In 2022 my brother bought a flat in a retirement complex built by McCarthy Stone. A year later he had to move to a care home because of cognitive difficulties, and I am now having to sell his flat on his behalf to pay for his care fees. The managing agent, FirstPort, is demanding 1% of the sale price without explanation. That’s on top of the approximately £7,000 annual service charge he has had to pay for the year he was no longer living there. Unfortunately, he signed up for the flat when his condition had just started to take effect, and I don’t believe he was aware of what he was agreeing to.
AS, London
What FirstPort is demanding is a transfer fee, also known as an “event” or “exit” fee. It bedevils contracts across the retirement sector and, in many cases, including your brother’s, is devised solely to ensure an income stream for the freeholder. None of the money is used for maintenance and service costs. It’s a similar, indefensible, money grab to that of the ground rents which line the pockets of landlords.
