TheTruthAboutSolitaire is not only related to bringing to the attention of others, Solitaire Property Management’s failings, but also highlighting how other ‘Peverel Group’ companies operate.

We’ve been forwarded a letter and accounts that by a ‘Peverel Retirement’ homeowever, which Peverel have sent to try and allay the fears of retirement homeowners and disway any residents that maybe considering going Right to Manage – following the CARLEX campaign.

Here’s a copy of the correspondence, that we welcome your comments on:-

Working to Minimise Costs for Residents in Challenging Times

We are very much aware of the impact the current economic climate is having on Residents at our managed retirement developments, in particular the effect the recent tumble in interest rates is having on their savings and investments.

As your managing agent, we have always worked hard to keep costs in general to a minimum, without compromising quality.  Yet these are undoubtedly challenging times – not experienced by many of us since the early nineties – and therefore requireing exceptional initiatives.  Consequently we have been actively looking at ways in which we can help ease the financial pressure on Residents during this recession.  We are investigating – on an individual development basis – areas where we feel money can be saved.  This extends from simple things like trimming the number of times the window cleaner is called out, to reducing contingency fund contributions, insurance premiums and negotiating to keep utility costs at a minimum.

As part of our drive to ease costs, we will strongly resist any increases in charges from third party contractors and suppliers.  We will also be capping our management fee at 2% and, from September we dispensed with the administration fees that applied to major works and redocoration.

We consider it a privilege to be granted the responsibility of managing your development.  Ensuring the fabric and smooth-running of its communal parts, systems and facilities is of paramount importance to us, as is retaining your trust, confidence and satisfaction in the service we provide.  We very much hope that the measures and cost savings we are proposing to implement on your behalf will be both welcomed and accepted and go some way to demonstrating our concern for your well-being and financial security in these difficult times.

Enclosed, pleased find the Service Charge Budget, notes and weekly / montly breakdown of costs for your development for the year ending 31 March 2011, which I will be presenting at a meeting to be held on XX Date.

Having review a copy of the ‘Service Charge Budget’ for the development in question, Peverel are charging £75,000 for 2009, which is budgetted to increase to £78,000 in 2010 and £80,000 in 2011! 

This is for a 40 unit development and works out that this resident in question is required to pay £1950 per annum!  A vast amount of money to pay for an elderly person, on a pension.

Insurance costs are over £8000 for 2009, 2010 and 2011 – which we know is pure profit for ‘Kingsborough / Peverel’.

In addition to this, good old ‘Cirrus’ have the ‘Door Entry / Emergency Call System’, which they are charging over £2,500 per year for.

Peverel are taking an ‘Accounts Administration’ fee of £4,500, increasing to £4,700.

If we assume that the cost of the insurance should really be about £4000, the Cirrus Contract should be a maximum of £1300.  That works out to show that Peverel are marking a profit of around £9,700 when you include the ‘Accounts Administration’ fee, from the £75000 they are charging.  This doesn’t include any of the other ‘commissions’ they receive from the landlords!

If we then take into account the 1-2% that Peverel are entitled to upon the sell of the property – demonstrates why it’s such a lucrative market.

The costs listed are appauling and quite frankly, the letter above makes it appear that Peverel are doing residents a favour, when in fact, they have been ripping them off for years. 

I’ve had the good fortune to visit and inspect this development and also meet the ‘House Manager’, whom, quite frankly, was a complete waste of time and rude!

When I mentioned that I knew all about Peverel and their ‘tactics’ of trying to scare residents off of ‘Right to Manage’, I was told to leave and threatened by them that Police would be called.  Peverel have obviously instructed all House Managers to protect their developments!

Our point is, that if Peverel are writing to Retirment Homeowners, in regards to the recession, why haven’t we as ‘Solitaire’ clients also been made these promises?