Browse content similar to 24/02/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello from Nottingham Castle, where tonight we're asking, how does the | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
world of football deal with allegations of racism? | :00:00. | :00:14. | |
We investigate what is really happening on and off the pitch. | :00:15. | :00:18. | |
Football needs to be far more accountable now, and should want to | :00:19. | :00:21. | |
be far more accountable. Also tonight, remarkable archive | :00:22. | :00:24. | |
from the war at home. We uncover the real 0 | :00:25. | :00:25. | |
from the war at home. We uncover the real story of Nottingham boy pilot | :00:26. | :00:33. | |
Albert Ball. He was frightened of the adoration, of the people. He | :00:34. | :00:36. | |
didn't think he deserved it. He was doing what he thought was right. | :00:37. | :00:39. | |
And a warning that inheriting a retirement home could cost you | :00:40. | :00:41. | |
thousands. When it comes to racism, the world | :00:42. | :01:01. | |
of football has had its fair share of unwelcome headlines. The | :01:02. | :01:04. | |
footballing authorities are urging players at every level 0 | :01:05. | :01:05. | |
footballing authorities are urging players at every level who feel | :01:06. | :01:07. | |
they've been racially abused to come forward. Well, teenagers at two East | :01:08. | :01:14. | |
Midlands clubs did just that. So how were those claims dealt with? Sarah | :01:15. | :01:16. | |
Sturdey investigates. The Asian Football Awards at | :01:17. | :01:26. | |
Wembley. Their message, that race shouldn't be a barrier to success. | :01:27. | :01:35. | |
But beneath the glamour of the beautiful game, | :01:36. | :01:40. | |
at every level of football, just like the rest of society, prejudice | :01:41. | :01:44. | |
permeates. So what 0 like the rest of society, prejudice | :01:45. | :01:45. | |
permeates. So what happens when allegations of racism are made? To | :01:46. | :01:51. | |
go against someone just because of the colour of their skin is wrong. | :01:52. | :01:55. | |
To happen in football, when you try to have a game, it is not right. | :01:56. | :01:59. | |
Adding what happened at Notts County is a bit of a wake`up call. | :02:00. | :02:02. | |
Leicester Nirvana Under 16s in training. The club campaigns against | :02:03. | :02:07. | |
discrimination. It's even received a visit from the American civil rights | :02:08. | :02:12. | |
leader Jesse Jackson. But their under 15 away game last season, just | :02:13. | :02:15. | |
outside Leicester, descended into chaos with chanting. Riley John was | :02:16. | :02:25. | |
playing for Nirvana. It upset me and angered me that I cannot just come | :02:26. | :02:31. | |
out and have a game of football without being racially abused from | :02:32. | :02:36. | |
spectators as well. Just upsetting. It 0 | :02:37. | :02:36. | |
spectators as well. Just upsetting. It was generally the monkey chance, | :02:37. | :02:40. | |
coming at me, it was getting out of hand. No one should suffer it hit, | :02:41. | :02:45. | |
especially the teenager trying to play a game. The referee didn't | :02:46. | :02:49. | |
report it to the county FA. Riley's dad was so shocked at what happened, | :02:50. | :02:58. | |
he reported it to the police. At the time, the kids were only 14. It was | :02:59. | :03:02. | |
really out of order. And the nature of how it all ended, it was | :03:03. | :03:05. | |
disgusting, really. A 50`year`old Blaby and Whetstone spectator | :03:06. | :03:08. | |
admitted in court invading the pitch and using threatening words. He | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
received a 12 month conditional discharge. There was insufficient | :03:13. | :03:14. | |
evidence on 0 discharge. There was insufficient | :03:15. | :03:15. | |
evidence on any racial elements. It was then left to the County | :03:16. | :03:23. | |
Association, football's local governing body, to deal with it. | :03:24. | :03:28. | |
After almost a year a decision was reached. The county FA ruled that | :03:29. | :03:38. | |
offensive, racist language had been used in the home club failed to keep | :03:39. | :03:41. | |
its supporters in order and off the pitch. The finds for those offences, | :03:42. | :03:47. | |
?100. `` the fine. Nirvana's club chairman is Kirk Master. They were | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
left wondering whether it had been worth speaking out. There was a lot | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
of disappointment, there was a lot of, well, that was not worthwhile | :03:58. | :04:02. | |
and I would never go to that experienced again. That makes it | :04:03. | :04:05. | |
difficult. The County FA say the ?100 fine was the maximum they could | :04:06. | :04:08. | |
impose under national guidelines. But the FA nationally said there is | :04:09. | :04:14. | |
no maximum for that type of offence. They say they take discrimination | :04:15. | :04:17. | |
very seriously and since August last year they now have local expert | :04:18. | :04:20. | |
anti`discrimination panels and clear reasons for outcomes will be | :04:21. | :04:33. | |
available to the public. It has taken 20 0 | :04:34. | :04:33. | |
available to the public. It has taken 20 years to get a point where | :04:34. | :04:36. | |
you feel but if you make a complaint, it is to be investigated. | :04:37. | :04:39. | |
Lord Herman Ousley campaigns for race equality and against | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
discrimination in football. What does he think of the fine? Pathetic. | :04:44. | :04:53. | |
Absolutely pathetic. If we don't get it right, people will self organise, | :04:54. | :04:57. | |
and quit the leagues 0 it right, people will self organise, | :04:58. | :05:00. | |
and quit the leagues and the associations. Former only and do | :05:01. | :05:03. | |
their own thing and that will take us back to the dark ages which is no | :05:04. | :05:07. | |
one wants. `` Babel for their own leagues and do their own thing. What | :05:08. | :05:13. | |
happens if allegations are made within a professional club? It | :05:14. | :05:16. | |
happened here at Notts County youth academy. One of Lord Ousley's Kick | :05:17. | :05:20. | |
It Out team visited County. The charity's confirmed that, after | :05:21. | :05:22. | |
their visit in the spring of last year, a number of teenage boys came | :05:23. | :05:26. | |
forward. They complained to a member of 0 | :05:27. | :05:26. | |
forward. They complained to a member of staff about the way they were | :05:27. | :05:30. | |
being treated by two coaches. The club took statements from the boys. | :05:31. | :05:40. | |
In one incident, it is claimed a coach through a banana with a swear | :05:41. | :05:44. | |
word written on it at a boy who was black. It is also alleged that | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
another coach switched out the lights in a changing room, and | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
referring to the boys who were black, told them to swell so he | :05:53. | :05:57. | |
could see them. The two coaches were being `` told them to smile so he | :05:58. | :06:02. | |
could see them. But the two coaches were also accused of bullying. | :06:03. | :06:05. | |
Hannah Dingley has the highest level professional coaching qualification, | :06:06. | :06:07. | |
the UEFA A licence. She trains Nirvana Under 16s in her spare time. | :06:08. | :06:12. | |
Her first job was at Notts County. She worked with the coach involved | :06:13. | :06:15. | |
in the light switch allegation and felt his methods were very different | :06:16. | :06:25. | |
from hers. Almost dictatorial, very aggressive manner. I think my | :06:26. | :06:28. | |
coaching philosophy was very different in terms of, more focused | :06:29. | :06:33. | |
on the holistic development of the child, making sure that they are | :06:34. | :06:36. | |
comfortable in the environment. Enough to be able to communicate | :06:37. | :06:40. | |
freely with each other and staff. John Elliott knows some of the boys | :06:41. | :06:44. | |
involved. One of them asked Mr Elliott to sit with him at a club | :06:45. | :06:48. | |
hearing. But Mr Elliott says he was told it was for the coaches' | :06:49. | :06:53. | |
disciplinary hearing. The boys were very brave. They came forward. What | :06:54. | :06:57. | |
I found when I went into the meeting, it shocked me. It was a | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
very intimidating atmosphere. Within the hearing, these boys were asked | :07:03. | :07:08. | |
to sit next to the chief executive, facing the accused, surrounded by | :07:09. | :07:12. | |
eight people. And questions were fired at them. It has to be fair. | :07:13. | :07:21. | |
And just. For both parties. What I saw did not resemble a fair and just | :07:22. | :07:25. | |
hearing. Mr Elliott says one parent with his teenage son was asked to | :07:26. | :07:29. | |
leave the hearing because one of the coaches felt intimidated. So was | :07:30. | :07:35. | |
this dealt with properly? Speaking for the first time since the | :07:36. | :07:38. | |
allegations were made, Nottingham City Council say the club should | :07:39. | :07:39. | |
have alerted 0 City Council say the club should | :07:40. | :07:47. | |
have alerted them straightaway. I think for the boys to be put in any | :07:48. | :07:54. | |
form, or even informal environment, where they are facing the alleged | :07:55. | :07:57. | |
perpetrators, that is totally inappropriate. What should have | :07:58. | :08:01. | |
happened? Those boys should have been spoken to and that is a role, | :08:02. | :08:06. | |
if we had been involved as a local authority 0 | :08:07. | :08:06. | |
if we had been involved as a local authority soon, that would have been | :08:07. | :08:11. | |
social workers and well`trained pre`dash`macro police officers, they | :08:12. | :08:14. | |
would talk to the boys to get their statement, understand what happened | :08:15. | :08:20. | |
to them and make sure that evidence was put to the alleged perpetrators. | :08:21. | :08:23. | |
Instead last summer the two coaches resigned. Notts County announced | :08:24. | :08:27. | |
they'd gone, thanked them for their service and wished them every | :08:28. | :08:33. | |
success for the future. Within the game, 0 | :08:34. | :08:33. | |
success for the future. Within the game, the Professional Footballer's | :08:34. | :08:35. | |
Association said it was happy with the way the club handled it. The | :08:36. | :08:41. | |
club didn't want to be interviewed but said in a statement they were | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
happy the correct procedures were followed and they wanted all | :08:46. | :08:46. | |
employees 0 followed and they wanted all | :08:47. | :08:46. | |
employees to feel 0 followed and they wanted all | :08:47. | :08:48. | |
employees to feel free from any form of discrimination or abuse. | :08:49. | :08:52. | |
Nottinghamshire police have also told us the club should have | :08:53. | :08:55. | |
reported the allegations to them straightaway, as they needed | :08:56. | :09:00. | |
investigating. Instead, they were informed several weeks later by | :09:01. | :09:04. | |
another organisation. The Crown Prosecution Service said there was | :09:05. | :09:14. | |
insufficient evidence to prosecute. The club have improved their | :09:15. | :09:17. | |
procedures, and we have confidence that should this be happening now, | :09:18. | :09:20. | |
they would know what to do. Seven months after the allegations were | :09:21. | :09:23. | |
made the boys involved received a letter from the FA to get in touch. | :09:24. | :09:27. | |
One parent told me they were fuming, not 0 | :09:28. | :09:27. | |
One parent told me they were fuming, not just because it had taken so | :09:28. | :09:31. | |
long, but the letter was sent via the club. The parent tore up the | :09:32. | :09:40. | |
letter in disgust. Would you like to know where those two coaches are | :09:41. | :09:45. | |
now? I think everyone who knows about this case and knows that it | :09:46. | :09:48. | |
had an unsatisfactory outcome, because it was not concluded, would | :09:49. | :09:52. | |
like to know where they are now, whether they are still working in | :09:53. | :09:54. | |
football, 0 whether they are still working in | :09:55. | :09:55. | |
football, with a clean bill of health. We've tracked down one of | :09:56. | :09:58. | |
the coaches involved in the banana allegation. He's working in Canada | :09:59. | :10:02. | |
as a regional academy coach. He denies being racist. His employers | :10:03. | :10:06. | |
say they're aware of the past allegation, the case was thoroughly | :10:07. | :10:12. | |
investigated and was unfounded. Almost a year on, the FA have told | :10:13. | :10:15. | |
us they're still investigating what happened. The council's working with | :10:16. | :10:18. | |
them. Despite several 0 happened. The council's working with | :10:19. | :10:21. | |
them. Despite several attempts, we've been unable to contact the | :10:22. | :10:24. | |
other coach involved in the light switch allegation. I think football | :10:25. | :10:33. | |
is still in a bubble, and people are not dealt with in 0 | :10:34. | :10:34. | |
is still in a bubble, and people are not dealt with in the same way as | :10:35. | :10:38. | |
they would be if I was working for the university, the council or any | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
other organisation. There is a lot at stake for these young people, | :10:43. | :10:46. | |
this is potentially their chance. Blowing the whistle and speaking out | :10:47. | :10:52. | |
can be especially difficult. I would press that young people themselves, | :10:53. | :10:55. | |
their families or other staff working in these clubs must come | :10:56. | :11:03. | |
forward to us. Kirk Master was inundated with calls from other | :11:04. | :11:06. | |
amateur clubs after the Nirvana case and things are changing. Hopefully | :11:07. | :11:09. | |
with some of the work we are doing behind the scenes, it will start to | :11:10. | :11:12. | |
give some of these clubs and individuals a bit more confidence to | :11:13. | :11:14. | |
go about their business without feeling threatened, intimidated and | :11:15. | :11:16. | |
possibly at risk of being abused. This is just one of the many | :11:17. | :11:27. | |
memorials around here to World War One flying ace Albert Ball. The boy | :11:28. | :11:31. | |
pilot from Nottingham shot down 45 German planes before he died in 1917 | :11:32. | :11:35. | |
and was awarded a posthumous VC for his bravery. To help launch the BBC | :11:36. | :11:41. | |
series World War One at Home, Tony Roe has been digging through the | :11:42. | :11:44. | |
archives and discovered one of Britain's most famous war heroes was | :11:45. | :11:47. | |
actually a very private man who shunned his celebrity status. | :11:48. | :11:58. | |
Yesterday I shut down to in one flight. He was frightened of the | :11:59. | :12:09. | |
adoration, he did not think he deserved it. He was doing what he | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
thought was right. I admire him for his sheer courage. You emphasise the | :12:15. | :12:22. | |
heroism, the necessity, the moral goodness of what was going and you | :12:23. | :12:26. | |
create heroes at people as well, to encourage young people to continue | :12:27. | :12:29. | |
to invest. Albert Ball was 18 when war came in 1914. Britain wasn't | :12:30. | :12:38. | |
prepared. New recruits were needed urgently. Propaganda kicked in. The | :12:39. | :12:43. | |
Government and the newspapers portrayed the war as a just war. In | :12:44. | :12:47. | |
other words, it was sold, if you like, in a moral way. People were | :12:48. | :12:51. | |
told that Germany was capable... Or German soldiers were capable of | :12:52. | :12:53. | |
horrendous acts of evil towards Belgians in particular. At school, | :12:54. | :13:00. | |
patriotism had been drilled into Albert Ball and his peers. "England | :13:01. | :13:09. | |
expects every man will do his duty." Albert's land dealer and councillor | :13:10. | :13:12. | |
father, also called Albert, had sent him to Nottingham 0 | :13:13. | :13:13. | |
father, also called Albert, had sent him to Nottingham High 0 | :13:14. | :13:13. | |
father, also called Albert, had sent him to Nottingham High School. Here, | :13:14. | :13:15. | |
he was taught how to shoot. In the Nottinghamshire archive are | :13:16. | :13:27. | |
Albert's letters home. For he was soon sent away to school. At first, | :13:28. | :13:33. | |
to Grantham. He really loved his mother, but his father was the one | :13:34. | :13:38. | |
he most desired to please. Another school move. A boarder at Trent | :13:39. | :13:39. | |
College in Long 0 school move. A boarder at Trent | :13:40. | :13:41. | |
College in Long Eaton with his younger brother, Cyril. A school | :13:42. | :13:49. | |
which fired an engineering ambition. I should like to have a chance to | :13:50. | :13:53. | |
work my way up from the bottom and try to get to 0 | :13:54. | :13:54. | |
work my way up from the bottom and try to get to the top. Ambitions for | :13:55. | :13:56. | |
Albert and his generation were halted by war. | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
He joined the Sherwood Foresters but wanted to fly. He had the means to | :14:02. | :14:07. | |
take lessons. Flying would get him to 0 0 | :14:08. | :14:08. | |
take lessons. Flying would get him to the fight quicker. I had a | :14:09. | :14:15. | |
ripping flight this morning, but had a very near shave to a smash. | :14:16. | :14:21. | |
At last, we are in for the sport and really 0 0 | :14:22. | :14:21. | |
At last, we are in for the sport and really look like having plenty of | :14:22. | :14:23. | |
it. There was bravado in his letters | :14:24. | :14:32. | |
home but Albert was a solitary figure at the front. He didn't join | :14:33. | :14:42. | |
in the rough and tumble in the mess later on, or participate in heavy | :14:43. | :14:46. | |
drinking sessions. He was, in all effect, a loner, probably slightly | :14:47. | :14:49. | |
introverted. Except when it came to girls, 0 0 | :14:50. | :14:49. | |
introverted. Except when it came to girls, which he seemed to attract | :14:50. | :14:54. | |
easily. Today Albert Ball holds a fascination for those who followed | :14:55. | :14:58. | |
him in the skies. At the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, you see how | :14:59. | :15:02. | |
flimsy those early planes were. Flying 0 | :15:03. | :15:02. | |
flimsy those early planes were. Flying was new. And they had to | :15:03. | :15:06. | |
teach themselves to fight. Albert Ball didn't even wear a helmet or | :15:07. | :15:12. | |
goggles. It's the guts that he had to do it. And people in those years, | :15:13. | :15:14. | |
they had a lot more guts 0 to do it. And people in those years, | :15:15. | :15:17. | |
they had a lot more guts to do those things ` they were fighting for king | :15:18. | :15:24. | |
and country. A great many Huns have been done in | :15:25. | :15:28. | |
yesterday. One was brought down. Pilot and observer were killed. I | :15:29. | :15:35. | |
dived at him and put 120 shots into the machine, after which he turned | :15:36. | :15:43. | |
over and was completely done in. You had 0 | :15:44. | :15:43. | |
over and was completely done in. You had a special device that you could | :15:44. | :15:46. | |
actually pull the machine gun down and one of Albert's favourite things | :15:47. | :15:49. | |
was to fly underneath another aircraft and be able to shoot it | :15:50. | :15:55. | |
down from underneath. Maybe they thought that they were invincible, I | :15:56. | :15:56. | |
don't know. 0 thought that they were invincible, I | :15:57. | :15:58. | |
don't know. But the losses were horrendous. The Royal Flying Corps | :15:59. | :16:01. | |
losses were absolutely horrendous, but to go to war in one of those... | :16:02. | :16:06. | |
A great deal of heroism, in my view. Heroes were needed at home. Germany | :16:07. | :16:09. | |
had the Red Baron. Britain had Albert Ball. It was 1916. Losses in | :16:10. | :16:17. | |
the trenches were severe. Him being a pilot was important, because it | :16:18. | :16:20. | |
attracted attention away from the battlefields, where so many men were | :16:21. | :16:24. | |
lost. So there was a romantic element to that, too. After only a | :16:25. | :16:29. | |
month of combat, Albert Ball won a Military Cross as the kills mounted. | :16:30. | :16:35. | |
The DSO followed. In six months Ball had downed 30 enemy aircraft. They | :16:36. | :16:42. | |
did keep a close eye on their personal score. They wanted to know | :16:43. | :16:46. | |
what they'd got. Ball knew that the top Allied pilot was a Frenchman, | :16:47. | :16:49. | |
Guynemer. And he wanted to get the same number or more than Guynemer | :16:50. | :16:51. | |
and then 0 same number or more than Guynemer | :16:52. | :16:57. | |
and then retire. But there was clearly reluctance from Ball to his | :16:58. | :17:01. | |
new status at home. I like doing things. But I don't like big songs. | :17:02. | :17:04. | |
If they wish to 0 things. But I don't like big songs. | :17:05. | :17:06. | |
If they wish to say I have downed five machines and a balloon, all | :17:07. | :17:10. | |
well and good. But nothing else must be put in. | :17:11. | :17:15. | |
Ball was brought home to train the next batch of pilots. At home he was | :17:16. | :17:19. | |
feted and honoured again, here a Freeman 0 | :17:20. | :17:19. | |
feted and honoured again, here a Freeman of 0 | :17:20. | :17:19. | |
feted and honoured again, here a Freeman of Nottingham. His father | :17:20. | :17:26. | |
once again behind him. He couldn't step out of his front door or on to | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
the High Street without people coming up to shake his hand and | :17:31. | :17:34. | |
greet him and so on. It made his private life pretty unbearable for | :17:35. | :17:40. | |
him. Ball wanted to escape back to the action. He sought the help of | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
powerful people. I had breakfast with Lloyd George | :17:47. | :17:49. | |
and his daughter yesterday. It was very nice. I am seeing Lord | :17:50. | :17:54. | |
Northcliffe re getting out again. I do hope it can be arranged. | :17:55. | :17:58. | |
Northcliffe, the press baron, was also a propaganda minister. Ball got | :17:59. | :18:05. | |
his wish. All it indicates to me is his importance. Yes, because all of | :18:06. | :18:09. | |
these men were tremendously influential. Obviously, Northcliffe | :18:10. | :18:12. | |
had the ear of the Prime Minister at the time. So I can only glean from | :18:13. | :18:16. | |
that that Albert Ball was a tremendously significant person of | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
the age. Am about to start the great game | :18:21. | :18:24. | |
again. Oh, how nice it will be and I will try so hard to be a credit to | :18:25. | :18:28. | |
you. Ball found the 0 | :18:29. | :18:29. | |
you. Ball found the fight 0 | :18:30. | :18:29. | |
you. Ball found the fight harder. | :18:30. | :18:35. | |
Exhausting. But he did not let up. Have flown all day and must sit down | :18:36. | :18:39. | |
and write letters. It cannot be done, for I simply must sleep. Must | :18:40. | :18:42. | |
sleep. A month after his return to France, | :18:43. | :18:51. | |
Ball was dead at this spot. A lot of pilots that flew with Ball knew that | :18:52. | :18:54. | |
the end would be coming soon enough, because he was pushing himself to | :18:55. | :18:58. | |
the limit. His plane came out of low cloud upside down, no engine | :18:59. | :19:06. | |
running. It smashed into the ground. The Red Baron's brother, Lothar Von | :19:07. | :19:10. | |
Richtoven, claimed the kill. But that was more than likely | :19:11. | :19:14. | |
propaganda. There were no signs on Ball or his plane that he'd been | :19:15. | :19:20. | |
shot down. He was at the time, I would say, the best that we had. | :19:21. | :19:24. | |
Therefore, it makes it all the more disastrous when he's 0 | :19:25. | :19:25. | |
Therefore, it makes it all the more disastrous when he's killed. In | :19:26. | :19:31. | |
death, Albert Ball was awarded the Victoria Cross, which sits with his | :19:32. | :19:34. | |
other medals in a cabinet at Nottingham Castle, alongside some of | :19:35. | :19:37. | |
the souvenirs Ball had sent home to his father. In death, he continues | :19:38. | :19:45. | |
to be celebrated. A statue at the Castle was his father's idea. Public | :19:46. | :19:48. | |
fundraising was a struggle but it was finally unveiled in 1921. Sir | :19:49. | :19:56. | |
Albert Ball had pride of place in front of a huge crowd. His son was | :19:57. | :20:03. | |
buried not far from the crash site in a cemetery with German war dead. | :20:04. | :20:09. | |
Ball was a hero. I mean, I think he'll always be remembered because | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
he was a young lad who put everything he had into what he did. | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
It was a game. But it was a deadly game. Albert Ball is 0 | :20:18. | :20:19. | |
It was a game. But it was a deadly game. Albert Ball is remembered in | :20:20. | :20:22. | |
France and on memorials at home. He left behind a diary which could | :20:23. | :20:26. | |
explain why he decided to go back to fight. But that, it seems, has been | :20:27. | :20:33. | |
destroyed. I feel so sorry for the chaps I have | :20:34. | :20:38. | |
killed. Just imagine what their poor people must feel like. I must have | :20:39. | :20:42. | |
sent at least 40 chaps to their death. | :20:43. | :20:50. | |
The BBC's World War One at Home site has more incredible stories about | :20:51. | :20:55. | |
what happened here in the East Midlands, the UK and Ireland. | :20:56. | :21:06. | |
As people get older, many like to simplify life and move into a | :21:07. | :21:11. | |
retirement home, where things like repairs and gardening are all taken | :21:12. | :21:13. | |
care of. 0 0 repairs and gardening are all taken | :21:14. | :21:17. | |
care of. But if you inherit one of these properties, it could turn out | :21:18. | :21:20. | |
to be an expensive liability, as David Whiteley discovered. Many | :21:21. | :21:28. | |
people reach a time in life when they want to move to a smaller home. | :21:29. | :21:32. | |
Retirement homes are sold as being the perfect place for older people | :21:33. | :21:37. | |
to live. You have to be over 55 to live in them and no worries about | :21:38. | :21:40. | |
maintenance or looking after the garden. But those services come at a | :21:41. | :21:46. | |
price. And when the time comes to sell the home, some people are | :21:47. | :21:49. | |
finding themselves tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket. Ann and | :21:50. | :21:53. | |
Mike Johnson live in Apethorpe in Northamptonshire. Ann's mother lived | :21:54. | :21:57. | |
in a retirement home in nearby Rutland. Two years ago, her mother | :21:58. | :22:02. | |
died and left the property to them. They expected to sell it for | :22:03. | :22:05. | |
?125,000, but despite dropping the price by ?13,000 it hasn't sold and | :22:06. | :22:09. | |
they are paying ?3,000 a year in fees. I expected from way back, | :22:10. | :22:18. | |
shall we say, that it would just come to us and it would sell and | :22:19. | :22:22. | |
then we would have some money to enjoy from it. 0 | :22:23. | :22:28. | |
then we would have some money to enjoy from it. It was just at the | :22:29. | :22:31. | |
time when the property market was beginning to drop. Everyone was | :22:32. | :22:37. | |
having problems selling. But if you add to that the fact that it was an | :22:38. | :22:41. | |
over`55s site and it was leasehold, then it wasn't necessarily the most | :22:42. | :22:51. | |
popular buy. Like most retirement properties, the Johnsons' bungalow | :22:52. | :22:54. | |
is leasehold. That means that someone else, usually the developer, | :22:55. | :22:57. | |
owns the land and can charge for annual rent and maintenance, and the | :22:58. | :23:04. | |
property is on a fixed`term lease. It hasn't been a problem to deal | :23:05. | :23:08. | |
with, it's been... Apart from haemorrhaging money ` that was the | :23:09. | :23:14. | |
problem, really. Changes designed to bring empty | :23:15. | :23:17. | |
homes back into use have caught out people 0 | :23:18. | :23:18. | |
homes back into use have caught out people in Ann and Mike's situation. | :23:19. | :23:21. | |
The Government has changed the rules allowing councils to charge a higher | :23:22. | :23:25. | |
council tax ` up to 150% of the standard charge when a home has been | :23:26. | :23:30. | |
empty for two years. So the Johnsons are faced with an 0 | :23:31. | :23:31. | |
empty for two years. So the Johnsons are faced with an annual council tax | :23:32. | :23:34. | |
bill of ?1,800 for an empty house they can't sell. | :23:35. | :23:41. | |
Glenda Kerruish's mother died six years ago. Her house has been on the | :23:42. | :23:49. | |
market ever since. We pay out probably 5,000 a year. That's on | :23:50. | :23:56. | |
maintenance charges, council tax... You know, it's been six years and | :23:57. | :24:00. | |
perhaps over ?30,000 and I can't keep doing it, no. It's been | :24:01. | :24:07. | |
extremely stressful and emotional, particularly for my wife after her | :24:08. | :24:12. | |
mother died. The last thing you want is for something like this to | :24:13. | :24:15. | |
happen. We really thought... It's such a lovely house that we really | :24:16. | :24:19. | |
thought it would move very quickly, and it hasn't. It was originally on | :24:20. | :24:25. | |
the market 0 and it hasn't. It was originally on | :24:26. | :24:26. | |
the market for ?400,000. They dropped the price to ?250,000 last | :24:27. | :24:30. | |
autumn and are still waiting to sell it. | :24:31. | :24:35. | |
So are the Kerruishes and the Johnsons just unlucky? According to | :24:36. | :24:40. | |
the official figures, in the last year, in the general housing market, | :24:41. | :24:44. | |
prices have gone up. While in the retired housing market, prices have | :24:45. | :24:45. | |
gone down. The biggest challenge is that it is | :24:46. | :24:55. | |
the 55 and overs market, so you're ruling out quite a big sector of the | :24:56. | :25:00. | |
market there. You're only going at a small age group. Recently, | :25:01. | :25:02. | |
one`bedroom retirement flats that we've sold in and around the area at | :25:03. | :25:06. | |
about ?85,000 were purchased new at around 0 | :25:07. | :25:06. | |
about ?85,000 were purchased new at around about ?110,000, and that | :25:07. | :25:09. | |
would probably be about six years ago. Slightly larger, two`bedroom | :25:10. | :25:17. | |
ones in the same development, which we're now selling at around | :25:18. | :25:19. | |
95,000`100,000, probably would have been purchased new at that time for | :25:20. | :25:28. | |
about 125,000. Age UK offer advice about retirement housing, and | :25:29. | :25:31. | |
suggest that people take time and advice to understand what they are | :25:32. | :25:37. | |
buying before making a decision. It's so important that you look at | :25:38. | :25:41. | |
the lease, because it's very hard to extract yourself from the lease once | :25:42. | :25:45. | |
you've signed up to it. So that's why it's important that anybody | :25:46. | :25:47. | |
thinking about retirement property and then looking ahead and thinking | :25:48. | :25:50. | |
about their family inheriting that property, that they do look at all | :25:51. | :25:53. | |
those clauses that might affect their ability to do that, to pass | :25:54. | :25:57. | |
that property on or to sell it later on down the line. Is there a better | :25:58. | :26:04. | |
way of doing this? Yes, one approach that they have in American is the | :26:05. | :26:07. | |
commonhold system, the condo system, condominium. That means that people | :26:08. | :26:11. | |
actually own a share of the freehold, so you don't actually have | :26:12. | :26:13. | |
a lease. In fact, the 0 freehold, so you don't actually have | :26:14. | :26:15. | |
a lease. In fact, the lease system is something that's very unique to | :26:16. | :26:18. | |
this country. And, of course, if you have a lease, it has a diminishing | :26:19. | :26:22. | |
value. I think, unfortunately, in this country, there are so many | :26:23. | :26:25. | |
vested interests in keeping it as it is, that it's very difficult to have | :26:26. | :26:27. | |
that 0 is, that it's very difficult to have | :26:28. | :26:29. | |
that system. We contacted the managing companies for both | :26:30. | :26:32. | |
properties. The managers of the Kerruish's property at Belton House | :26:33. | :26:35. | |
did not respond, but the Johnsons' landlords, Barchester health care, | :26:36. | :26:41. | |
told us... "These properties are not investment opportunities. People buy | :26:42. | :26:44. | |
the properties to have the support of the care home but maintain their | :26:45. | :26:48. | |
independence. It is the duty of the solicitor to make any potential | :26:49. | :26:51. | |
buyer aware of the terms of the lease." Meanwhile, the property | :26:52. | :26:59. | |
market may be picking up. In the last two or three months, the | :27:00. | :27:02. | |
general property market has picked up quite a lot, both here and in | :27:03. | :27:06. | |
other areas. Suddenly, we've found people are ringing and saying, | :27:07. | :27:07. | |
"Right, I'm 0 people are ringing and saying, | :27:08. | :27:09. | |
"Right, I'm ready to go ahead, I want to buy this," and now the | :27:10. | :27:12. | |
majority of our retirement properties have all been sold. And | :27:13. | :27:16. | |
the Johnsons have found a temporary solution for their property. We've | :27:17. | :27:21. | |
managed to rent it and the income from the rent will more than cover | :27:22. | :27:25. | |
our costs and we'll have a little bit extra to save up so that next | :27:26. | :27:29. | |
time we want to sell it, we'll have something behind us so that we | :27:30. | :27:37. | |
can... If it takes a while to sell, we won't have to worry so much. So | :27:38. | :27:42. | |
is it a good idea to buy these retirement homes? The experience | :27:43. | :27:45. | |
we've had is that my mother`in`law absolutely loved being there and | :27:46. | :27:49. | |
there was never a question at the time she lived there of there being | :27:50. | :27:54. | |
a possible problem later. It never crossed our minds. Knowing what we | :27:55. | :27:58. | |
know now, I think our advice would be, quite clearly, think very, very | :27:59. | :28:00. | |
carefully about 0 be, quite clearly, think very, very | :28:01. | :28:01. | |
carefully about buying a property such as this, with the restrictions, | :28:02. | :28:09. | |
the age restrictions, as they are. And don't buy it unless you're happy | :28:10. | :28:12. | |
that you can finance it being empty for many years before selling. | :28:13. | :28:23. | |
And that's it from us for this week. If you have a story you think we | :28:24. | :28:29. | |
should be reporting, then drop me a line. | :28:30. | :28:35. | |
Next week, controversy in the countryside ` should 4x4s and trail | :28:36. | :28:40. | |
bikes be banned from country tracks? It just makes it impossible to use | :28:41. | :28:43. | |
and enjoy places that walkers and riders have gone for generations. | :28:44. | :29:07. | |
Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your 90 second update. Two women and four | :29:08. | :29:12. | |
dogs have been found shot dead at a house in Farnham. An 82-year-old dog | :29:13. | :29:15. | |
breeder has been arrested on suspicion of murder. He's been named | :29:16. | :29:20. | |
locally as John Lowe. Dave Lee Travis is to face a | :29:21. | :29:23. | |
re-trial over two charges of indecent assault and sexual assault. | :29:24. | :29:26. | |
The former Radio One DJ was cleared of 12 other offences earlier this | :29:27. | :29:29. | |
month. He said his "nightmare goes on". | :29:30. | :29:33. | |
They call it a living hell. These are the faces of men, women and | :29:34. | :29:36. | |
children desperate for food. More than 20,000 are trapped in a | :29:37. | :29:39. | |
bombed-out area in Syria. Just 60 packets of food made it in today. | :29:40. | :29:45. | |
We've a special report at Ten. Just where is Ukraine's former | :29:46. | :29:48. | |
President? He's on the run after the crisis there. An arrest warrant's | :29:49. | :29:50. | |
out for Viktor Yanukovych. He's wanted for mass murder. | :29:51. | :29:55. | |
Was he just too British for American tastes? CNN is axing Piers Morgan's | :29:56. | :29:58. | |
primetime chat show. The programme | :29:59. | :29:59. |