Relatives of a care home resident have complained to the Property Ombudsman saying a property firm has landed them in severe debt after ‘wooing’ their aunt with ‘utopia’ retirement flats.
Jean Martin moved out of her one-bad retirement flat in Wilton Court, in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, into a nearby care home Kenilworth Manor in November 2018, where she died aged 91 three years later.
Her family claim they have inherited the prolonged financial struggle of selling the property, put on the market in February 2019, and thousands of pounds in service fee charges from property company McCarthy Stone.
Jean’s family joins the many relatives who are left with the burden of selling retirement homes, which are restricted to people over a certain age.
They claim they are left with the strain of finding a buyer in an already saturated market and the debt of thousands of pounds from accumulating fees that continue after their loved one’s death.
Jean’s flat remains empty seven years after the property was put on the market, with a contractual clause that charges the family rolling service charge fees despite the flat sitting empty.
The family have reached the stage of exchanging contracts three times before, and are currently in this process for the fourth time – selling at £160,000 – with the hope of closure in April.
Jean’s niece Sheila Pitman, from Bottesford, Leicestershire, said the family face £43,000 in fees and brutal cuts to the flat’s selling price, describing the experience as ‘horrendous’.
Jean Martin (pictured) bought the McCarthy and Stone property in January 2015 and died aged 81 while in the care home Kenilworth Manor
Jean’s niece Sheila Pitman (pictured) is the executor of the estate, and said the family face £43,000 in fees and brutal cuts to the flat’s selling price
Jean bought a flat in the retirement home Wilton Court (pictured), run by property company McCarthy Stone
The flat was put on the market for £285,000 but has since dropped to £175,000, with the family claiming 30 per cent of the share is owned by McCarthy Stone.
After being unsuccessful with the complaints service of the company itself, the estate has brought the case to the Property Ombudsman.
Ms Pitman said her aunt, who never married or had children, was ‘very frugal on herself but very generous to her nieces and nephews.’
She told the Daily Mail: ‘She didn’t waste a penny on herself. Her aim was to leave it all to us so we had some money when she died, and of course, we are not getting it.’
Jean immediately bought the one-bed property, selling her previous home on Southbank Road, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, when homes in Wilton Court across the road went on the market in January 2015.
She moved into the McCarthy Stone flat the same day she sold her property.
Ms Pitman said her aunt, who worked for Warwick District Council, was ‘very fascinated with it’ and ‘decided it was for her’.
She added: ‘Actually, if she’d stayed in her old flat, she’d have been perfectly okay. She was wooed by McCarthy Stone when they opened and looked like a five-star hotel.’
Wilton Court is described on the company’s website as ‘an elegant retirement living’, ‘home to a vibrant and friendly community for the over 70s’ – which offers ‘flexible care’, gardens and an in-house restaurant.
Nick Ash, managing director of firm W&P Legal, (pictured) is assisting the family estate with the sale, and said the process has been a ‘total nightmare’
Wilton Court is described on the company’s website as ‘an elegant retirement living’, ‘home to a vibrant and friendly community for the over 70s’
Jean’s nephew Paul Martin, from South Wales, told the Daily Mail: ‘She was very excited about it because she thought it was going to be utopia.’
The estate claims McCarthy Stone are deliberately keeping the flat empty and unsold so they can accumulate the service fees charged each year.
These service charges include: the everyday costs of running the property; a contingency fund for maintaining the development; and a management fee.
The everyday costs include a 24-hour service of on-site managers; 24-hour emergency call system; and one hour of domestic support a week, among others.
The estate argues the fees are ‘unethical’ as Jean no longer lives in the property and therefore does not use the facilities.
They added that numerous other, most commonly bigger, flats have been sold while their aunt’s flat was on the market.
Mr Martin said there ‘seems to be a lot of jiggery-pokery going on’.
The 81-year-old said: ‘If you buy one of these flats, it is very hard for your relatives who you pass it on to give any recompense. It seems like they had the whole thing was deliberately tied up with a lot of different rules.’
Since January 2025, McCarthy Stone Resales said they have completed sales on ten apartments, while five properties are currently on the market spanning rom £170,00 for a one bed to £210,000 for a two bed.
Experts believe potential already age-restricted buyers are turned away by restrictive contracts and a fear of communal living since the pandemic.
They also noted an oversupply of similar properties on the market, with an estimation that more than 100,000 properties in privately owned retirement blocks are sitting vacant across England and Wales.
Nick Ash, managing director of firm W&P Legal, is assisting Jean’s family with the sale of the flat, and said the process has been a ‘total nightmare’.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘The firm have been standing in the way at every step. They set the price, they cut the price and they act as estate agents. They are in complete control and they bleed estates and families dry.’
Mr Ash said the firm has supported three or four families in similar situations to Jean’s estate.
A spokesperson for McCarthy Stone said: ‘We are pleased that this apartment in Wilton Court is now sold subject to contract. Our Resales team are committed to supporting all vendors and their families throughout the process as they look to resell their apartments.
‘To ensure fairness for all homeowners, the service charge must continue to be paid on all apartments, including those that are vacant and awaiting sale. Maintaining full contributions from all apartments shares the costs fairly so no individual or group of residents are disadvantaged.
‘Service charges are governed by legislation and cover the current and future costs of running our developments. The vast majority of these costs are passed to our homeowners at the same price it costs us to procure them. We don’t add any mark-up and vacant properties provide no additional financial benefit to McCarthy Stone.’