A lifelong charity volunteer's £145,000 fortune was wiped out instead of being passed to his grieving children - after it was eaten up by the plunging value of his retirement flat.

The children of churchgoer Antony Whelton, known as Tony, say he has 'nothing to show for his life' after he purchased an apartment at Kingsley Court in Aldershot, Hampshire with his wife Audrey for £185,950 in 2008.

Mr Whelton, who received the Queen's Maundy money in recognition of his fundraising works in 2006, sold their home and took out a £50,000 loan to be repaid after his death in order to move into a dedicated retirement community together.

The couple purchased the leasehold for the flat from Fairhold Homes, which owns the freehold for the ground on which it stands, and were required to pay £12,000 in service charges to building managers FirstPort each year as well as a ground rent.

Audrey died in 2014 - and when Mr Whelton died aged 93 in October 2021, his estate had a gross value of £145,005, less than what he paid for the flat. After debts and funeral expenses were deducted, £72,867 should have been passed to his children.

Instead, after being pursued for service charges and unable to find a buyer, his children had to watch his legacy go up in smoke after declaring his estate insolvent.

However, they continued to be pursued by building manager FirstPort, which manages the building on Fairhold's behalf, as it demanded payment for the unpaid service charges that had built up after Mr Whelton's death.

Fairhold Homes also tried to personally sue son Trevor Whelton and son-in-law John Aldred, the executors of his estate, in order to claim the leasehold - despite the fact they weren't liable for the 91-year-old's debts.

Trevor, speaking to the Daily Mail, said the experience had been a 'nightmare', and that he could never recommend buying a retirement flat, thousands of which have nosedived in value because they are not seen as attractive investments.

At Kingsley Court, the values of flats have plunged by as much as 95 per cent: one flat purchased for £173,796 in 2008 has recently been reduced to just £7,500 - after being listed last July for £30,000.

'They were sold on this idea of a lifestyle - and my dad got on well there as he was very sociable,' said the 73-year-old, from Ewhurst in Surrey.

'But after mum died in 2014, he started to realise the money coming in was not enough as the fees kept going up. He couldn't afford to live there.' 

He believes his father had been struggling to pay for the service charges at Kingsley Court, pooling his modest private pension and State Pension to make ends meet.

Mr Whelton fell ill towards the end of his life and spent some time in hospital before moving into a nursing home. Despite this, FirstPort continued to charge service fees while the flat lay unoccupied.

Following his death, Trevor and his siblings struggled to sell the flat, listing it for £90,000 - half of what their father had paid - before cutting it further, to no avail.

'People loved the flat but they didn't love the service fees', Trevor said. An offer to return the flat to Fairhold was refused.

'It was just a saga from there. We just couldn't sell the flat. We even offered it to them for nothing and they didn't want it. They seemed to be more interested in taking the fees.' 

FirstPort appointed property law firm JB Leitch to pursue the outstanding debts, now running into the tens of thousands of pounds.

With the loan and the service fees looming, the family made the difficult decision to declare their father's estate insolvent, and say they told FirstPort that they planned to liquidate. FirstPort, however, claims it was not informed.

The Official Receiver for Croydon was appointed to administer Mr Whelton's estate in February 2025. But two months later FirstPort sent a bill to the family's solicitors - not the administrator - demanding almost £32,000.

Fairhold would also launch a civil claim seeking the service fees and the leasehold, which the family was forced to defend with a barrister at a cost of £1,200.

Fairhold has since discontinued the claim after the Official Receiver withdrew its interest in the leasehold. The flat will, it is understood, return to Fairhold, who will have to pay the family's legal fees under civil procedure rules. 

It can then sell the leasehold on the flat again - while Trevor and his siblings are left with nothing.

The end of the saga is in sight - but has come after years of stress, anxiety and the loss of the 91-year-old's entire legacy.

'Everyone understood our situation - the council tax, power - but not FirstPort,' Trevor continued. 

'It's morally wrong. People are buying flats for their parents and getting stuck with them, stuck with paying the fees. 

'My dad was a churchgoer. He worked for Christian Aid. My parents have got nothing to show for their lives now - it's all gone. I'm really sad about that.

'We would not wish this saga on another other family. Don't buy one of these places. Rent one if you need it, but don't buy one.'

His wife Pauline added: 'We knew we weren't liable for someone else's debts but they made it sound like we were. That's what they try to do to threaten you.' 

A spokesperson for property managers FirstPort said: 'We recognise how difficult this situation has been for Mr Whelton’s family and we are very sympathetic to their circumstances.

'Our role as the property manager at Kingsley Court is to ensure that the communal areas we manage are safe and well maintained and to provide assisted living facilities to residents, including 24‑hour staffing, housekeeping and an on‑site restaurant. 

'Service charges are used solely to meet the actual costs of running the development. Where service charges remain unpaid over a prolonged period, we are required to take steps to recover those costs on behalf of all residents.

'We understand the concerns raised about retirement property resale values. However, property prices and market conditions are outside our control and are influenced by wider economic factors.

'We encourage homeowners to work with specialist retirement estate agents who understand the market and can provide tailored advice to help achieve the best possible outcome.'

Fairhold Homes and JB Leitch have been contacted for comment.

The Wheltons' woes are just the latest to be raised around retirement flats, which are plunging in value and proving impossible to sell because of the overwhelming service charges associated with them and the strict age requirements.

Many come with service charges that run into the tens of thousands of pounds each year, as well as a ground rent charged by the freeholder - which is putting off an already limited pool of buyers.

Nevertheless, building firms such as McCarthy and Stone - which built Kingsley Court before selling it in 2008 - continue to be granted planning approval for new developments despite the fact around 10,000 retirement flats are thought to sit empty.

Even Fairhold's parent company, the Fernando Group, acknowledges that there is not a 'regular market' for retirement flats, having scythed £43.3million off the value of its entire portfolio in the year to October 2025. 

It said in its recent accounts: 'The directors recognise.... that these carrying values may not be realised should the group seek to dispose of any or all of the properties.'

FirstPort was recently criticised by Government housing minister Matthew Pennycook, who said he had 'significant concerns' over the company's practices.

In a letter to its managing director Martin King sent in December, he said that 'significant issues' remained including 'unreasonable' service charges, slow responses to complaints and concerns over how it handled unpaid debts.

Responding to the letter, FirstPort said it is making 'positive changes' as it works towards 'broader reform' in the sector, adding: 'There remains more to do as we continue our work to drive improvement across the industry.' 

This week, campaign group Action on Empty Homes accused developers of 'exaggerating the needs for new developments' in order to achieve the 'greatest profits' while leaving existing owners in the lurch.

Its director of campaigns, Chris Bailey, told the Daily Mail: 'We feel that this is just another example of where the development industry's obsession with "build, build, build" is out of kilter with actual housing needs.'

But the Retirement Housing Group, which represents operators of private retirement complexes, claims retirement housing is a 'lifeline' for those who want to continue living independently in their later years.

A spokesperson said: 'Service charges can be higher than in mainstream flats as they fund significantly more facilities and services. Resale values will vary, much as they do with mainstream flats, but unlike a residential care home, there remains a property which can be sold or rented out.'