• Login
  • Join
  • Access Problems
  • Status
GRL Landlord Association
  • RH (Wales) Act
  • Home
  • Pricing
  • Subscribers
  • Services/Discounts
  • Forms
  • Recent
  • Contact
  • Find Answers
    • England Guidance
    • Wales Guidance
    • Housing Changes Timeline (E/W)
    • Admin/Tech Support
    • Search Website
    • Weekly Digest (Subscribe)
  • Ask a Question
    • Ask Question
    • View Questions
    • Your Q & A Activity (from Sept 2020)
Select Page

Buy to Let Investors Chase Missing £68m Paid to Developer

by guildy | 31 Jan 2019 | Investing in a Property (England), Investing in a Property (Wales), News

Buy to Let Investors Chase Missing £68m Paid to Developer

Insolvency experts are warning buy to let landlords to be cautious about staking money against buyer funded developments after investors have lost millions of pounds in failed projects.

Hundreds of investors have lost money in the schemes.

In one of the latest to go under, six directors of Absolute Living Developments Ltd were banned from controlling a company for a total of 54 years after an Insolvency Service investigation found they had misused £12 million of client cash.

The Liverpool company took the money as deposits from 300 investors to fund construction of properties that were never built at several developments around the country.

In buyer funded development, builders cut out asking banks for finance. Instead, they pool deposits paid by individual investors that can total up to 80% of the value of a property.

But hundreds of investors have complained to police that they have handed over cash but the promised property has never been finished.

City of London Police say more than 800 fraud allegations adding up to £10 million involving property were made to them between 2015 and 2017.

The Insolvency Service, the government agency that monitors compulsory liquidations and bankruptcies, says in the Absolute Living case, the company signed over assets to a third party and that claims against the firm now total more than £68 million.

The company also demanded completion payments for unfinished homes and failed to protect client money.

Ken Beasley, Official Receiver for the Insolvency Service said:

“This was a complex investigation, considering the amount of money that was invested, not all of the directors were based in the UK and we worked with several other authorities.

“We want to draw attention to rogue directors so we can alert people about the risks involved when investing, while also warning that we will investigate and tackle those that set out to deliberately rip people off by misrepresenting the investment opportunity on offer.”

Coronavirus Guidance

View now ...

Discounted landlords buildings insurance

Landlords Building Insurance

Guild subscribers can get preferential rates for landlords buildings insurance especially designed for landlords

Read more ...

Tenant Referencing Service

Tenant Referencing

Tenant Referencing Service

Read more ...

Recent Articles

  • Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Changes (England) 24/05/2022
  • How to Buy Property at Auction 23/05/2022
  • Sub-occupation contracts (Subletting) (Wales) 19/05/2022
  • Exclusion of Contract-Holder From Dwelling for Specified Periods (Wales) 18/05/2022
  • Landlord’s Consent Under Occupation Contract (Wales) 17/05/2022

Navigation

  • RH (Wales) Act
  • Home
  • Pricing
  • Subscribers
  • Services/Discounts
  • Forms
  • Recent
  • Contact
  • Find Answers
    • England Guidance
    • Wales Guidance
    • Housing Changes Timeline (E/W)
    • Admin/Tech Support
    • Search Website
    • Weekly Digest (Subscribe)
  • Ask a Question
    • Ask Question
    • View Questions
    • Your Q & A Activity (from Sept 2020)

Navigation

  • RH (Wales) Act
  • Home
  • Pricing
  • Subscribers
  • Services/Discounts
  • Forms
  • Recent
  • Contact
  • Find Answers
    • England Guidance
    • Wales Guidance
    • Housing Changes Timeline (E/W)
    • Admin/Tech Support
    • Search Website
    • Weekly Digest (Subscribe)
  • Ask a Question
    • Ask Question
    • View Questions
    • Your Q & A Activity (from Sept 2020)

Subscribers

  • Login
  • Join
  • Access Problems
  • Status

Please login

Please login to see your active subscriptions and account links.

Terms, About Us and Status

General terms and conditions

Website terms

Privacy policy

About Us

Status

(c) Guild of Residential Landlords

Recent Articles

  • Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Changes (England) 24/05/2022
  • How to Buy Property at Auction 23/05/2022
  • Sub-occupation contracts (Subletting) (Wales) 19/05/2022
  • Exclusion of Contract-Holder From Dwelling for Specified Periods (Wales) 18/05/2022
  • Landlord’s Consent Under Occupation Contract (Wales) 17/05/2022
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • RSS