• 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 / Rogue freeholder Michael Stainer imprisoned for three years

Rogue freeholder Michael Stainer imprisoned for three years

July 14, 2022 //  by Sebastian O'Kelly

The maverick freeholder Michael Stainer, 74, who owns The Grand hotel and apartments in Folkestone, has been sentenced to three years in prison.

He was found to have cheated staff and taxpayers out of nearly £500,000.

Mr Stainer’s wife Doris, 60, was charged with her chartered accountant husband but was cleared by the jury after insisting that she had no idea what her husband was up to.

One staff employee was presented with a tax bill of £3,500, and subsequently it emerged that Mr Stainer had withheld all the staff’s tax contributions.

HMRC has ensured that none of The Grand’s employees will lose out in terms of their own PAYE and National Insurance positions on account of Mr Stainer’s fraud.

Full Kent Online report here

Mr Stainer’s chaotic and now fraudulent behaviour has long been a source of woe to leaseholders at The Grand.

Management was finally wrested from his control by Alison Mooney and Peter Cobrin, of Westbury Residential, specialists in section 24 court appointments which now has joined the long-term LKP-accredited URANG group, which is itself headed by Paul Cleaver

In March last year Mr Cobrin described his involvement in The Grand, once a haunt of Edward VII and his mistresses.

Section 24 court appointed manager orders can be the last resort for leaseholders, but beware messing them up

“In 2016 I became the chairperson of the residents’ association at the Grand in Folkstone.

“This building has been in and out of court since 1985, invariably over the conduct of the freeholder, both as an individual and later as director of the landlord company, in relation to unpaid service charges and lack of maintenance.

“As far back as 1985 he was fined in the magistrates’ court for not complying with numerous leaseholder requests for the summary of costs for service charges.

“After 10 years of battling leaseholders, he ended up insolvent and entered into an IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangements). The Grand was repossessed, only for him to buy it back through a company he controlled.

“Finally, in near desperation, in 2014 a group of residents secured a tribunal-appointed manager.

“… Fast forward to 2017, we gained formal recognition as a residents’ association in the teeth of bitter opposition.

“Within months, we also secured a determination that found the landlord’s directors (same people) liable in their personal capacity for over £170,000 of unpaid service charges on their 19 flats.”

Anthony Hucklesby, prosecuting in the tax fraud case, said:

“His fraud was conducted over a sustained period of time, 4 years … There’s never been any suggestion on Mr Stainer’s behalf that the decision not to declare and pay over the taxes would have rested with anyone other than him.”

Mukul Chawla QC, for Stainer, referenced to the court:

“Mr Stainer’s good character, in fact, I submit in light of everything you have seen, his exemplary character over a long period of time – albeit I must accept that this has to be taken together with the fact that this was a sustained period of offending.”

Related posts:

Peter CobrinSection 24 court appointed manager orders can be the last resort for leaseholders, but beware messing them up No.1 Deansgate wins epic RTM battle, as freeholder throws in the towel at the Court of Appeal Moskovitz forfeits £400k Camden flat from 24-year-old woman ‘whose brother did not forward correspondence for two years’ War of attrition continues between Canary Riverside freeholder John Christodoulou and the court-appointed manager … APPG July 11: Retirement event fees ‘align interests of buyers and operators’, Michael Voges tells meeting

Category: Latest News, NewsTag: Michael Stainer, Peter Cobrin, Section 24 manager, The Grand Folkestone, Urang

Latest Tweets

Tweets by @LKPleasehold

Mentions

Anthony Essien (34) APPG (37) ARMA (87) Bellway (30) Benjamin Mire (32) Cladding scandal (71) Clive Betts MP (31) CMA (45) Commonhold (52) Competition and Markets Authority (41) Countryside Properties plc (33) FirstPort (42) Grenfell cladding (56) Ground rents (54) Harry Scoffin (150) James Brokenshire MP (31) Jim Fitzpatrick (35) Jim Fitzpatrick MP (30) Justin Bates (40) Justin Madders MP (67) Katie Kendrick (37) Law Commission (60) LEASE (66) Leasehold Advisory Service (62) Leasehold houses (32) Long Harbour (48) Martin Boyd (80) McCarthy and Stone (39) National Leasehold Campaign (38) Persimmon (49) Peverel (61) Property tribunal (49) Redrow (30) Retirement (37) Robert Jenrick (33) Roger Southam (47) Sajid Javid (38) Sebastian O’Kelly (55) Sir Peter Bottomley (201) Taylor Wimpey (106) Tchenguiz (33) The Guardian (33) The Times (31) Vincent Tchenguiz (43) Waking watch contracts (40)
Previous Post: «Greg Clark MP No ‘backsliding’ on Gove’s £3bn building safety levy, says his successor Greg Clark
Next Post: Greenhalgh’s farewell to APPG: ‘I have a commonhold flat and there is nothing to fear its widespread adoption to replace leasehold’ »

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.

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 © 2023 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