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Original poster

Bastard retirement village payments

214 replies

Makemineamediumone · 13/07/2021 21:13

Can't sell it as no-one wants it. Can't rent it as not allowed. Not using it as live elsewhere. Still have to pay the bastarding service charge EVEN THOUGH THE HOUSE WAS INHERITED and watching the equity slip away. Fucking bastarding money grabbing bastards.

OP posts:
Soontobe60 · 14/07/2021 21:36

@WorkingItOutAsIGo

I am going to argue against the consensus here. The people who buy these flats do so because this is where they want to live in their final years. It’s their money. They have the right to spend it how they like and if this suits them and makes them happy, so be it. Yes, as the inheritor it’s annoying to see the financial loss, but the person whose money is chose this, and none of us have any right to an inheritance.

I know my DMs decision to do this will mean we inherit less, but she’s happy and that’s all that counts.

This absolutely!
saraclara · 14/07/2021 21:45

@Soontobe60 I can only assume that you haven't read this whole thread. Because inheriting less isn't the issue. It's having to pay the extortionate monthly fees out of one's own pocket until the property finally sells (which could take years) that is the problem.

Soontobe60 · 14/07/2021 21:54

[quote saraclara]@Soontobe60 I can only assume that you haven't read this whole thread. Because inheriting less isn't the issue. It's having to pay the extortionate monthly fees out of one's own pocket until the property finally sells (which could take years) that is the problem.[/quote]
If the price is low enough, it will sell.

BitterTits · 14/07/2021 22:17

Can I ask @MurielSpriggs, are you a solicitor or legal professional?

whenwillthemadnessend · 14/07/2021 22:23

Shocking! Sounds like Martin Lewis needs to make a program to raise awareness!!

justasking111 · 14/07/2021 22:38

They're building another block in my town can't sell the apartments in their other blocks but the service charges are eye watering. Bloody McCarthy stone

TartanDMs · 14/07/2021 22:52

I once worked for a charity that ran retirement villages. I think they are reasonably ethical, they commit to buying the property back at the price paid for it, regardless of market pressures. Yes, it may mean that if the housing market explodes you won't make profit, but you won't lose equity. You can move in from the age of 55, with no care needs right up to full level 5 nursing care needs, and if your care needs change during your time as a resident, the care package cost will flex to suit, so you only pay for what you need. They are nice flats too, some have two or three bedrooms, and some developments have bungalows as well as flats. I worked at the head office and saw how passionate the staff were about the residents, it wasn't a heartless money making machine there. But i also saw how other companies operated, and they were a world away from the community feel we were trying to create.

MrsPsmalls · 14/07/2021 22:57

My friend died in one of these places over two years ago. Prompted by this thread I've looked up her property and its still for sale with her belongings still in situ. It was inherited by her young (early 20's) grandson as her own children are deceased. So that poor lad has been paying the monthly fees for 2 years. He lives abroad too so that will be why her things are still there.

BarbaraofSeville · 15/07/2021 02:34

If the price is low enough, it will sell

You do wonder, the OP says it's not selling for £70k. How low do you go? £50k, £20k, or are the service charges so high compared to renting a similar property in a standard block that you'd have to effectively give it away for a token amount of a few thousand or less to free yourself from the charges?

Mandalay246 · 15/07/2021 02:47

I can only assume that you haven't read this whole thread. Because inheriting less isn't the issue. It's having to pay the extortionate monthly fees out of one's own pocket until the property finally sells (which could take years) that is the problem.

What is wrong with you all? Why don't people who buy into retirement villages read the fine print and discuss it with their family? Stop trying to blame the retirement villages when it's the fault of those who can't be bothered to do their research.

Original poster
Makemineamediumone · 15/07/2021 05:55

I don't think that it's not that they don't do the research, it's that the retirement villages are - generally - ideal for the older, single person. In fact as a model against loneliness and vulnerability I think they're great. It's the carry over of charges to people who didn't agree to take on an on going debt that is my issue. In theory, I get that it's an inheritance and - as a PP pointed out - there would be nothing if it had gone to a care home situation but as it hasn't sold (and there are others there which have been up for 3 years plus) I can't use it to pay the fees. I've gone from being able to go 'oh, I fancy a coffee and a cake while I'm out browsing' to having virtually no disposable spending because of these fees. (And yes, I know that that is some people's reality all the time and I wish it wasn't for them). New ones are being built around which I presume is why the older ones aren't selling, although the new developments are still half empty a year or so on. I'm going to have to ask them at some point what happens if I can't pay the fees because it isn't sustainable. I'm worried because it has so many parallels with timeshares where people were made bankrupt.

OP posts:
RickiTarr · 15/07/2021 05:58

They can’t compel you to pay the fees. You don’t owe them. The estate does. If you weren’t willingly paying them, they would have to wait for the sale of the flat and settling of probate.

RickiTarr · 15/07/2021 06:01

@Makemineamediumone

Their legal teams are brutal. My one started referencing High Court cases.
Why do you think they did that? Pressure tactics. They’re conmen. Stop paying it.
Original poster
Makemineamediumone · 15/07/2021 06:12

I've asked for details of the cases they're referring to. I dont think it will be as easy as just being able to stop paying it otherwise no-one would.

OP posts:
BitterTits · 15/07/2021 06:13

@Mandalay246

I can only assume that you haven't read this whole thread. Because inheriting less isn't the issue. It's having to pay the extortionate monthly fees out of one's own pocket until the property finally sells (which could take years) that is the problem.

What is wrong with you all? Why don't people who buy into retirement villages read the fine print and discuss it with their family? Stop trying to blame the retirement villages when it's the fault of those who can't be bothered to do their research.

What a stupid post. How is it the family's fault if a parent or grandparent 'buy' one of these properties? My GF and FIL, for example, we're/are bloody-minded buggers and wouldn't have the wherewithal to consider the consequences. They certain wouldn't be running the contract by their families.
BarbaraofSeville · 15/07/2021 06:17

If you weren't party to the original contract as a guarantor then surely you personally are not legally liable for the charges so a court couldn't compel you to pay. Have you had legal advice?

If you can't sell the flat for £70k, it sounds like the £25k offer from the we buy any house place to free you from the management charges and move on with your life is worth taking.

RickiTarr · 15/07/2021 06:19

@BarbaraofSeville

If you weren't party to the original contract as a guarantor then surely you personally are not legally liable for the charges so a court couldn't compel you to pay. Have you had legal advice?

If you can't sell the flat for £70k, it sounds like the £25k offer from the we buy any house place to free you from the management charges and move on with your life is worth taking.

Exactly.

The whole business model seems to rely on people meekly complying and coughing up out of their own funds.

Meanwhile OP can’t afford coffee & cake.

Normaigai · 15/07/2021 06:22

@RickiTarr

They can’t compel you to pay the fees. You don’t owe them. The estate does. If you weren’t willingly paying them, they would have to wait for the sale of the flat and settling of probate.
It depends on whether she's taken on the lease. As others have (correctly) said on this thread IN THE ABSENCE OF A GUARANTEE OR ANY OTHER AGREEMENT BY THE OP TO AY THE CHARGES if the estate hasn't yet been distributed and the property isn't in her name she doesn't have to pay. OP hasn't confirmed that though - she may not have had decent legal advice at the time and might have taken title to the property not realising about this issue. The other issue is that even if the estate hasn't been disbursed, if there are other assets in the estate these charges will be eating into those.

My favourite bit of this thread though is the idea that amounts owed to the management company are somehow assets in the estate :)

Original poster
Makemineamediumone · 15/07/2021 06:23

@rickiTarr your last line sounded a bit snarky there. I'm not sure if you meant it to be - my point is that I've gone from having disposable income to having none because of this. Something I haven't agreed to but been lumbered with. I'm going to have to start looking at the legalities but I'm not optimistic. It's just feels so bastarding unfair.

OP posts:
BarbaraofSeville · 15/07/2021 06:25

The only reason to pay when you have no legal requirement to do so would be to avoid causing difficulties with the sale, eg outstanding debts or charges.

Now that it is clear that you can't sell for anywhere near the original price, that incentive is gone and I'd stop paying.

You'll get some stern letters but no court in the land is going to enforce payment that you're not liable for.

Original poster
Makemineamediumone · 15/07/2021 06:26

@normaigai yes the title deed is mine now

OP posts:
Normaigai · 15/07/2021 06:28

Who manages probate? If there was a lawyer involved you may have a chance to claim they were negligent not to have warned you. That's just a suggestion though, IANA(probate)L and so I don't know whether it would be normal to advise a beneficiary of this risk.

Normaigai · 15/07/2021 06:28

*managed

RickiTarr · 15/07/2021 06:33

You’d have done better to hand the deed back to the developer by one mechanism or another, or at least to have waited for a sale before settling the estate.

As it is, do what others have clearly done and play brinkmanship. They don’t want the bad coverage from this.

BarbaraofSeville · 15/07/2021 06:33

Oh. Sad

How on earth can that happen? Here's this worthless flat that we're going to pretend is worth £185k and btw you have to pay £x00 per month for years to come.

Has someone been negligent to not advise you of this? Is there anything in the consumer protection legislation about unfair terms and conditions about this?

I'd be writing to all the papers and moneysaving expert about this sort of thing because it can't be right that this can happen.

What if you couldn't pay? Would they expect you to go without food or risk your own home to pay the charges while this empty flat that can't be used just sits there? Surely not?

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