MP condemns

MP condemns "disastrous borrowing" as prominent property group collapses




.

A North West property group that borrowed £20 million from a building society has been taken into administration – by the lender which is also in administration.

As reported in regional publication The Business Desk, In House, an AIM-listed company, had a portfolio of buy-to-let properties throughout the North West, funded by loans from Dunfermline Building Society, most of which is now part of the Nationwide Group.
On the 28 July Dunfermline appointed F L Taylor and C P Dempster of Ernst & Young LLP as joint administrators of a series of In House companies, including: Decaton, Compustar, Avanti Properties, In House Property Projects and Berrymount Developments.
Administrators KPMG took the commercial lending part of Dunfermline into administration in March 2009, at which time business secretary Vince Cable, (then Treasury Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats), described the bank’s lending to In House as “disastrous management”.
In a statement to shareholders, managing director Marcus Cassidy said: “It is with regret that I must inform you that despite our efforts to rescue the company with a new Plus flotation, which has taken up a great deal of our time and resources, the bank 'The Dunfermline Building Society (in administration) has pulled the plug on our facility.”
He added: “The reason given by the bank was that we have breached our loan to value covenant. Although we would imagine nearly every property loan in the UK is in a similar position the bank did not wish to listen to any of our valid proposals for correcting the position.”
Mr Cassidy formed In House Group in 1997. The company recently released its figures for the six months to October 31 showing a pre-tax loss of £244,000 on revenue of £7,000. 
 

Leave a comment