Anecdote - When looking at care home financing, a question arose as to why so many were built/being built near major roads – and this wasn’t due to the limited development plots at the time. The developer/operator’s answer was that people like to see activity, even at the cost of noise et al. I still struggle to believe this, but it must be said the ranking of one’s required local amenities does change over the years, something which Covid-times brought in to sharp focus for many.
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You should absolutely struggle to believe that. It’s total BS. Nearly spewed my coffee when I read that.
More than 88% of care homes in the UK are run by private equity. The sole purpose is maximisation of profit. Each site is split into a property company and a care company. Profit is maximised by the property company running on the lowest possible costings whilst simultaneously charging the care company huge amounts.
Cheapest properties are obviously near main roads, large roundabouts etc. There is no benefit to older or disabled people in this whatsoever. Inside Housing and others have written about it as a national scandal whilst the likes of NICE have highlighted the risks of noise, light and air pollution.
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Don’t worry - I did, although it’s not really a factor within any financing decision (see on). Although, such is the pressure to build new-residential units nowadays, that there’s immense competition to build in sub-optimal places, albeit of course with care homes, their impact on local infrastructure needs is often lower than for a larger-scale flatted development. One interesting aspect, was that the new beds in care homes would be included within local housebuilding targets, on the basis of expected displacement from within the borough/locality.
PE in some areas of finance can be beneficial, and as I understand things now, the financial alchemy and structuring from what are known as OpCo/PropCo structures, has been reined-in, as lenders/funders, post the issues with the massive Barchester Group many years ago, belatedly realised things had been taken too far.
Blimey. Absolutely not.
The Statutory CQC Market Oversight Scheme allows them to merely assess the financial sustainability of “difficult to replace” large-scale care providers and let LAs know if bankruptcy is imminent. Anyone familiar with the CQC will know how well that’s working.
There’s a ban on inheriting CQC ratings and evading scrutiny just as restructuring now requires a new registration but, again, so what. It’s not inhibiting purchase or profit.
In theory LAs can twist procurement towards non profits. In practice, LA finances are largely unable to do this.
The carried interest tax loophole has slowly been closed so there’s certainly less flipping and the CMA is certainly now looking at the impact of PE on vulnerable social infrastructure.
The reality of these changes is that PE ownership in the time these things have been happening has risen from 81% to 88%. It’s certainly slowed things a tad but then when your sheer market share allows you to repeatedly kill the non PE 12% it really hasn’t made any difference.
I’ve yet to find any evidence in any sector that PE benefits anyone outside of PE.
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A visit to the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island in Washington State.
A Weeping Willow 1984 Photo from libray album located on coffee table at the Bloedel Estate.
A couple of views or the Weeping Willow taken with my IPhone 8 at the estate today.
Weeping Willow as viewed across Mid Pond
Weeping Willow as viewed from rear of Japanese Garden
A lot of beautiful trees, flowering bushes, plants and ground cover on display today and a lovely
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I just wanted to write that this thread is a great read! It spins off into very interesting topics which are explained by people who have real experience and seem to know fact from opinion (looking at you @mikehughescq ). Keep it up people!
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Nice! I’ve been to the island only once, and only for a couple of hours – just long enough for Mexican dinner with my grandson at Isla Bonita. The ferry ride from Seattle on a clear day is one of the greatest visual treats on the planet.
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Got some more lab results. My PSA score is 8.9. Actually this is cause for celebration as six weeks previously it was 25.4. They’ll test again, after another six week interval, and hopefully, now that they’re no longer messing about in my plumbing, it’ll have dropped further.
Willy.
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So, if you don’t want to sit in a semi-circle watching television, you can sit looking out of the window at the traffic….. so much to look forward to, eh?
ATB, J 
Besides the Bloedel Reserve a couple of other interesting sites are the ‘The Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial’ which is an outdoor exhibit commemorating the internment of Japanese Americans from Bainbridge Island suring World War 2.
…you can also find one of the six Thomas Dambo trolls (‘Pia The Peacekeeper’) located at Sakai Park The other five are located at the Nordic Museum in Ballard, Down by the salt water pool in West Seattle, on Vashon Island, in the town of Issaquah and on Vashon Island. Fun for kids as well as adults.
The Trolls are the art work of Thomas Dambo who lives in the Danish countryside, just outside Copenhagen and has troll projects located around the world.
…and you are right about the views found while riding on the Washington State Ferries. Simply Beautiful
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Next time we go, I’d like to spend more time on the island. A 2-year-old does limit your exploring options – not that I’m complaining. This is a low-res shot from my recent trip.
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We took the ferry from Bainbridge Island to Seattle a couple of years ago, nearing the end of a three-week road trip from LA. We stayed in Port Angeles for a couple of days and explored Olympic National Park. Didn’t have time to stop on Bainbridge Island unfortunately. You live in a lovely part of the world.
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Indeed it is 
.
ATB, J
We’ve been to Villandry today. Obviously it’s beautiful and the garden is something to behold. But the thing that caught my imagination is the fact that literally hundreds of house martins were nesting on the outbuildings and the chateau itself. It was just lovely to see so many of them, zipping around catching insects to feed their chicks.
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And very lovely indeed
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Nope, no ferry in that pic. Did it sink?
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Pic taken at 11am. Ferry arrived at 3pm.
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And ours arrived at 10pm.
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