Brighton “Land Bank” Exposed (From The Argus)

Brighton “Land Bank” Exposed

1:29pm Monday 2nd January 2012 in News By Roy Pennington, community correspondent

Brighton and Hove Trading Standards officers have secured an undertaking from a “Land Banking Scheme” based in Western Road (BN1) to stop any misleading promotional material and agreed not to give consumers pensions’ advice.

Back in May 2011, a national newspaper had warned readers of a scam involving a “land investment opportunity in Worthing, Surrey (sic) .” The article (included the typo) continued to lambast companies that create the impression that fortunes can be made by buying parcels of undeveloped land (usually rural) in the hope that planning permission could eventually turn the land into a “gold mine” . Some disgruntled greedy investors, hoping to get some money from old rope, complained that they were not told everything involved and in words of one-syllable only, too.

Eventually, Brighton and Hove Council took the locally-based company to the High Court because it was selling plots of agricultural as “low risk” investments when it is argued by the Council that it was a “high-risk” investment and the land was sold for up to 15 times its actual value and that it had little or no prospect of ever obtaining planning permission.

The case never went actually in front of the High Court as matters were settled a short period before the hearing. The Court, thus, never made any findings regarding the true worth or potential value of the land in question. The land was near Hastings in East Sussex and Ferring in West Sussex. None of the land was in Brighton and Hove.

The council issued a press release stating : “This is the first time such a case on landbanking has been brought by any council in the High Court and we are pleased that we have successfully gained a High Court Order to stop this happening. This decision will help protect people who think they are making a secure investment.”

It went on: “ The company or its directors will pay the council’s legal costs.” Given the brevity of the case, it will be interesting to find out how much the Council will secure from Towers Property Developments Limited for the legal costs of this agreement.