Retirement properties unfair charges.
Derek F
Jeff Gaines
"blah, blah" said James McCarthy, who chairs the ARHM. Interesting, I
wonder if he's connected with McCarthy Homes?
I am about to move into one of these, I have checked that there are no
hidden fees when it comes to selling. I have 3 years accounts and they
seem OK compared to what it cost me to maintain my bungalow.
The freehold is owned by Cognatum, a charity - so excessive profits would
be pointless although I reckon the directors make a fairly good living out
of it.
To me the advantage is that the house and grounds are maintained, probably
to a better standard than I could or would do it, in return for annual
fees of around £3,500. It looks like a reasonable deal, a gated
development would be equivalent but I can't afford one!
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
It may be that your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.
MCC
£3500 a year works out at £70 a week approx. Would you normally expect to
pay that much on the upkeep of your house and garden? Seems a lot of money
to me.
--
MCC
Jeff Gaines
wrote:
>£3500 a year works out at £70 a week approx. Would you normally expect to
>pay that much on the upkeep of your house and garden? Seems a lot of money
>to me.
That's made me think....
Gardner £20
Buildings Insurance £5
Window cleaning £10
External Painting/decorating etc. £20 (it was close to £10K per annum but
that includes some non repeating items)
Then add in communal lighting, launderette, 24/7 manager, alarm system and
gutter cleaning.
Looks like a good deal to me - costs are shared between 20 houses which
helps.
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
If it's not broken, mess around with it until it is
MCC
> On 02/10/2010 in message <ncy86puksqnv.gnxj45vd7mft$.d...@40tude.net> MCC
> wrote:
>
>>£3500 a year works out at £70 a week approx. Would you normally expect to
>>pay that much on the upkeep of your house and garden? Seems a lot of money
>>to me.
>
> That's made me think....
>
> Gardner £20
> Buildings Insurance £5
> Window cleaning £10
> External Painting/decorating etc. £20 (it was close to £10K per annum but
> that includes some non repeating items)
>
> Then add in communal lighting, launderette, 24/7 manager, alarm system and
> gutter cleaning.
>
> Looks like a good deal to me - costs are shared between 20 houses which
> helps.
I was confused. I thought you were talking about maintenance costs only as
per your original post -
"To me the advantage is that the house and grounds are maintained, probably
to a better standard than I could or would do it, in return for annual
fees of around £3,500."
No mention of other costs/charges.
--
MCC
Jeff Gaines
wrote:
>I was confused. I thought you were talking about maintenance costs only as
>per your original post -
>"To me the advantage is that the house and grounds are maintained, probably
>to a better standard than I could or would do it, in return for annual
>fees of around £3,500."
>No mention of other costs/charges.
I see :-)
It's the maintenance fee but it's all inclusive.
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
That's an amazing invention but who would ever want to use one of them?
(President Hayes speaking to Alexander Graham Bell on the invention of the
telephone)
Peter Parry
wrote:
>The freehold is owned by Cognatum, a charity - so excessive profits would
>be pointless although I reckon the directors make a fairly good living out
>of it.
Cognatum Limited is not a charity but a not for profit company limited
by guarantee. This gives certain tax advantages to them as
freeholders, and also means they do not have to comply with the
Charities Act 2006. The Charity Commission have no oversight of them.
Cognatum Ltd is the only member of the Beechcroft Trust and The
English Courtyard Association.
Cognatum Property Limited shares directors and is the entirely
commercial sales arm although legally unrelated with Cognatum Ltd.
Rather odd that they should use electric night storage heaters almost
entirely, that they are by far the cheapest form of heating to install
(although one of the most expensive to run) may have something to do
with it.
Their statement that electric cookers are safer is also quite wrong,
Far more house fires are caused by using electric cookers than gas
cooking.
Michaelangelo
>
> Rather odd that they should use electric night storage heaters almost
> entirely, that they are by far the cheapest form of heating to
> install (although one of the most expensive to run) may have
> something to do with it.
Are they still one of the most expensive forms of heating to run given
that electricity is now less expensive than gas?
--
Michaelangelo
www.flickr.com/photos/mikenagel
Self-catering, holiday accommodation in the Scottish Highlands - for
disabled people:
www.woodhead-cottage.co.uk
Derek F
non retirement flats as well. The builders do a deal with the
electricity companies and get a kickback.
Their excuse with retirement flats is that little old ladies would not
understand their gas boilers/cookers and blow the place up.
When we first got married we rented the upper flat in a house from a
scatty old lady who took Pheno Barbitone. I got home one night and found
her on the kitchen floor having collapsed when trying to light the gas
cooker. I turned the gas off, opened the doors and windows and called an
ambulance.
She then told her GP and her family that we were trying to murder her.
Fortunately it was in the summer as the kitchen had a coke boiler that I
used to look after for her.
Derek
Gordon H
<pe...@wpp.ltd.uk> writes
>
>Their statement that electric cookers are safer is also quite wrong,
>Far more house fires are caused by using electric cookers than gas
>cooking.
>
possibility of an explosion if the gas goes out.
Most house fires in my local authority area seem to be caused by drunks
arriving home and either falling asleep with a fag in their hand, or
putting the chip pan on the cooker on high and forgetting all about it.
--
Gordon H
Remove "invalid" to reply
Gordon H
<lordp...@NOXo2.co.uk> writes
>
>Night storage heaters and electric cookers are installed in a lot of
>new non retirement flats as well. The builders do a deal with the
>electricity companies and get a kickback.
>Their excuse with retirement flats is that little old ladies would not
>understand their gas boilers/cookers and blow the place up.
>When we first got married we rented the upper flat in a house from a
>scatty old lady who took Pheno Barbitone. I got home one night and
>found her on the kitchen floor having collapsed when trying to light
>the gas cooker. I turned the gas off, opened the doors and windows and
>called an ambulance.
>She then told her GP and her family that we were trying to murder her.
>Fortunately it was in the summer as the kitchen had a coke boiler that
>I used to look after for her.
>Derek
>
hate to live in an apartment complex where gas cookers and heaters were
used. Think BOOM! and think CO2...
Jeff Gaines
Peter Parry wrote:
>On 2 Oct 2010 11:33:34 GMT, "Jeff Gaines" <jgaines...@yahoo.co.uk>
>wrote:
>
>>The freehold is owned by Cognatum, a charity - so excessive profits would
>>be pointless although I reckon the directors make a fairly good living out
>>of it.
>
>Cognatum Limited is not a charity but a not for profit company limited
>by guarantee.
Yes, I was being sloppy - my point was there is no point in there making
excessive profits.
>Rather odd that they should use electric night storage heaters almost
>entirely, that they are by far the cheapest form of heating to install
>(although one of the most expensive to run) may have something to do
>with it.
It may have more to do with their rural locations, there's no gas supply
where I'm going. I haven't lived in a house with a gas supply for over 20
years but I prefer rural locations.
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
By the time you can make ends meet they move the ends
Jeff Gaines
Gaines wrote:
>Yes, I was being sloppy - my point was there is no point in there making
>excessive profits.
Whoops, swap their for there...
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
You can't tell which way the train went by looking at the tracks
Peter Parry
The problem with electric cookers is, as you mention, chip pans - or
any cooking with fat/oil. With a gas burner overflowing oil will
often not ignite (and quite often simply puts the gas flame out) as
surface temperatures of the stove top are relatively low. With an
electric cooker the surface temperature of the element is way above
the ignition point so overflowing oil _always_ ignites and even
splashes of oil will ignite and can set a frying pan alight quite
easily. The risk of explosion with gas is far less than most people
realise, it requires a fairly specific mix of air and gas which isn't
that easy to achieve. Gas explosions are always newsworthy of course
so all of the very few each year get reported in the national press
while the dozens who die in fires which start on electric stoves pass
un remarked.
Derek F
Derek
Gordon H
<pe...@wpp.ltd.uk> writes
I vividly remember a chip pan fire on my parents' gas cooker, but I
think that Mum had left a knife or fork in the pan, and that may have
ignited rather than the fat boil over.
Dad had a fire extinguisher left over from WW2, he was in charge of a
FAP (First Aid Post) at work and we also got a stirrup pump and a grab
pole for handling incendiary bombs, all of which had become surplus.
:-)
He should have known better than what he did next! Having failed
to smother the flames with a damp tea towel, which burned through due to
the projecting knife, he managed to carry the pan from kitchen to garden
and put it on the ground, and then fired the CTC extinguisher into the
burning fat...
The explosion was quite spectacular, and hot fat was splattered all over
the garden fence and side gate. I reckon he had a lucky escape!
Peter Parry
wrote:
>> Most house fires in my local authority area seem to be caused by drunks
>> arriving home and either falling asleep with a fag in their hand, or
>> putting the chip pan on the cooker on high and forgetting all about it.
>Faulty fridges seem to cause a lot of fires.
Fridges cause very few fires, although they do have a failure mode
which can involve them producing quite a lot of relatively non toxic
smoke!
The main causes of fire are cooking accidents (just over half of all
fires) followed by heating appliances, electrical equipment (all
sorts but mostly associated with overloaded extension leads and faulty
electric blankets), smoking materials, candles and children playing
with matches.
Although cooking accidents cause many fires they are not the leading
cause of death or serious injury as most occur when people are around
and awake. About a third are grill pan fires which often cause
relatively little damage.
If you look at fires which resulted in the fire service being
summoned, usually more severe fires, then the figures alter. The most
common cause is arson (usually rubbish bins set alight) followed
closely by children playing with fire then electric blankets and other
electrical items. Smoking related fires remain the most lethal as
many are caused by discarded cigarette ends igniting furniture after
occupants of the house have fallen asleep.
Each year about 350 people die in house fires, over a third are
smoking related. 13% die from cooking fires, 10% from fires related
to space heating, 5% attributed to candle use.
Gordon H
<pe...@wpp.ltd.uk> writes
>
>Each year about 350 people die in house fires, over a third are
>smoking related. 13% die from cooking fires, 10% from fires related
>to space heating, 5% attributed to candle use.
>
I once had to jump in the car, drive 300 yards down the road, dash in
the hardware shop and shout through a crowd to get an extinguisher and
run, yelling: "I'll pay for it later"!
Ma in law had set the grill pan on fire by turning on the grill instead
of the top ring, and in those days my wife had left fat in the grill
pan. 8-(
MIL was cooking my lunch whilst my wife was in hospital, and was looking
after the first child...
The extinguisher was the only way to get in the narrow gap between grill
pan and oven element, and when I pulled the grill out to throw a wet
cloth over it, the flames shot up to the ceiling, so that was a
non-starter!
The firemen who came in answer to the call asked questions about the
performance of the extinguisher, and left.
I ate a belated lunch and went back to lunch, leaving the in-laws to
clean up the walls and ceiling...
Derek F
Danfoss even issued a warning.
"Date: 28th November 2007: Caution
" There’s a possible risk of fire in old refrigerators and freezers
bought in 1994 or before. If your refrigerator or freezer was bought in
1994 or before, you should check to see if it is fitted with a Danfoss
compressor.
Recent tests suggest that the gradual decay of a plastic material on
the starting device of Danfoss compressors from this period can under
extreme circumstances cause a potential risk of fire. The starter
produced after 1994 in modern compressors does not – and will not in the
future – carry this risk"
Where we once lived the house next door was practically gutted by a
fire that the Fire Brigade said started from the compressor of their
fridge. The same happened to someone else I know when he was away on
holiday.
Derek
Derek F
> Google on fires caused by fridges it is quite a common occurrence.
> Danfoss even issued a warning.
> "Date: 28th November 2007: Caution
> " There’s a possible risk of fire in old refrigerators and freezers
> bought in 1994 or before. If your refrigerator or freezer was bought in
> 1994 or before, you should check to see if it is fitted with a Danfoss
> compressor.
> Recent tests suggest that the gradual decay of a plastic material on the
> starting device of Danfoss compressors from this period can under
> extreme circumstances cause a potential risk of fire. The starter
> produced after 1994 in modern compressors does not – and will not in the
> future – carry this risk"
>
> Where we once lived the house next door was practically gutted by a fire
> that the Fire Brigade said started from the compressor of their fridge.
> The same happened to someone else I know when he was away on holiday.
> Derek
Peter Parry
wrote:
>Google on fires caused by fridges it is quite a common occurrence.
>Danfoss even issued a warning.
The number of times something appears in the press isn't necessarily a
reliable indicator of risk. For example the compressor of a fridge
is a sealed steel unit several mm thick. It cannot burn nor can it
start a fire . What does fail is the starter switch on the side,
which controls the compressor start sequence, or the start capacitor.
Either will produce a lot of smoke but the risk of a fire spreading
from one is very small, there isn't anything flammable inside to burn
for a start.. The risk from fridges is sufficiently small that none
of the annual fire reports mention them at all (although they mention
other causes explicitly).
The replacement of safe non-flammable fluorocarbon based refrigerants
by isobutane or propane based "green" and highly flammable
refrigerants (R600a) has of course introduced a tiny risk of a small
refrigerant leak partly filling a room with flammable and easily
ignited gas (isobutane is heavier than air) but most refrigerators
have a charge of between only 50 and 75g which isn't a significant
amount. The maximum charge allowed is 150g.
The lower explosion limit of Isobutane in air is 1.5% or approximately
38g/cu m. In most kitchens even with a maximum charge of 150g the
maximum gas concentration will be about 8g/cu m. This means that even
if the fridge leaks all its contents quickly the room will not fill
with an explosive gas mixture.
Fridges using R600a are also designed to have no spark producing items
in the base to provide a source of ignition to leaking gas. The
recall of some fridges was because the failure of the starter unit
_could_ breach the non-ignition source requirement. However, for an
explosion to occur the fridge would have to be leaking just as the
starter unit malfunctioned and the malfunction would have to be of the
type which caused sparking. The chances of this set of coincidences
occurring are not high (although as everyone knows one in a million
events happen half the time).
.
Derek F
were on holiday. Our neighbour put the plug in his sink turned on the
tap and fell down dead.
Derek
ned
"Derek F" <lordp...@NOXo2.co.uk> wrote in message
news:zg%po.21779$vB4....@newsfe24.iad...
Oh, I am glad you drew that to my attention.
We recently replaced our upright freezer. I advised missus that there was
nothing wrong with the old one but she insisted that it was getting on.
True, it was a 38 years old Scandinavian model.
But, I never replaced missus when she was 38!
--
ned
Peter Parry
wrote:
>Probably about the same chance as caused our flat to be flooded when we
>were on holiday. Our neighbour put the plug in his sink turned on the
>tap and fell down dead.
Dying while filling a bath isn't that uncommon, another common cause
of death is getting out of bed. It is the sudden bending that does
it. The safest solution is to sleep in the bath and take your time
about getting up.
Derek F
spare you that. It is even worse than the non existent Comet washing
machine:-)
Derek
Derek F
Not sure if Peter died before going to bed or after getting up as he was
found in his dressing gown. He was a person who went to bed late and got
up late.
Derek
Bob Henson
Derek F wrote:
>>> Probably about the same chance as caused our flat to be flooded when we
>>> were on holiday. Our neighbour put the plug in his sink turned on the
>>> tap and fell down dead.
>> Dying while filling a bath isn't that uncommon, another common cause
>> of death is getting out of bed. It is the sudden bending that does
>> it. The safest solution is to sleep in the bath and take your time
>> about getting up.
>>
>>
> Are you an actuary?
> Not sure if Peter died before going to bed or after getting up as he was
> found in his dressing gown. He was a person who went to bed late and got
> up late.
No - an actuary is a person who sleeps in the kitchen with his head in
the fridge and his feet in the oven, and tells you that on average he is
just comfortable.
Regards,
Bob
--
Licentiae, quam stulti libertatem vocabant - Tacitus
Gordon H
<lordp...@NOXo2.co.uk> writes
>
>I could tell yet again my TEN fridge/freezers saga from Comet but I
>will spare you that. It is even worse than the non existent Comet
>washing machine:-)
>Derek
<Comet>
"It's your set-up". Have you installed all the latest updates?
Gordon H
<pe...@wpp.ltd.uk> writes
"The old advice used to be to take them sitting up in bed".
Then he said "They are rapid release, so if you bend down, don't stand
up suddenly".
I said "I'm 76, I've been taking that advice for several years"!
Derek F
did not hear a thing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-11461560
Some people bring it on themselves:
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/8423121.Eastbourne_house_fire_caused_by_cigarette/
Derek
Tickettyboo
"ned" <m...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:8gs33o...@mid.individual.net...
> We recently replaced our upright freezer. I advised missus that there was
> nothing wrong with the old one but she insisted that it was getting on.
> True, it was a 38 years old Scandinavian model.
> But, I never replaced missus when she was 38!
Well, she was probably warmer to cuddle up to than the freezer?
:-)
--
Ticketty᧧