTHER sellers? 

axolotl56

Anyone who invested in a plot should read the administrators progress report on Apple Invest Ltd Companies House .  Doesn't look too good.   

jimjames

Not good news but highlights yet again the importance of anyone looking at buying this sort of investment getting their own legal advice before doing so. Although I suspect the cost of such advice up front might seem expensive it will ultimately be far less than losing all your money.

Having looked at the report it seems the director is refusing to assist which is complicating matters but appears that investors may have around £17million invested in the company despite the director giving much lower numbers.