anyone thinking of buying a Mccarthey stone retirement flat DONT

[Isseywith3witchycats]

3 years ago my MIL died and to date trying to sell her flat in Braintree has been an absolute nightmare, 1st buyer found a cheaper one, second buyer pulled out on exchange day current buyer has been waiting for paperwork to come from them which has taken forever just about to go to exchanging paperwork and they have now said prospective buyer can not buy it as she is 58 years old this flat was bought 15 years ago for £147000 and even at £105000 which was what we accepted still cannot seem to sell it, thing is in the complex its in its one of the best ones large due to being on a corner and ground floor so direct access to the gardens and have had a brand new boiler put in and over the three years it has cost service charges so god knows what we are going to do when whats left of the estate money has gone 7 heirs so each heir wont get a massive amount of money

How much is the service charge?

hello i think its about £2000 a year thing is somehow we have to sell this flat its been valued at £120000 so at the price it sold for this time is a bargain its had new carpets decorated right through and new boiler so its not a dump flat

how upsetting and what a terrible scam these flats are at a time when we sorely need proper accommodation for our growing elderly population
these things seem set up with the purpose of draining the whole family of money😡

I’ve posted these links before. People should be very wary

www.theguardian.com/money/2019/nov/16/flat-retirement-builder-value-mccarthy-stone

www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-10182583/The-retirement-home-scandal-wiping-life-savings.html

Do you think this is all these types of flats or specifically Mccarthy Stone?

its not the actual flat every time weve hit a brick wall its been Mccarthey stone thats built it even renting it out which weve done a couple of times short term they have to approve the tenant and has to be over 60 they dont care still getting their service charge

The article says the service charge can be as high as £7,500 per year at some of their schemes.

I think these types of retirement flats are much of a muchness sadly, They company that own the freehold have zero incentive to help you sell it because they are still getting their service charges no matter what. In fact if it’s empty they are getting money and not having to provide any services to that flat. They are hard to sell as they are building so many new ones too. Greater regulation is needed of these charlatans. Sorry you are in this situation OP, they are the new time share scams.

I do t know about the selling side,apart from it did well,but was lovely home for my nan,the warden? was a lovely friend to her,she had friends in the building, activities etc,she felt safe,it was a good distance from shops etc,so not sure all are awful maybe ours was just really good but she was happy there and it did sell.

ouch thats an interesting article she bought it to downsize as she was getting older she was 90 when she died sadly alzheimers and in the two years she was in care self funded that care cost over £250000 of her estate my OHs dad would be turning in his grave to think he left her so comfortable

I think you're missing the point @Isseywith3witchycats .
It wasn't an investment, she wasn't looking after the money for her heirs, it was her home , if she was happy and safe there it did what it was intended to do.
The fact you won't get your hands in as much money as you'd like is irrelevant.
(They aren't the best buy in some respects, listed by PPs but until an alternative offering the benefits without the M&S costs comes along they are the best thing for a number of people)

This is a useful resource for anyone considering buying a retirement home

www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs2_buying_retirement_housing_fcs.pdf

People should also be aware that companies may have a forfeiture clause if a resident develops dementia - so not a secure home

Luckily we sold my grandparents at a good profit and quickly (they had bought it new and spent 8 very happy years there, made friends etc). Not many flats like that in our home town at the time so it kept its price.
Dmum is now 82. Having looked at ones where we live, south coast there is an absolute over supply. All of them have around £350 a month I'm service charges. So she has decided to rent one. Including the charges its about £750 per month, and a cap of 6% increase.
At least we won't be stuck trying to sell it after she no longer needs it.

Renting seems to be the way to go.

But it fails to say, what that rate of service charge provides.
The higher-rate service charges include , the wages of 24/7 onsite staff to answer the 24/7 alarms, the provision and staffing of a restaurant, an hour a week of cleaning services inside the flat. PLus, all the usual (full insurance, all maintenance, window cleaning, gardening, cleaning and heating the communal areas (which includes a furnished communal lounge for residents to socialise). Of course its not cheap. The article points out, serviced retirement property is popular in USA ; it fails to mention the services and benefits provided don't come free! The residents in other countries pay monthly service charges., just like here.

Nobody goes into those highly- serviced apartments blind; they choose them BECAUSE they provide an effortless lifestyle and guarantee a certain kind of neighbour (by age and affluence). Most owners pay cash, and are too old to get a mortgage.

There's nothing to stop retired people buying a modern flat in a purpose built block , no controls on other residents, and arrange their own insurance, maintenance, windowcleaner etc.

@SuffolkBargeWoman i didnt write this so say oh woe is us wont get loads of dosh in fact my OH is the only one who will get anything in this house its not my money his brother will get more due to the way the will was written as he has more children than anyone else it was to say be wary of buying a Mccarthy stone retirement property its not about money at the end of the day its about the headache of trying to manage a property 3 years after someone died as my OH is executor

Then there is the £4,500 per year council tax charge for a one bedroom flat, that doesn't sound like value for money.

There's one for sale in Lancaster for £10 000, whereas new ones in the same development are up for sale for £175 000!

There is a local scheme near me that has bungalows and a care home in the same complex. The way it works is that the resident buys a bungalow at roughly market rate and the company buy it back at the price at which it was bought when the resident needs to sell. The company gets the use of or interest on the money between sale and buy-back and they get the (fairly hefty) service charge. Obviously the resident doesn't gain anything if the market goes up but on the other hand there's no fuss with selling because it just goes back to the care home company.

So very sorry. Someone on MSE has been trying to sell his late parent's place for over year, and is paying the £5K charges. I'm 65 and did look at them but was worried the charges would increase beyond my means, I bought a bungalow instead.

Ive read about this before and agree OP they are not good value for money in terms of sell on although as others have pointed out they have their advantages while the person is living in the property, albeit at a pretty penny

Its a difficult toss up, what does a person do in their elder years, downsize to a bungalow that are few and far between and might mean moving away from where you are and your support and health needs. Or stay in your house and either hope you can manage the stairs or move your whole house upside down so you can sleep in the living room if you cant. Neither of those options have the safety and support services on tap in the way a retirement block might do.

Or move into one of these and know that your executors will have a hell of a job just getting rid of the thing (not just the inheritance issue)

I think other posters are being naive about the stress involved in trying to deal with an estate where property needs to be sold. Its not about whether money will result from it for the beneficiaries, its about needing to finalise it, get over it, finish it and resolve the issue.

Managed to sell one, but there were three separate organisations to pay a cut of the sale price to in order to hand it over to the new owner. Total headache. Also they had their preferred solicitor to deal with it which cost more.

it sounds like a racket & surely needs regulating?

I don't have children so tend to think this would be suitable for me. Whoever inherits is likely to see it as a major bonus to get anything really, and I can't see the disadvantage to me if I manage to stay in it till I die?