• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Home
  • What is LKP
  • Find everything …
  • Contact
Donate

Leasehold Knowledge Management Logo

Secretariat of the All Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold reform

Mobile Menu

  • Home
  • What is LKP
  • Find everything …
  • Contact
  • Advice
  • News
    • Find everything …
    • About Peverel group
    • APPG
    • ARMA
    • Bellway
    • Benjamin Mire
    • Brixton Hill Court
    • Canary Riverside
    • Charter Quay
    • Chelsea Bridge Wharf
    • Cladding scandal
    • Competition and Markets Authority / OFT
    • Commonhold
    • Communities Select Committee
    • Conveyancing Association
    • Countrywide
    • MHCLG
    • E&J Capital Partners
    • Exit fees
    • FirstPort
    • Fleecehold
    • Forfeiture
    • FPRA
    • Gleeson Homes
    • Ground rent scandal
    • Hanover
    • House managers flat
    • House of Lords
    • Housing associations
    • Informal lease extension
    • Insurance
    • IRPM
    • JB Leitch
    • Jim Fitzpatrick MP
    • John Christodoulou
    • Justin Bates
    • Justin Madders MP
    • Law Commission
    • LEASE
    • Liam Spender
    • Local authority leasehold
    • London Assembly
    • Louie Burns
    • Martin Paine
    • McCarthy and Stone
    • Moskovitz / Gurvits
    • Mulberry Mews
    • National Leasehold Campaign
    • Oakland Court
    • Park Homes
    • Parliament
    • Persimmon
    • Peverel
    • Philip Rainey QC
    • Plantation Wharf
    • Press
    • Property tribunal
    • Prostitutes
    • Quadrangle House
    • Redrow
    • Retirement
    • Richard Davidoff
    • RICS
    • Right To Manage Federation
    • Roger Southam
    • Rooftop development
    • RTM
    • Sean Powell
    • SFO
    • Shared ownership
    • Sinclair Gardens Investments
    • Sir Ed Davey
    • Sir Peter Bottomley
    • St George’s Wharf
    • Subletting
    • Taylor Wimpey
    • Tchenguiz
    • Warwick Estates
    • West India Quay
    • William Waldorf Astor
    • Windrush Court
  • Parliament
  • Accreditation
  • [Custom]
Menu
  • Advice
  • News
      • Find everything …
      • About Peverel group
      • APPG
      • ARMA
      • Bellway
      • Benjamin Mire
      • Brixton Hill Court
      • Canary Riverside
      • Charter Quay
      • Chelsea Bridge Wharf
      • Cladding scandal
      • Competition and Markets Authority / OFT
      • Commonhold
      • Communities Select Committee
      • Conveyancing Association
      • Countrywide
      • MHCLG
      • E&J Capital Partners
      • Exit fees
      • FirstPort
      • Fleecehold
      • Forfeiture
      • FPRA
      • Gleeson Homes
      • Ground rent scandal
      • Hanover
      • House managers flat
      • House of Lords
      • Housing associations
      • Informal lease extension
      • Insurance
      • IRPM
      • JB Leitch
      • Jim Fitzpatrick MP
      • John Christodoulou
      • Justin Bates
      • Justin Madders MP
      • Law Commission
      • LEASE
      • Liam Spender
      • Local authority leasehold
      • London Assembly
      • Louie Burns
      • Martin Paine
      • McCarthy and Stone
      • Moskovitz / Gurvits
      • Mulberry Mews
      • National Leasehold Campaign
      • Oakland Court
      • Park Homes
      • Parliament
      • Persimmon
      • Peverel
      • Philip Rainey QC
      • Plantation Wharf
      • Press
      • Property tribunal
      • Prostitutes
      • Quadrangle House
      • Redrow
      • Retirement
      • Richard Davidoff
      • RICS
      • Right To Manage Federation
      • Roger Southam
      • Rooftop development
      • RTM
      • Sean Powell
      • SFO
      • Shared ownership
      • Sinclair Gardens Investments
      • Sir Ed Davey
      • Sir Peter Bottomley
      • St George’s Wharf
      • Subletting
      • Taylor Wimpey
      • Tchenguiz
      • Warwick Estates
      • West India Quay
      • William Waldorf Astor
      • Windrush Court
  • Parliament
  • Accreditation
You are here: Home / News / ARHM / Bob Bessell: Expelled from ARHM, but this is how leaseholders should be empowered

Bob Bessell: Expelled from ARHM, but this is how leaseholders should be empowered

April 30, 2014 //  by Sebastian O'Kelly

Bob Bessell: residents in retirement leasehold should control the management
Bob Bessell: residents in retirement leasehold should control the management

Bob Bessell, the chairman of the developer Retirement Security, has issued a statement to Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation explaining why his company was expelled from the ARHM.

The ARHM announced the decision to expel the Stratford Upon Avon company, but gave not details for the dispute.

Bessell gives his explanation below, and adds his view that alternatives to the current state of retirement leasehold need to be considered:

“In particular, [Bessell] believes that the model of the management company being wholly owned by the leaseholders, which is the model in all of the Retirement Security developments, avoids many of the difficulties which have caused so much strife between freeholders and leaseholders.”

This is the first time a senior retirement house builder has urged an alternative to the long established retirement leasehold model, with all the controversial monetising opportunities that are involved.

Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation is eager to ensure that ministers, their shadows and ALL stakeholders become aware of Mr Bessell’s views on the sector.

 Statement from Retirement Security:

Retirement Security Ltd was expelled from the ARHM because its Chairman, Bob Bessell, who was a member of the Executive Committee, believed that one of the ARHM long-standing employees was being badly treated and he informed her of what was going on.

In the event, the member of staff was made redundant and a subsequent independent enquiry came to the conclusion that the executive committee were in the right.

Bob Bessell does not agree with the conclusion of the enquiry, but as it was set up at his request, he believes that there is nothing more to be said on the subject.

It remains to be decided whether Retirement Security Ltd will re-join the ARHM, or if renewed membership is acceptable to the Executive Committee.

However, he believes that whatever decision is made, a great deal of work is necessary either to ensure that leasehold retirement housing meets the needs of a significant number of older people, or that alternative models of tenure need to be devised.

In particular, he believes that the model of the management company being wholly owned by the leaseholders, which is the model in all of the Retirement Security developments, avoids many of the difficulties which have caused so much strife between freeholders and leaseholders.

There are many other issues on which an informed debate is urgent if the needs of older people are to have the priority which they need and it is his hope that this will be the focus of the ARHM in the future.

Related posts:

Retirement housebuilder hands £7m of freeholds to the leaseholders Housebuilder Bob Bessell says ‘no justification for ground rents at all’ Bob BessellBob Bessell steps in as LKP’s new interim chair Default ThumbnailEsther Rantzen speaks at ARHM Tribute to housebuilder Bob Bessell, who says ground rents have no justification

Category: ARHM, NewsTag: ARHM, Bob Bessell, Retirement Security Limited

Sign up to the LKP newsletter

Fill in the link here

Latest Tweets

Tweets by @LKPleasehold

Mentions

Anthony Essien (34) APPG (44) ARMA (91) Benjamin Mire (32) Cladding scandal (71) Clive Betts MP (33) CMA (46) Commonhold (55) Competition and Markets Authority (42) Countryside Properties plc (33) FirstPort (55) Grenfell cladding (56) Ground rents (55) Israel Moskovitz (32) James Brokenshire MP (31) Jim Fitzpatrick (36) Jim Fitzpatrick MP (31) Justin Bates (41) Justin Madders MP (75) Katie Kendrick (40) Law Commission (61) LEASE (68) Leasehold Advisory Service (65) Leasehold houses (32) Liam Spender (39) Long Harbour (51) Lord Greenhalgh (32) Martin Boyd (87) McCarthy and Stone (43) National Leasehold Campaign (42) Persimmon (49) Peverel (61) Property tribunal (49) Retirement (38) Robert Jenrick (33) Roger Southam (47) Sajid Javid (38) Sebastian O’Kelly (67) Sir Peter Bottomley (211) Taylor Wimpey (106) Tchenguiz (33) The Guardian (33) The Times (34) Vincent Tchenguiz (45) Waking watch contracts (40)
Previous Post: « AgeUK would not get involved, Shelter has quit, Peverel has been expelled and Esther Rantzen is asking questions … the fiasco of the Campaign for Housing in Later Life
Next Post: Time to have another look at commonhold, say Lords. But what are Lord Best’s proposals? »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Karen

    April 30, 2014 at 5:19 pm

    All it takes is one person in the industry to throw their hat into the ring and say ‘leasehold/retirement developments are not working and the industry needs reforming’… and this article will be the catalyst to open more doors…
    Respect to Bob Bessell for doing the honourable thing and speaking out about the injustices in the leasehold industry.

  2. chas

    May 7, 2014 at 1:15 am

    Karen/Sebastian/Michael,

    Hope you are all well,

    We have recently found out that Peverel Management Services Ltd and Cirrus Communications had used the losing contractor Glyn Jackson to undertake the work at ABC as a Sub-Contractor after the Police informed us that the 2 operatives who undertook the work were from Doncaster.

    This is where Glyn Jackson worked from, an office at his home.

    The Police gave us the information after valuables were removed from our neighbour flat, whilst the Warden Call System was installed.

    Our House Manager at the time informed us unknowingly, that the 2 operatives were sub-contractors.

    So much for open and transparent?????

  3. M. Epstein

    May 7, 2014 at 7:55 am

    Chas,
    You might like to know that OM have issued uniforms to some contractors, so that it appears they work for OM. Never assume who you believe to be doing te work is the ompany doing the work.
    I seem to recall a case of an individual carrying out a fire risk survey and valuation giving residents a name of a person who was qualified to carry out such work. It later transpired that the actual qualified person was working 200 miles away that day.

    • chas

      May 8, 2014 at 12:22 am

      M.E.
      I find the lack of interest regarding the Price Fixing and the new information doing the rounds that Peverel not only Price Fixed developments but then used the losing tenderer to sub-contract the work.

      Please phone me or comment on these findings?????

  4. chas

    May 8, 2014 at 8:21 pm

    Chas Says:

    May 8, 2014 at 9:20 pm

    Since the Price Fixing Scandal, I have looked for other information from residents and recently after receiving replies from The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) had also considered whether the infringements were wider than found in their Report Decision.

    Annexe 2

    Extract from the OFT`s Decision
    Paragraphs 5.8 and 5.9:

    During the course of the investigation, the OFT has also considered whether the Infringements were wider than found in their Report Decision regarding Peverel/Cirrus and involved Collusive Tendering (Price Fixing) in relation to more of or all the Peverel Management Services Ltd contracts involving Cirrus Communications Systems Ltd and O`Rourke, Jackson or Owens between 2005 and 2009.

    Peverel Group Ltd (PGL) informed the OFT that, at least from late 2006, it was their view,that there was Collusive Tendering (Price Fixing) in respect of every such contract.

    This means that a substantially larger number of bids (tenders) would have been the subject of Price Fixing than was found in their Decision.

    With this in mind,and the fact that we had a Warden Call System Updated in 2008, we also found in the Report Decision that Glyn Jackson, had undertook sub-contracting work for Cirrus on a number of occasion’s.

    We were informed earlier this week that the 2 operatives that under took our WCS update were from Doncaster and the Tenderer who lost the bid, Glyn Jackson was also from Doncaster and that our WCS was installed by Sub- Contractors?

    This is how Peverel Management Services Ltd allowed their Management to behave for a four year period that we know of?

Above Footer

Advising leaseholders. Avoiding disasters.
Stopping forfeiture. Exposing abuses. Urging reform.

We depend on individuals for the majority of our funding.

Support Us and Donate

LKP Managing Agents

Become an LKP Managing Agent

Common Ground
Adam Church
Blocnet property management2

Stay in Touch

To achieve victory in the leasehold game where you are playing against professionals and with rules that they know all too well - stay informed with the LKP newsletter.
Sign Up for Newsletter

Professional Directory

The following advertisements are from firms that seek business from leaseholders.
Click on the logos for company profiles.

Barry Passmore

Footer

About LKP

  • What is LKP
  • Privacy and data

Categories

  • News
  • Cladding scandal
  • Commonhold
  • Law Commission
  • Fleecehold
  • Parliament
  • Press
  • APPG

Contact

Leasehold Knowledge Partnership
Open Data Institute
5th Floor
Kings Place
London N1 9AG

sok@leaseholdknowledge.com

Copyright © 2025 Leasehold Knowledge Partnership | All rights reserved
Leasehold Knowledge Partnership Limited (company number: 08999652) is a company limited by guarantee that is a registered charity (number: 1162584) with the Charities Commission.
LKP website is hosted at www.34sp.com
Website by Callia Web