1. home and garden

CEMETERY
FAQs
www.bluebellland.co.uk
CEMETERY
GENERAL
Where is the site located
Watercrofts Woods, Old London Road, TN14 7AE
Who is the developer/Land Owner?
Who is operating the Cemetery?
Bluebell Cemetery Ltd
What are the ongoing maintenance charges?
No on-going maintenance charges. The operator is
responsible for upkeep of the estate.
Bluebell Cemetery Property Ltd
How many plots are available in total?
RESERVATION AND BUYING PROCESS
The initial phase one release is 2,000 plots. The total
number of plots on site is 10,000.
How do I reserve a plot?
Yes. All plots are sold freehold with clean title. All plots
are registered with land registry.
You should log onto www.bluebellland.co.uk and
complete the online e-signature application form.
Or you can download and complete and sign and
scan to [email protected]
Is there planning permission in place?
What is the legal process?
Are the plots freehold.
Yes. All planning permissions have been granted
on this site.
What is the purchase price?
£5450 per plot
Do I get a discount?
Yes. 20% of current market value (RICS value) until
completion. Upon Completion and opening of the
Cemetery the discount will reduce to 5%.
Can I see a copy of the valuation?
Yes this is available online at www.bluebellland.co.uk
When is completion?
Site clearing and construction will start in April 2015 with
the Cemetery being open for business April 2016.
What security is in place to make sure Bluebell
build the site?
There is a long stop completion date in place of May
2017. Should the site not be legally completed and a
functional and operational cemetery by this stage the
contract becomes invalid and purchasers can expect
the return of their monies in full.
How do I know Bluebell have the financial adequacy
and are motivated to complete the estate?
The build costs of the estate office and chapel are
estimated at £500,000. The total value of the plots in
phase one is over £10m. Once the estate is completed
the remaining plots will be sold at only 5% below market
value and this doesn’t factor in any growth in value
between exchange and completion.
The land was purchased with-out debt and the
development company and land itself are free of any
debt other legal charges.
Once you have reserved your plot you will require
to engage a solicitor to assist with the acquisition.
We have engaged with Osbornes Solicitors (Details can
be found on page 16 on the Offer Document)to provide
you with conveyancing services. You can of course
appoint your own solicitor.
What deposit will I require?
On exchange of contracts you will require a 90%
deposit with the remaining 10% payable on
Completion (April 2016)
When is legal title registered?
Title is registered in your name at Land Registry on
Completion (estimated April 2016)
What are the legal fees for purchasing?
Osbornes has a fixed fee of £250 plus vat (per plot.)
AFTER EXCHANGE
What Information do I receive once I have exchange
contracts?
Osbornes (or your preferred solicitor) will confirm the
exchange of contracts
Will I receive anything from Bluebell?
Yes we will send a welcome letter with confirmation of
useful contact details.
We will also send a regular quarterly construction update
and any market news that may be relevant.
CEMETERY
Could I sell my plot on prior to completion?
How do I sell the freehold site?
Yes you could assign the contract on to another buyer at
any time after completion. However you should note that
there will still be plots available on the market at the price
that you have paid. co.uk. If listing on the website you
will be guided to an extent by what other plots are selling
and leasing for.
If a family opts for a freehold purchase then an initial one
year lease will be entered into which can be transacted
immediately, which can be converted into freehold at
any time. This will likely take place after the burial. This will
be transacted online and payment made in full for the
freehold. Post burial the family will be notified of the need
to engage a solicitor to finalise the sale.
How will I do know when the site has legally completed?
The developer solicitor will engage with your solicitor to
confirm completion and the remainder of the funds will
be required.
How do I determine the price?
LEASING OR SELLING THE FREEHOLD
How can I sell my plot?
Should you opt to exit via Cemetery Reservations then
you will be guided by what other plots are selling for. It
does however make sense for plot owners to maintain
pricing levels.
You are free to sell it on at any time. You can do this
yourself or via an independently operated online
reservations platform www.cemeteryreservations.co.uk
How long would it take to lease/sell?
If wish to sell it on myself how would I achieve this?
Similarly to owning a buy to let property you can engage
with local agents (funeral directors) and let them know
your plot is available and communicate directly with the
family wishing to reserve a plot.
Funeral directors will put the family in touch with the
cemetery. In this instance they will put in touch directly
to finalise reservation and arrangements. This can be for
either a lease or freehold sale.
How does Cemetery Reservations Online work?
This is a listing platform that provides families with a map
of the estate and the available plots for reservation and
will communicate plot owners with buyers.
Families will be given access to the website to choose a
plot online.
It would be logical for any freehold price for sale to be
higher than leasing (EROB). However If you sell your plot
yourself this can be at a price determined by you.
If you consider a total of 10,000 plots and an annual target
of 1900 burials technically the site will be full within 6 years.
If all the plots are available at the same time would this
create downwards pressure on pricing?
Yes and conversely if supply is limited then the opposite
would occur and you would get upwards pressure on
price.
One of the selling points of Bluebell is the fact that it is a
woodland burial site and that the plots are available with
freehold title. Demand will remain so long as mortality
occurs locally.
What if more woodland burial sites come on to the market?
This is charged at 7.5% (a vat) of any price achieved
This would create more supply but with planning so
difficult to obtain and the already huge shortage in
supply we don’t feel this would affect pricing over the
long term.
How will the reservation process work?
Would different plots attract different prices?
How much does this cost?
Once a plot is chosen the family will be given a choice
of either a 50 year lease (EROB) or buying the freehold
outright.
If a lease is chosen then the EROB can be completed
online by the family and payment is facilitated.
What happens at the end of the lease?
Normal operating procedures are that the owners are
given an option to re-new.
Should they not renew then you are free to re-lease in
which case the plot is dug double depth
If you wish to gain vacant possession then it is unclear
from research and legally what would happen. We
recommend a clean freehold sale to avoid any doubt.
Yes quite possibly although it isn’t clear what the
differentiators are and each family who may wish to
reserve will of course have different preferences.
Once I have leased/sold my plot what happens?
After the reservation has taken place and lease/sale
executed online there is nothing more for you to do. All
funeral arrangements and burial dates will be managed
between the family, funeral directors and Bluebell
cemetery operator.
CEMETERY
RISKS
TAXATION
Pricing
How is the lease revenue treated tax wise?
Prices of any asset can go down as well as up. However
in general the cost of burial plots, as is widely reported,
should continue to increase over the medium to long
term.
Leasing a plot would be treated as Income for tax
purposes.
How is the freehold sale treated tax wise?
This is an illiquid asset and you may not be able to sell/
lease your plot at the time you wish.
An outright sale of the plot would be treated as a capital
gain for tax purposes. However at present the capital
gains tax allowance (2015) is £11,100 pa. Any gains made
below this amount would not attract any tax
Timing of Exit
Are there any other on-going taxes applicable?
If you wish to lease or sell your plot it is worth noting that
the time it may take to achieve this will depend on the
supply/demand at the time. You should consider that
there will be approximately 10,000 plots on the estate and
that it could take several years for all of the plots to be
sold/reserved.
No.
Liquidity
Construction
Although the development area itself is relatively small
proportionate to the overall value of the site, there
is always a risk, however minimal, that the Cemetery
infrastructure may be delayed.
You should view this as long term hold which would
always mitigate any delay in the opening of the estate.
There is a long stop completion date of May 2017.
Do I have to pay stamp duty on the purchase?
No the purchase price of plots falls well below the current
stamp duty threshold.