ULH plc Investment Scam??? Please Respond!

Wheely

Anyone know anything about a landbank investment company United Land Holdings plc. Bought a plot of land in Bedfordshire under pretty much guarantee that planning permission would follow with a massive return on my investment. Company's been served with a winding up petition the week before last by the DTI. Their brochures pawn them as an LIA endorsed body, just found out the LIA(Land Invenstment Association) was set up by two of the directors of ULH which Ill wager is their only member. Both the LIA and the ULH offices are closed and Im getting the distinct feeling im being screwed. Any respnse is welcome, dont hold back I just wanna know if anyone else has been affected by anthing simimlar or has any advice. If not if anyone can direct me to somewhere that might
Cheers
Wheely

Bluehair

Wheely wrote:

Bought a plot of land in Bedfordshire under pretty much guarantee that planning permission would follow with a massive return on my investment.

Pretty much a guarantee is no guarantee.

These kind of scams are commonplace in the uk and have been popping up periodically here.

Sorry to hear you've been caught out but i doubt you have any recourse. An uncle of mine got screwed the same way years ago (bought a site in a greenfield zone that he was 'assured' would be zoned residential in years to come). Of course with nothing on paper to back that up he was in truth gambling with the money and was left high and dry.

drdre

Sorry to hear that you have been caught up in such a thing. Have you tried contacting the companies and also try contacting planning dept or something in uk

is te land under your name or have you lost that also.:mad:

TabulaRasa22

Thats rough...

Nemotoid

Did you commit funds to purchase land or shares in the company?

If you have purchased shares you can say goodbye to your money, if land you may have recourse to the deeds office....whatever paperwork you recieved at the time should provide a fair indiciation...although from the sounds of it there wont be much in this instance...i hate to say it but here goes anyhow if something sounds too good to be true it probably is!!!

RainyDay

Nemotoid wrote:

Did you commit funds to purchase land or shares in the company?

If you have purchased shares you can say goodbye to your money, if land you may have recourse to the deeds office....whatever paperwork you recieved at the time should provide a fair indiciation...although from the sounds of it there wont be much in this instance...i hate to say it but here goes anyhow if something sounds too good to be true it probably is!!!

You're missing the point. OP may well own the plot of land legally, but he has about about 50 times the market value. He has bought a plot of agricultural land at a price more appropriate for development land. So even if all the deeds are in place, he is still way out of pocket.

stevenjames

Hello there, This is not a fake message. I worked a a marketing consultant for United Land Holdinds and think I may be able to help you. please contact me

Bluehair

stevenjames wrote:

Hello there, This is not a fake message. I worked a a marketing consultant for United Land Holdinds and think I may be able to help you. please contact me

Just forward €100 fee and you'll get right on it eh?

drdre

Bluehair wrote:

Just forward €100 fee and you'll get right on it eh?

hehehe:D .also i think this was owned by a asian eg indian or pakistani as the company always advertised on the asain channels on sky.i saw it many times and told my dad they were fraud and now it looks like its true.

Pretesh

Wheely wrote:

Anyone know anything about a landbank investment company United Land Holdings plc. Bought a plot of land in Bedfordshire under pretty much guarantee that planning permission would follow with a massive return on my investment. Company's been served with a winding up petition the week before last by the DTI. Their brochures pawn them as an LIA endorsed body, just found out the LIA(Land Invenstment Association) was set up by two of the directors of ULH which Ill wager is their only member. Both the LIA and the ULH offices are closed and Im getting the distinct feeling im being screwed. Any respnse is welcome, dont hold back I just wanna know if anyone else has been affected by anthing simimlar or has any advice. If not if anyone can direct me to somewhere that might
Cheers
Wheely

I have also bought a plot @ chicksands, Bedfordshire. I think I've been screwed also. I actually contacted the LIA before investing thinking they were a separate organisation. Anyone have any Idea on who the best people would be contact to try and even get a little bit of my money back?

RainyDay

Try the UK Trading Standards officer in the area, or maybe the DTI. You could try the Irish ODCA and/or European Consumer Information Centre.

I'm not trying to rub salt in your wounds, but what on earth made you hand over money to these guys? How did you come into contact with them?

Diarmuid

Wheely wrote:

pretty much guarantee that planning permission would follow with a massive return on my investment.

I'm sure you don't want to hear this but I'm going to say this anyway.

If you ever hear the words "guarantee massive return" it's either illegal or a scam. Full stop. No questions. It's as easy as that.

I hope you didn't lose much on this and for everyone else, learn from other peoples mistakes.

drdre

Diarmuid wrote:

I'm sure you don't want to hear this but I'm going to say this anyway.

If you ever hear the words "guarantee massive return" it's either illegal or a scam. Full stop. No questions. It's as easy as that.

I hope you didn't lose much on this and for everyone else, learn from other peoples mistakes.

yes you are 100% right.it just sounds too dodgy to be true

markw

If it's a scam then I am a victim. If anyone has a source of more information please pass it to my e-mail (mark90039@hotmail.com) or include me in future postings. Thanks

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

Unfortunately, it does sound EXTREMELY dodgy.

Hope you haven't got a huge exposure to them ...

What is your story regarding what they told you to convince you to invest?

windmill_ky

stevenjames wrote:

Hello there, This is not a fake message. I worked a a marketing consultant for United Land Holdinds and think I may be able to help you. please contact me

hi, steven james,
i just read your post and also wheely's today. i am also one who bought the land as an investment, but now, i receive no more news from Ulh, please if you could give me more information etc
appreciate your help
thank you

windmill

windmill_ky

Wheely wrote:

Anyone know anything about a landbank investment company United Land Holdings plc. Bought a plot of land in Bedfordshire under pretty much guarantee that planning permission would follow with a massive return on my investment. Company's been served with a winding up petition the week before last by the DTI. Their brochures pawn them as an LIA endorsed body, just found out the LIA(Land Invenstment Association) was set up by two of the directors of ULH which Ill wager is their only member. Both the LIA and the ULH offices are closed and Im getting the distinct feeling im being screwed. Any respnse is welcome, dont hold back I just wanna know if anyone else has been affected by anthing simimlar or has any advice. If not if anyone can direct me to somewhere that might
Cheers
Wheely

hi, wheely
are you able to get any useful info so far? i am also one who bought the land as investment from ULH. pleae help me too. i also feel screwed and dont know what to do.

appreciate your help
windmill

jdivision

It's a scam:
From The Sunday Business Post, also look up the Guardian
Sunday, April 09, 2006 - By Neil Callanan
A British land company in which Irish people have invested thousands of euro is being investigated by the British Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). United Land Holdings (ULH), which has exhibited at a number of property shows in Ireland, has been served with a winding up order, according to The Guardian newspaper. The order alleges that the scheme breaches the Financial Services and Markets Act and the company has been suspended from marketing activities during the investigation.

ULH contacted investors last week to say it was under investigation by the DTI.

Companies such as ULH sell investors plots of agricultural land, which they claim will be valuable once planning permission is obtained. The company promoted a scheme in Chicksands in Bedfordshire which sold out and recently had been selling stakes in a 42-acre site known as Melksham Forest outside Melksham village in west Wiltshire.

The plots of land in Chicklands were divided up into tenths of an acre and were sold off for stg£10,000, according to one Irish investor. He paid an initial deposit of stg£750 at an exhibition in Galway in November and the balance of the money within 14 days.

At the time, he was told that if he had any concerns he should contact the Land Investment Association (LIA).

The investor did so and, he said he ‘‘was given a glowing report’’ about the investment.

Unknown to the investor, the LIA was set up by ULH as a non-profit making enterprise.

He claimed he later found it difficult to obtain the contract from the company.

According to The Guardian, ULH’s brochure for Melksham Forest told investors that they would prefer if investors did not speak to the council regarding the site’s planning potential.

‘‘With potentially up to 300 clients on any one site, if they received weekly phone calls, this could potentially annoy council officers,” the brochure allegedly stated.

Council officials told The Guardian that some of the information in the brochure was inaccurate and that there were no plans for a bypass in the area, a claim that was made in the brochure.

The council said that any application for development of the site would be ‘‘extremely unlikely’’ to be given planning permission because they have enough land for housing until 2016.

ULH’s website is now blank apart from a message saying ‘‘under construction’’

lotty

HI Wheely,

just saw your message regarding United Land Holdings and thought I would give you an address of someone to write to. His name [edit] is removed [/edit]

I also invested in the above and until recently had almost written it off as a bad experience but then I was contacted by Tony as he was investigating it and got the names of the investors. He was at the Court Hearing the other day 9th July, 2007 and put the case forward for the clients/plot holders and the judge did take time out to look at the letters from people like myself (more than 200 letters) afterwards he decided to wind up United Land Holdings ..... BUT HE AWARDED THE INDIVIDUAL PLOT HOLDERS THEIR PLOT OF LAND.

Obviously this will take a lot of time to sort out but at least we will have something to show for our money and who knows maybe in time it could be worth a fair bit (I hope so).

Tony is looking for as many people to contact him as possible as the more people we have the cost will be reduced in getting the plots transferred from United Land Holdings into the names of the individual owners.

He has appointed a solicitor and the liquidator has agreed to use this person as a point of contact. If you contact Tony he will keep you updated with all that is now going on. He will be looking for a small contribution for all his work (£10 was the sum mentioned - NOTHING IN MY OPINION). He has been doing all the work off his own back and using his own money to contact everyone and also in going to court and appointing a solicitor so I think he deserves this and more.

I hope you do contact him and anyone else who has invested with this company should also do the same if they want to get anything back for their money.

Cheers, Lotty