Advertising watchdog finds Quintain Living guilty of misleading advertising on three counts regarding its Wembley Park properties

 

The Advertising Standards Authority  (ASA)  today upheld three complaints made about Quintain Living, the private landlord arm of developer Quintain Ltd.

Summary of Council decision:

 

Three issues were investigated, all of which were Upheld.

Ad description

 

A website for property management company Quintain Living, www.quintainliving.com, seen on 12 February. A page titled “7 WAYS YOU’LL SAVE WITH US” stated “SAVE ON AVERAGE 56% ON ENERGY BILLS. According to Amber Energy these energy savings are based on comparing our EPC rating of “B” versus the average rental property rating of “D” in England & Wales of comparable apartment size.

 

Energy bills being defined as heating, lighting and hot water”. The page also stated “FREE SUPERFAST WIFI. Save £477 per year [“Save £477 per year” in bold] according to uSave – the average UK superfast broadband (30mbps or above) is £39.75/mth. Ours is included, set up ready to go and is 250mbps on all buildings except Alto, Montana & Dakota on 60mbps”. It further stated, “FREE WORK FROM HOME AREAS”.

 

Issue

 

The complainant challenged whether the following claims were misleading and could be substantiated:

1. “SAVE ON AVERAGE 56% ON ENERGY BILLS”;
2. “FREE SUPERFAST WIFI”; and
3. “FREE WORK FROM HOME AREAS”.

 Quintain Living website today still advertising 'Free superfast Wifi' and 'Free work from home areas'

Response

1. Quintain Living Ltd explained that their energy savings claim was based on comparing their Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of “B” compared to the average rental property rating of “D”. Those comparative ratings remained correct and when they originally made the claim, in line with their ongoing policy, their tariff was no more expensive than the best value tariff for a one-year fix from an energy supplier with at least one per cent of the UK market. However, from April 2023 to April 2024, they had been unable to meet that target, because the Energy Price Guarantee, a government-backed subsidy designed to mitigate the sharp increase in energy costs, had not been extended to consumers supplied via commercial landlords. They said they would change the claim to focus on the energy efficiency of the apartments rather than a monetary saving going forward.
   
2. Quintain Living accepted that the use of the word “free” in relation to the WiFi claim was not in line with the Council of Advertising Practice (CAP Code), because the WiFi was included in the package. They said they would change the wording so it stated the WiFi was “included” rather than “free”. They explained that the claim only featured on one webpage.
   
3. Quintain Living said they had free open plan work-from-home areas for residents in all their developments, which were open to residents on a first-come, first-served basis. They further stated that they had additional higher quality work-from-home areas which could be hired for a fee. They said that the claim featured on one isolated webpage.

 

Assessment

 

1. Upheld

 

The ASA considered consumers would understand the claim “SAVE ON AVERAGE 56% ON ENERGY BILLS”, which appeared beside explanatory text, to mean that they would save 56% on their energy costs against the average comparable energy bill by renting through Quintain Living. The ASA acknowledged Quintain Living’s statement that the claim had been inaccurate from April 2023 to April 2024, and we welcomed their willingness to amend it. 

 

However, we had not received any evidence to demonstrate that the claim that consumers could save 56% on average on energy bills was accurate when the ad was seen or previously.

We therefore concluded that it was misleading. On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation).

 

2. Upheld

 

The CAP Code stated that marketers must not describe an element of a package as "free" if that element was included in the package price unless consumers were likely to regard it as an additional benefit because it had recently been added to the package without increasing its price.

 

We considered consumers would understand the claim “FREE SUPERFAST WIFI” to mean that the WiFi was genuinely free and therefore not included in the rent payments or other charges. We acknowledged Quintain Living’s explanation that the WiFi was included in the package price and was therefore not technically “free”.

 

Given that, we concluded that the claim “FREE SUPERFAST WIFI” was misleading.
 

On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.25 (Free).

 

3. Upheld

 

We considered consumers would understand the claim “FREE WORK FROM HOME AREAS” to mean that the areas were genuinely free and therefore not included in the rent payments or other charges. We acknowledged Quintain Living’s comment that there were some work-from-home areas which were available to all residents without a hire fee, and some higher quality options which could be hired for a cost. However, we understood that those work-from-home areas which did not require a hire fee were in any case included in the package cost. Given that those work-from-home areas were not therefore genuinely free, we concluded that the claim “FREE WORK FROM HOME AREAS” was misleading.

On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.25 (Free).

 

Action

 

The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Quintain Living Ltd not to describe an element of a package as “free” if that element was included in the package price unless consumers were likely to regard it as an additional benefit because it had recently been added to the package without increasing its price. We also told them not to mislead consumers about the average saving they would make on energy costs.

 

https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/quintain-living-ltd-a24-1244037-quintain-living-ltd.html

 

Wembley Park ward is not included in the Brent Council Landlord Licensing Scheme because it does not meet the Council's threshold for inclusion.

Quintain secure £755m for its Wembley Park operation through new additional partnership with Ares Management Corporation

 From Quintain Limited

LONDON – JULY 30 2024 – Quintain Limited is pleased to announce a £755 million preferred equity commitment in its award-winning developments, led by funds from Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) (“Ares”), managed by Ares’ Alternative Credit strategy. Quintain is owned by funds managed by Lone Star Funds (“Lone Star”), which will be contributing £337 million to the preferred equity instrument.

With over £2.8 billion of investment to date, Quintain has transformed the Wembley Park estate in London into a premier mixed-used neighbourhood, with circa 5,000 homes, leading retail, modern office space, and acres of parks and pedestrianised public realm.

“Quintain is delighted to have Ares’ backing as a new partner, whilst maintaining our longstanding partnership with Lone Star, to continue to develop the world-class Wembley Park estate which already is home to the largest multifamily/build-to-rent community in the UK,” said James Saunders, CEO of Quintain.

“This is a significant next step in the evolution of Quintain’s development of Wembley Park under Lone Star’s ownership.  Wembley Park is one of the largest build-to-rent schemes in the UK and a great example of ambitious place-making. In Ares, we have found a like-minded partner, and together we look forward to taking this iconic asset to its next exciting phase,” said James Riddell, Co-Head of European Real Estate at Lone Star.

“Lone Star and Quintain have built Wembley Park into one of London’s leading neighbourhoods, delivering a high-quality and sustainable real estate for thousands of residents and millions of visitors. We are excited to partner with their outstanding teams, and to provide significant new capital for Quintain to continue its journey and cement its position as a leader in London’s critically undersupplied residential rental market,” said Stefano Questa, Partner and European Co-Head of Ares Alternative Credit, who will be joining the Quintain Board of Directors as part of the transaction.

“Our team is an established leader in providing bespoke and creative capital solutions to asset-focused investment opportunities,” said Joel Holsinger, Partner and Co-Head of Ares Alternative Credit. “We believe our scale, coupled with our flexible mandate, makes Ares an ideal partner for private equity sponsors, as they seek to grow and optimize the balance sheets of their highest quality assets. We are delighted to be partnering with Lone Star in this landmark transaction for the UK market.”

 WHO ARE THEY?

About Ares Management Corporation

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a leading global alternative investment manager offering clients complementary primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, private equity, real estate and infrastructure asset classes. We seek to provide flexible capital to support businesses and create value for our stakeholders and within our communities. By collaborating across our investment groups, we aim to generate consistent and attractive investment returns throughout market cycles. As of March 31, 2024, Ares Management Corporation's global platform had approximately $428 billion of assets under management, with approximately 2,900 employees operating across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. For more information, please visit www.aresmgmt.com.

About Lone Star

Lone Star is a leading private equity firm advising funds that invest globally in corporate equity, credit, real estate and other financial assets. Since the establishment of its first fund in 1995, Lone Star has organized 24 private equity funds with aggregate capital commitments totaling approximately $92 billion. The firm organizes its funds in three series: the Opportunity Fund series; the Commercial Real Estate Fund series; and the U.S. Residential Mortgage Fund series. Lone Star invests on behalf of its limited partners, which include institutional investors such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, as well as foundations and endowments that support medical research, higher education, and other philanthropic causes. For more information regarding Lone Star Funds, go to www.lonestarfunds.com.

About Quintain

Quintain is the award-winning development and asset management company behind Wembley Park, one of London's most exciting new neighbourhoods.

Quintain celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022, with 20 years since acquiring its interest in Wembley Park. To date, the 85-acre development has seen over £2.8bn invested and welcomes on average 16 million visitors a year.

Quintain’s award-winning residential management business, Quintain Living, focuses on the management of Quintain's institutional quality, Build-to-Rent (BTR) property management platform and pipeline. In 2022 Quintain Living was named Estate Gazette’s BTR Specialist and RESI’s Property Manager of the Year.

Celebrating the history of Olympic Way on 19 April 2023 - a richly illustrated article

Guest post by local historian Philip Grant in a personal capacity

1.    Sir Arthur Elvin, Lord Burghley and the Mayor of Wembley watch the Minister of Transport unveil the Olympic Way name in July 1948. (Courtesy of Margaret Winter)

 

In July this year we will be celebrating the 75^th anniversary of the 1948 London Olympic Games, and the opening of Olympic Way which was built to provide the main route to Wembley Stadium. On Wednesday 19 April, Quintain hosted another ceremony, marking their improvements to Olympic Way, and celebrating its history with the unveiling of several local history features.

 

I was first made aware of the plaque, unveiled at the opening of Olympic Way in 1948, by a fellow Wembley History Society member about ten years ago. I had to trample down nettles on a piece of waste ground behind the westbound Wembley Park Station bus stop (since moved) to get to see it, and it was in a poor state. 

 

2.    The 1948 Olympic Way opening plaque, c.2014.

 

I later discovered that the plaque was on land belonging to Quintain, not Brent Council. In recent years there had been several requests to Quintain (or their Wembley Park managing company) to clean the plaque and tidy up its surroundings. This was done, but because of its situation, the plaque and its site soon looked untidy again.

 

A big change came in January 2022, when Mike Collett contacted Wembley History Society about the plaque. Mike was a sports journalist, who had covered numerous events at Wembley as well as six Olympic Games. He’d spotted the plaque while in Wembley Park and asked what could be done about it, because ‘it’s in such a dirty, sorry and neglected condition’. 

 

3.    The Olympic Way opening plaque and its site, January 2022. (Photo by Mike Collett)

 

I put Mike in touch with my contacts at Quintain, and to their credit (and after a bit more pressure from his friends in sport) they came up with some ideas for improvements by March 2022. A site meeting, bringing together Quintain/Wembley Park, Mike and myself, the British Olympic Association and Brent’s heritage officers, was held in April 2022, and a plan of action agreed.

 

A year later, and that plan has come to fruition. The 1948 Olympic Way opening plaque has been restored by stone carver and conservator, Louis Russell. It is now set in a garden with a path leading up to it from the pavement. The restored plaque was the first item to be unveiled on 19 April. 

 

4.    The new 1948 garden, with the restored plaque covered-up, 30 March 2023.

 

The plaque was officially unveiled by the Mayor of Brent, Cllr. Abdi Aden, after several short speeches. Mike Collett’s, read on his behalf, recalled how he had stopped for a quick drink while visiting Wembley Park in January, noticed the plaque for the first time, in a neglected state, and thought something must be done about it. Fifteen months later, he was very pleased to see the transformation, and thanked Quintain, and everyone else involved, for bringing this about, so that this part of Wembley’s Olympic history was properly valued.

 

5.    Margaret Winter, speaking before the unveiling of the 1948 Olympic Way plaque.

 

Margaret Winter had been invited to take part in the unveiling because her father, Walter Steadman, had helped to design Olympic Way in 1947/48, and the original subway bringing pedestrians from the station to it. She said that it had been one of the proudest achievements of his long career as Wembley Council’s Borough Engineer and Surveyor.

 

6.    Mike Collett, admiring the restored 1948 Olympic Way plaque.

 

At the bottom of the steps down onto the pedestrianised Olympic Way, just outside the Bobby Moore Bridge subway, on the wall below the 1948 plaque garden, is an illustrated local history panel. This welcomes visitors to Olympic Way and tells its story. I had some input into the panel’s contents and text, but the design is Quintain’s. We passed this on the way to the second unveiling.

 

7.    The Olympic Way Story local history panel. (Courtesy of Quintain Ltd)

 

The improvements which Quintain have made to Olympic Way in recent years, part-funded by £17.8m from Brent Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy pot, include several references to “48”. This is to reflect that Olympic Way was constructed in preparation for the 1948 Olympic Games. (It was later pedestrianised by Brent Council in the early 1990s, ahead of the 1996 Euros football tournament matches at Wembley).

 

8.    Tree-lined Olympic Way, with crowds going to the opening of the 1948 Olympic Games. (Brent Archives)

 

When it opened, Olympic Way had trees on either side of it, a legacy from the grounds of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. Now, on either side of the wide pedestrian thoroughfare, Quintain’s improvements include 24 pairs (24 + 24 = 48) of “Champion Trees of the World”. They were chosen and planted to show the wide range of trees from similar temperate latitudes to those of Wembley, but from worldwide spread of longitudes. 

 

9.    Some of the “Champion” Olympic Way trees coming into leaf, April 2023.

 

Beginning from the west at the station end, they move down to our own 0º longitude, then increasing until they reach the furthest east near the stadium. Each tree has a large metal frame around it, allowing for plenty of growth, carrying the (Latin) name of the tree species, and the longitude of the part of the world it originates from.

 

10. The metal grid around a “Pterocarya Fraxinifolia” (Caucasian walnut), from 50º E.

 

As the unveiling group of around 30 people approached Engineers Way, there, ahead of us, were the Olympic Steps (48 of them!). These controversially replaced the old concrete pedway as the pedestrian way up to Wembley Stadium. Four new high-capacity lifts were installed first, as an integral part of the whole design, before the Olympic Steps were constructed and opened in time for the 2021 Men’s Euros football tournament.

 

Here, a new Portland Stone plaque, also carved by Louis Russell, has been attached to a cast stone plinth. This new plaque repeats the words of the 1948 plaque, then marks the completion of the Olympic Way improvements. It also carries the Olympic Rings, which celebrate Wembley’s part in the 1948 and 2012 London Olympic Games. It was Quintain’s CEO, James Saunders, who spoke first, before inviting the Mayor of Brent to unveil the plaque.

 

11.  James Saunders and the Mayor, Cllr. Abdi Aden, beside the plinth near the Olympic Steps.

 

Mr Saunders spoke proudly of the improvements Quintain had made to Wembley Park, and the public spaces along Olympic Way. He praised the co-operation of Brent Council in bringing about these achievements, and especially thanked Carolyn Downs, on her last day as Brent’s Chief Executive before retirement, for all of her help, then presented her with a bouquet.

 

12. Carolyn Downs with her bouquet, watched by Cllr. Muhammed Butt and the Mayor.

 

Council Leader Muhammed Butt responded on behalf of Brent. He commended Quintain’s part in Brent’s continuing journey of regeneration, renewal and growth, while also remembering its history, and said that he was proud of ‘what we can do if we work together’. He also thanked a number of people, and I was surprised when I was one of them! Cllr. Butt publicly thanked me for ‘keeping the Council on its toes over heritage’. [I must write to thank him for his kind words, but also to remind him that actions speak louder.]

 

Looking back at Olympic Way from the Stadium, over the Olympic Steps, you can see the line of trees. They will grow, with time, but at the moment they are dwarfed by the lines of tall lamp posts, and the overly large advertising banners which hang from them.

 

13.   The view down Olympic Way from in front of Wembley Stadium, April 2023.

 

Olympic Way is now a busy thoroughfare every day, serving Quintain’s “new” Wembley Park as well as the Stadium and Arena which played such a big part in the 1948 Olympic Games. I’m glad that the 1948 plaque has been given the respect it deserves, and that people emerging from the Bobby Moore Bridge subway can read about Olympic Way’s history, and be directed up the steps to see it.

 

14.  The new Olympic Way plaque, just before Engineers Way on the route to the Stadium.

 

The new plaque, by Engineers Way, is more about celebrating Quintain’s improvements to Olympic Way, which are also part of its history. And its location, plus the Olympic Rings on it, gives residents and visitors the chance to be photographed (or take selfies) with the Olympic Steps and the stadium in the background, to capture part of Wembley’s Olympic heritage.

 

Philip Grant.

 

Quintain expectedly refused 'crucial' second tranche of Building Safety Fund monies for Forum House works. They will appeal.

 

Quintain Ltd have written to the residents and leaseholders of Forum House to annouce that the second tranche of funds for remedial works to the facade of the the Wembley Park building has been refused.

They wrote:

Our priority has always been to ensure that you as residents remain safe in your homes and that leaseholders of Forum House you receive the appropriate financial support from the Government’s Building Safety Fund (BSF) where required.

Since applying to the dedicated Building Safety Fund on your behalf and submitting the required evidence in December 2020, we were informed in May 2021 that Forum House is eligible to receive financial support from the BSF. We received the first portion of this funding in September 2021 which allowed us to align a team of designers and contractors with a trusted supply chain to plan and prepare the works. We submitted our final application to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities (DLUHC) in October 2021 for the remainder of the funding we sought on your behalf in order to begin construction.

Unfortunately, we have received notice from the DLUHC that our application for this crucial second portion of funding has ultimately been declined, prohibiting us from continuing with the project at this stage. Although full funding for the project was not formally guaranteed by the DLUHC, we were not expecting this decision. Since receiving the first portion of funds to finance the initiation of the project, we received no indication that our application for further support from the BSF would be unsuccessful.

Throughout this process we have worked closely with a dedicated case officer at the Greater London Authority (GLA) and BSF since May 2021, both of which have advised our team and worked with us to ensure our application followed the requirements set by the DLUHC.

We will now be appealing this decision with the support of industry consultants and will advise you on any further updates. 

 Quintain have also put on hold work on the timber decking in the building pending assessment of new guidance.

They conclude:

We would like to re-enforce that Forum House was constructed to meet building regulations at the time it was completed in 2008. An independent fire officer, who undertook an intrusive survey on the building in late 2020, deemed Forum House safe and not in need of further fire safety measures that other buildings have had to implement throughout this remediation process, such as additional fire alarms or a waking watch.

Our priority remains to ensure that you as residents remain safe in your homes and are receiving the Government support that we believe Forum House is eligible for, should façade remediation be required.

Quintain launch controversial Olympic Way steps as '48 Steps for the Community'

 

'Wembley Park', the Quintain off-shoot today which has commandeered the name of our area, today launched the steps replacement for the Pedway as if it was a gift to local people -  '48 Steps for the Community' - of course the community (via Brent Council) made Quintain a gift of some £17.8m  of Strategic CIL money to part-fund the steps and other changes on Olympic Way.

I am sure  that people from the  far reaches of Brent  will rush up to Wembley avoiding broken pavements, pot holes and fly-tips to marvel at this gift and enjoy sitting on the steps.

 

 

The Press Release from Coverdale Barclay (click bottom right for full page)