BALLYMORE JUST DESERTS
If you are considering purchasing a property built by Ballymore Properties , or indeed considering doing business with Ballymore Properties or any of their numerous subsidiaries then you may care to read this.
This will make you aware of the business practices of Ballymore, under the sanction of Mr Sean Mulryan and the unscrupulous greed of Mulryan sidekick and Ballymore director, Mr Raymond Joseph Hardy.
Ballymore Properties Limited is owned by one man. The Irish (now) magnate Sean Mulryan. Ballymore Properties and their employees are accountable only to Mr Mulryan. Actually, Mr Mulryan’s wife Bernadine owns 65/13,000th of the empire.
From humble beginnings in Ireland, Mulryan branched out to build properties in London. Now, with interests all over Europe and an extensive involvement in horse racing, Mr Mulryan is very successful and good luck to him.
LET’S REGENERATE AND BUILD PEOPLE’S HOMES
‘City Walk’ (E2 6DT) , in the heart of London's East End was one of the first such developments and a showcase for the company. Ballymore (then know as 'Kempton Homes (London) Ltd) scooped up a piece of wasteland just off Brick Lane and in 1993 built a very attractive complex of 80 residential flats (and later, some 9 live-work units).
Purchasers of the prestigious flats were drawn to the spacious open gardens and something of a tranquil oasis in the melee of east London. The complex is so attractive that many flats are still lived in by their original purchasers. Potential tenants alike are drawn to the complex, the proximity to the City and the security it provides.
The Council's records show the extent to which Ballymore went to preserve an open spacious feel to the development and to take the concerns of local residents into account when building the development.
I KNOW, LET’S GET SOME MONEY FROM THE GOVERNMENT !
The project was such a good idea at the time, that the government even gave Ballymore (then Kempton) £702,206 for the good regeneration work were doing. Now that’s a lot of money in 1993. That’s still a lot of money !
Raymond Joseph Hardy, now the Investment Director of Ballymore was one of the key participants of the City Walk project.
WALK AWAY
After completion in 1993 & 1994, Ballymore retained the freehold and under a series of incompetent third party property managers over the years, the property suffered from lack of maintenance and professional management.
Under the stewardship of Ballymore, the property managers even broke the law by spending leaseholders funds without following due process and a 'black hole' was left in the leaseholders accounts for years. Some of it was eventually repaid years later.
Now, take note of management of Ballymore properties in the UK. If your property is currently ‘managed’ by Ballymore in their ‘prestigious’ portfolio then dig a little deeper and you'll find another third party property manager mixed up in the dubious mis-management of City Walk in years gone by, but that’s another story.
EMPIRE SHIFTING (aka ‘building Hardy’s pension fund’)
So on 17 March 2000, Ballymore set up a shelf company - Bloomfold Ltd (Companies House ) with a clear intent of offloading City Walk and several other properties to its director Hardy. This could be done invisibly and in defiance of any leaseholders wishes through a loop hole in the law.
‘Bloomfold’ sat on the shelf for a (prerequisite) few years, until it was adorned with gifts - other peoples homes.
On 8th September 2004, Ballymore shifted the freehold of the City Walk property into 'Bloomfold Limited'.
Other Ballymore developments in London were also shunted into 'Bloomfold Ltd' - Kempton Court (E1 5EB), Trinity Hall (E1 5BA) and Beaux Arts (N7 6JT).
Just 21 days later, on 29th September 2004 , the shareholding of Bloomfold changes to Hardy.
ABRACADABRA !
So in the flick of an eye, the properties are now owned and controlled by Raymond Joseph Hardy !
How did that happen you ask ? Well, it's a loophole in the law. This conveniently bypasses the provision where the freeholder would have to give first right of refusal for the transaction to the existing long-term leaseholders. Mulryan, Hardy and Ballymore seem happy to push peoples homes right through the middle of this loophole.
So Mulryan, Hardy, Ballymore and their lawyers have pulled a swift one under the noses of 413 leaseholders who had thought they had a reputable landlord.
If any of them deny it, well they were all directors of the companies at the time.
GREED
In his greed, Hardy quickly identified that there is some 'spare land' sitting inside City Walk. Not satisfied with the benefit he's got from the original development of City Walk, free money from the government, and the ground rent income, Hardy embarked on a plan to squeeze out every last pound out of the property.
It's not exactly spare land you see, it's the resident's garden. There are also the spaces for the considerable number of rubbish and recycling bins (and there's nowhere else to put them). The garden is very regularly used by the residents (including many children who live in the development), is home to a number of foxes and other wildlife and is a focal point for the property.
In 2005, Hardy's architects 'GVA Grimlay' lodged a planning application to build 8 units on top of the residents garden. Whilst his architects claim 'no net loss of green space', this is neither correct, nor reflects that the remaining green space would be of any use to anybody (would you want to sit outside somebody's bedroom window while you enjoy your lunch or a drink with friends in the sun ?)
Being shrewd, his agents also lodged a 'twin' parallel application (PA/05/2137). This is a trick of experienced developers to force a Councils' hand.
Hardy tried a similar planning application - squeeze another 4 flats in the car park at 'Kempton Court', (Tower Hamlets Reference PA/06/00844) but was unsuccessful.
COUNCIL BENDS OVER BACKWARDS FOR BALLYMORE
Strangely, Tower Hamlets ignored the 130+ objections (Tower Hamlets Reference) PA/05/2085) to the application, including objections even from their own Councillors and their own internal departments. Planning permission was granted on 12 September 2006, on the proviso that some conditions (landscaping, lighting and rubbish details submitted) were met. A Tower Hamlets councillor even addressed the planning committee in opposition.
Ballymore are Tower Hamlet's largest developer and nobody is under any illusion of their ability to railroad applications through Tower Hamlets.
NIMBY
This is genuinely a case of residents crying 'not in my backyard'. Yes, of course it is, no doubt, but at the same time, Hardy will be destroying the amenity of the development. Destroying people's homes is actually not part of Tower Hamlet's assessment criteria for planning applications.
MORE RUBBISH
Oh, back to the rubbish. There simply is not enough physical space to site the rubbish bins elsewhere in the development. Hardy's solution is to install a compactor on the property. Would you like a stinking, noisy, rat-infested and dangerous compactor sitting outside your bedroom or living room window ? Perhaps they should put a Ballymore logo on the side of the compactor, just like you see at the horse races. There's goes another patch of green space too. Not only would the residents have to put up with the thing, but would ultimately have to foot the bill for its upkeep too.
BREAKING THE LAW - YOU CAN’T STOP ME NOW
On 19th February 2008, Hardy started illegal works in the car park. He is in breach of the planning permission, as he has not actually complied with the conditions of the planning permission.
Is this an honourable practice by the director of one of the country's largest builders ?
He could argue that he's just 'landscaping', however, in the process he has created 4 parking spaces, which is itself illegal. He's also started destroying some of the resident's gardens.
GET OFF MY LAND !
Hardy now realises that he has a job ahead of him. There are 21 car parking spaces sitting in the way of the development. Mr Hardy has to get the agreement of each of the leaseholders (and presumably their mortgage lenders to) to 'move' or acquire the parking space before he can put his monstrosity up.
DETERMINATION
Mind you, Hardy's a determined chap, because he just bought a property at City Walk (Title reference EGL414376) , which just happens to include a parking space in the key area. He bought it from the estate of a leaseholder who passed away recently. Now, buying a property at City Walk is undoubtedly a great investment, but do you think he would be making this investment if he didn't want control of the parking space ? He paid cash for the property, which is as far away from his stinking rubbish compactor as he could get.
INTIMIDATION
Not satisfied with the intimidation so far, Hardy has even threatened that should the residents not co-operate with his scheme, he would knock down the walls of the complex (opening the property to some of the more dubious characters in the neighbourhood) and build a block of 'social housing'. Nice.
CONSCIENCE ? ETHICAL ? CONCERNED ?
If you would like to ask Mr Hardy how he feels about his greed, about ruining peoples lives, about ruining forever the property from which he and Mulryan have since thrived - then please do give him a call. His mobile number is +44 7899 921954 and his number at home is +353 1 2855211. His email is rhardy@ballymoreproperties.ie. If you think that is invading his privacy, stop and consider what he is leaving on the doorstep of 89 leaseholders, forever. You could even ask what his wife Barbara thinks too.
Better still, please ask Sean Mulryan what he thinks about it (smulryan@ballymoreproperties.ie) . You might be able to reach him at the farm, Ardenode Stud on +353 4 586 3035, or try Ballymore head office in London +44 20 7510 9100, or in Dublin it’s +353 1 625 9100.
THE BANK ROLLERS
Here are some of Ballymore’s bankers - ask them what they think about Ballymore’s practices -
Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc
Irish Nationwide Building Society
Wurttembergische Hypothekenbank Aktiengesellschaft
Fortis Bank S.A.
Fortis Bank N.V
Anglo Irish Asset Finance plc
Tetra Bank
Bank of Scotland
OTHER VULNERABLE BALLYMORE PROPERTIES
If you have an interest in any of these properties, then you’d better watch out too -
Arrowhead, Baltimore wharf, Bishopsgate Goods Yard, DEFRA Headquarters, Hayes Central, Leamouth Peninsula, Liverpool Central Station, Mastmaker Court, Aldgate Triangle, Millenium Harbour, Minoco Wharf, New Providence Wharf, Ontario Tower, Paddington Triangle, Pan Peninsula, Power Court, Quebec Building, Snow Court, Spitalfields Market, St Johns, Temple Gate, Thames Road, Wapping Lane, Wood Wharf, College Square, Drumnigh Wood, Florentine Centre, Portmarnock, Royal Canal Court, The Glen, Whitewater Shopping Centre, Statenicky Mlyn, H12 Residence, Hermitage Medical Centre, Sheraton Bratislava Hotel, Wencelas Square