When a scheme goes wrong many investors may find themselves out of pocket.
Francesca Steele, TimesOnline.co.uk – 21 August 2009
Darren Jones put a £6,000 deposit on an apartment in a Salford development that was never built
Glossy pictures of sleek residential developments and the promise of guaranteed rental income lured hundreds of investors into schemes in the North West that have failed to materialise. But while some are taking legal action against the Lancashire-based company that sold them the properties, the fate of investors hoping to recoup deposits paid to a subsidiary that went into administration recently may depend on whether they paid before or after a single date in 2007.
Dylan Harvey Residential Ltd (DHR), which is part of the Dylan Harvey Group, went into administration two weeks ago with debts of £100 million. About 500 investors paid deposits of up to £20,000 for off-plan apartments, which have not been built. Pannone, the law firm leading a group action against the Dylan Harvey Group on behalf of 70 investors who were asked to swap properties when their original choices were mothballed, says that those who signed a contract with DHR before October 24, 2007, may still be able to pursue their claims against Dylan Harvey Group.
On that date a company then called Dylan Harvey Residential changed its name to Dylan Harvey Investments. Also on that date, the company known as Dylan Harvey Developments changed its name to Dylan Harvey Residential. Seán Hackett, a solicitor leading the case at Pannone, said: “Effectively it is this latter company which has gone into administration. Therefore, anyone who paid monies to Dylan Harvey Residential Ltd before October 24, 2007, may have a claim to recoup their money.”
Those who invested in DHR after that date, or in Dylan Harvey Developments before that date, will have to rely on the decisions of the administrators, CLB Coopers. Investors in DHR are owed a total of £6.5 million. A meeting with the creditors will take place within ten weeks. A spokesman for the Dylan Harvey Group said that the 2007 name changes were because of “restructuring due to expansion” of the whole group at the time. The Dylan Harvey Group doubled its staff numbers to 34 that year.
