“LandBanking” What is it?
There are so many seemingly great “investment” opportunities being offered at present. The most recent one to drop into my “inbox” was from Asset Worldwide Group Inc , also known as Asset Land Investments Inc. The email was shortly followed by a telephone call from one of their “investment advisors” (goodness knows how they found my private number!). The Advisor proceeded to tell me about this ‘amazing’ investment opportunity in Newbury, where I could purchase the freehold of a plot of land for a minimal investment and see my investment grow over the next 18mths by 75%! Well, my mother always used to say that if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is! However, I decided to probe a little deeper and ask a few leading questions like:
- Does it have planning permission?
- Which developer is involved?
- Which Housing Association is involved with regard to the social housing element that will be required?
- How do I gain ownership?
- And, if “Asset” own land, which is likely (according to the Advisor, practically guaranteed) to increase in value by 75% in the next 18mths, why are they offering to sell it to me, why not hold onto the land a little longer and take the larger profit themselves?
It transpired that there was no Planning Permission yet granted and no developer or Housing Association lined up. I could gain ownership by sending them the investment money and their Legal team would produce all the paperwork and register my title at the Land Registry.
Now as a property lawyer, there is an immediate “conflict of interest”. Without seeing a contract pack before handing over any money, how do I know that Asset even owns the land? And, how do I know that I can trust them to register the title in my name once I’ve paid over the money? Basically without independent legal advice on the title to the land, I can’t!
The answer to my final question was ably answered by a Guardian News Report I found from November 2009 regarding a previous development area with which Asset Worldwide Group were involved. Click here for the full article
So, moral is, and mother was right, if an offer seems too good to be true, then it probably is! If you are offered a “too good to miss” investment opportunity in land, then get independent legal advice to ensure that before you hand over any money, the title to the land has been property investigated and you have your own legal advisor appointed to protect your interests. For an informal chat, over the phone or in person over coffee, to discover how we can help contact Newnham & Jordan Solicitors.
This article is intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.
Comments: 7
Let me know how you get on!!
Thank you for your feedback and I.m pleased to know that our views of this matter have been useful to you.
Done
I’ll bet you can..!!
Regards
Angie
Hi Roger
Thanks for your comments – I have removed you surname
My wife and i purchased Plots of Newbury land with the promiss of a sale this year (yes we now see that we were silly) and we have been trying to contact them (Asset Land Inc) on their new phone number (and old one) but it simply say’s invalid numbers and we have tried to contact them via the email address on the news letter and it dose not respond and the web pages just say down for maintenance. We feel lost and do not know what we can do at this point except wait for them to call/contact us. Do you know if their is anything we could do ?? Thank you.
Dear Kelven
As I understand it the company is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and I would suggest that you contact the SFO with details of the transaction that you entered in to with the company.
Regards
Angie