One of Britain's biggest landbankers has gone bust, leaving investors who paid a total of £7m for tiny slices of farmland, wondering where their money went. Land Heritage (UK) Ltd told 700 land purchasers this week it was going into liquidation on the "advice" of accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

It told them to direct future correspondence towards PWC. But when Guardian Money contacted the accountancy firm, it said it had never heard of Land Heritage (UK) Ltd.

"Whatever LHUK says, we have not been instructed by this company and will not be. We have not provided any formal advice and we have not billed the company for anything. We shall not be handling any liquidation - we have no relationship whatsoever with it," PWC says.

Whoever acts as liquidator, the end of LHUK destroys what slim hopes investors had of the firm turning their minuscule plots into potentially valuable housebuilding sites - or of getting any refund.

(Via Guardian Unlimited. To read the full story, click here)
(See also: thisismoney.co.uk)

A BRITISH company is offering Irish investors a little piece of English "countryside" with the promise of long-term profits — but the local council says the deal is pie in the sky.

Oakwood & Scott, a landbanking company, is selling plots of farmland at Tadley in Hampshire with a promise that they will be rezoned for development within 10 years.

This weekend it is exhibiting the sites at the Toys 4 Big Boys show in Dublin's RDS, where buyers are being encouraged to invest between €9,610 and €29,570.

Landbanking is a controversial process by which a company convinces customers to buy small plots of agricultural land with the promise they will make huge returns on their investment when it is rezoned. But Basingstoke and Deane borough council, the local authority for Tadley, say it is "highly unlikely" any developments proposed for the farmland will be allowed.

(Via The Sunday Times. To read the full story, click here)