£15 million for Pensand House & Marlborough Court, Hythe.

Bids in excess of £15 million pounds are being sought for the purchase of Pensand House (pictured) and Marlborough Court in South Rd Hythe.(They are to the left of Hythe swimming pool when standing on the promenade looking at the pool.).

The net income for both properties which has 56 flats between them is approximately £400,000pa. It will be sold as a vacant possession meaning all the tenants on assured shorthold tenancies will be moved out, according to the sales document.

The site benefits from planning permission for the construction of new balconies to the buildings as well as updating the blocks with works to the rendering, lobbies, bay windows and new landscaping. Further planning has been submitted – Y17/1543/SH for the removal of the existing roof and 4 penthouses and replacement of a 2 storey glass roof for 6 luxury penthouses. There have been six public objections to date.

The building is currently owned by Chelsea Portfolio Limited, who acquired the property in 1996 for an undisclosed sum, according to the land registry. Between 2014/15 – 2016/17 Chelsea Portfolio Ltd received £357,000 in housing benefit from mainly working families who tenant the 56 flats in the two buildings.

The building will be sold with vacant possession as is made clear in the sales document. Is this a case of gentrification, social cleansing?

Moving on, when one looks more closely at Chelsea Portfolio Limited one discovers it is owned by Frasertown Limited, who are based in Gibraltar; which is a known  “dodgy tax haven“. 

The Shareholders of Frasertown Ltd Gibraltar are Valmet Nominees Ltd located in Gibraltar and have been named in the Panama Papers. The other shareholder is Finsbury Nominees Ltd who too have been named in the Panama Papers. The Directors are Valdir Managers Ltd located in Gibraltar. Valdir’s directors are 3 companies all based in Gibraltar too.

• PHILMONT PROPERTIES UK LIMITED
• VALFIN NOMINEES LIMITED
• OSITECH LIMITED

And the shareholders of Valmet Nominees Ltd, well that is Finsbury Limited and Valmet Executive Nominees Limited. The Directors are:

• David Dennis Cuby who is named in the Panama Papers.

• James David Hassan who too is named in the Panama Papers

• Maurice Albert Perera he too is in the Panama Papers

• Amanda Joy Marsh

• Adrian Gerard Olivero

• William Damian Cid De La Paz

who all work for Finsbury Trust in Gibraltar. The Directors in Finsbury Limited are the same as above. The shareholders are Valcross Trust & Corporate Services Limited.

• “Finsbury Trust is the largest independent trust and corporate services organisation in Gibraltar. We provide comprehensive and efficient company incorporation and administration services as well as providing a complete service for the establishment and administration of trusts. Both companies and trusts play an important role in international tax and estate planning.”

The way this company structure has been designed  does not allow for transparency. It is a maze of companies owning other companies, which goes on and on, making it incredibly difficult to know who the ultimate owners are, and how and where from they earn their money.

If any of the current residents wish to talk to the owners they can be contacted here:

Valdir Managers Ltd, Suites 7B & 8B, 50 Town Range PO Box 472 Gibraltar.

or

Chelsea Portfolio Ltd Hawkswood House, Hawkswood Rd, Downham, Essex, CM11 1JT

Anyway, all those families/people will be dislodged and will have to find somewhere else to live as the sales document makes it clear that it will be sold as a vacant lot. And that £15 million who knows where that will go, we simply have no idea, presently.

There are legitimate uses for offshore companies and trusts. We do not intend to suggest or imply that any persons, companies or other entities included in this blog post have broken the law or otherwise acted improperly unless found so by a court of law.

The Shepwayvox Team