Following the harrowing events which led to Southern Cross Care Homes becoming national news, the company has been dealt a further blow, with the news that the company is to be broken up.
The commercial property landlords of each and every one of the 752 care homes rented to Southern Cross have said they wish to leave the group and avoid any thoughts of guilt by association.
Southern Cross, which has some 752 homes and over 31,000 residents, has suffered from a decline in local authority fees and an escalating £250m rental bill.
This move will bring a great amount of uncertainty for the residents of the commercial properties. A report on the restricting process for Southern Cross Group said, 250 of Southern Cross’s homes will be transferred to landlords who are either care operators already or who have ‘strong links’ to firms who provide such services. The owners of the remaining 500 homes, are still ‘finalising their plans,’ which could involve homes being sold.
Dave Prentis, leader of trade union Unison, urged the Government to take action in order to protect the well-being of the residents and workers in Southern Cross homes. Prentis said: ‘This will be a major upheaval and tragedy for people living and working in these homes. It comes as a timely warning to David Cameron about the dangers of his plans to bring in more private companies to run public services.’
It had been expected that a number of landlords would wish to end their association with the group, but Southern Cross had hoped to hammer out a deal with the commercial property landlords in order to keep the company going. It was thought Southern Cross would be left operating with between 250 and 400 homes, however, the commercial property landlords have unanimously turned their backs on the organisation and it will soon cease to exist.
It must be hoped that agreements for the continuation of these services can be reached, as the last thing the commercial property market needs at this moment in time is more vacant space.
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