INSOLVENCY SERVICE
News Release (Ins/Coms/14) issued by The Government News Network on
18 July 2007
Four companies
involved in selling plots of agricultural land to the public have
been wound up by the High Court following an investigation by
Companies Investigation Branch (CIB) of the Insolvency Service.
Agricultural land was acquired at sites at Lyneham and Melksham,
Wiltshire and Chicksands, Bedfordshire. The land was divided up by
grids at Melksham and Chicksands and sold in similar size plots,
whereas at Lyneham the plots were irregularly shaped. Altogether,
some 470 individuals invested in the scheme, in plots of land
being sold for an estimated £10,000 each.
CIB's investigation revealed serious concerns on the manner
of the companies operations. These included the marketing of the
land as a viable alternative to traditional forms of investment;
the holding out of Land Investment Association (LIA), a company
incorporated and run by individuals involved in United Land
Holdings (ULH), as the land investment's independent
watchdog; the editing of the West Wiltshire District Plan in
ULH's material, so as to create a misleading impression of
the opportunities for expansion in the Melksham area and the
marketing and sale of land prior to the acquisition of the freehold.
Mr Bartley Jones QC sitting as a deputy judge in the High Court
commented as follows: "Taking all these matters together it
is clear that the public have been duped into investing in land
that is presently of little value...There were fundamentally
dishonest misrepresentations made to investors... and with United
Land Holdings being used as a personal money box, there is not the
slightest doubt that it is in the public interest that these
companies are wound up so that one, they can no longer mistreat
the public, two to send a clear message to other companies that
such conduct is unacceptable; and three that their activities can
be thoroughly and properly investigated..."
Notes to editors
1. The registered office of United Land Holdings was 99
Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth; that of United Property Holdings
Landseer House, Moorside Point, Moorside Road, Winchester; and
that of United Land Association and Land Investment Association,
127 High Street, Wootton Bassett, Swindon.
2. The petitions to wind the companies up on 6 March 2006 were
presented under Section 124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 and
followed enquiries conducted under the provisions of s447 of the
Companies Act 1985. The Winding Up orders for United Land Holdings
(ULH) and United Land Acquisitions (ULA) were made on 9 July 2007
and for Land Investment Association(LIA) and United Property
Holdings (UPH) on 3 May 2006.
3. The land was marketed to investors through exhibition stands
at events like the Ideal Homes Exhibition and Gardeners World
Live. Last year a stand was closed at the Ideal Homes Exhibition
following the presentation of the petition.
4. The Insolvency Service carries out confidential enquiries on
behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and
Regulatory Reform through Companies Investigation Branch.
5. The Insolvency Service administers the insolvency regime
investigating all compulsory investigations and individual
insolvencies (bankruptcies) through the Official Receiver to
establish why they became insolvent. The Service also authorises
and regulates the insolvency profession; deals with
disqualification of directors in corporate failures; assesses and
pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employee
cannot or will not pay employees; provides banking and investment
services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds; and advises
ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.
6. All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company
should be made to the Official Receiver at: Public Interest Unit,
The Insolvency Service, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3SS.
Public Enquiries: 0207 637 1110.
7. Further information about the work of The Insolvency Service
is available from http://www.insolvency.gov.uk