Travelling Solo with the Holiday Property Bond

The Holiday Property Bond offers exclusive access to over 1,400 properties to its 42,000 investors across more than 30 locations. You can read about the Bond Companions Club, but first a brief explanation about the Holiday Property Bond.

A. How can I holiday better?
Invest from £5,000 in the Holiday Property Bond for exclusive access to a portfolio of over 1,400 top quality villas, cottages and apartments in over 30 locations across the UK and Europe. For each £1 invested you will receive one Holiday Point each year which you can use to book the properties. And when staying in them you do not pay a commercial rent, just a no-profit user charge covering actual running, maintenance and refurbishment costs. This charge is level throughout the year so there are no high season premiums. For a studio for two the charge averages about £300 a week, for a two bedroom property sleeping up to six around £460 a week. And there are larger properties available. This no-profit user charge is only payable when you want to go on holiday. Your only ongoing commitment is a quarterly fee of just over £30 – that is around £125 a year.

B. Will there be more properties in the future?
As we attract more investors the more properties we will add to the portfolio – increasing your holiday choice still further.

C. How long can I holiday with HPB?
For life if you wish – the holiday benefits last as long as you hold the Bond. In due course you can pass it and the holiday benefits to your children and grandchildren, as many of our earlier investors have already done. If, however, at some point you and your family no longer wish to holiday with us you can surrender your Bond back to the company after two years or more (subject to deferral in exceptional circumstances). You will not get back the full amount you invested, although we would hope that you will have had some wonderful holidays. What you do get back will reflect initial charges (25%) taken before your money is invested in the HPB fund of holiday properties and securities. The fund itself also pays annual charges of around 2.5% and other overheads. The value of the fund’s properties and securities can also go up or down and so, like most investments, your capital is at risk.

The BCC is designed for those Bondholders who, for whatever reason, may be wishing to holiday with HPB by themselves, but would prefer not to go it alone. It is a way for like-minded Bondholders to enjoy the wonders of the Bond and all its incredible locations together, and so far over 1,200 members are enjoying the benefits!

However, over the years separate ‘mini-BCCs’ have sprung up here and there; members meet other members on a BCC Weekend away, discover they live near one another, and arrange to meet on a regular basis – for lunch, outings, or whatever. There are now more than 30 local groups of BCC members who get together across the UK on a regular basis, meeting up, going for lunches and attending other social events.

East of England

“The East of England Group was formed by myself, Linda Chapman, and co-organiser Alan Rogers following a meeting at the Arundel Hotel in Cambridge in 2007.

BCC Co-ordinator Liza Moore asked for volunteers to get a local group going in the eastern region. Alan and I hadn’t met before but we were both keen to get involved! We now have approximately 120 members on our mailing list for lunches and they come from all over East Anglia.

With such a large geographical area it isn’t always possible for members to attend all the lunches. But we try to be as inclusive as possible, varying the days we hold meetings and rotating the venue around the region, providing as much opportunity as we can. 

The venues are usually places recommended by members, and we have certainly visited some lovely pubs over the years! Our lunches are approximately every six weeks. Alan sends a mailing out well in advance and I add the notification to the HPB website, so all members can see it. We mostly get a good mix of ‘regulars’ and new faces with, on occasion, BCC members from other clubs too if they happen to be in the area. It’s all very welcoming and friendly and there can be anywhere between 15 and 25 people at any lunch.

It’s lovely to see the members in our region form such close friendships, socialising regularly and arranging holidays together. We like to think that a regional lunch, especially one as welcoming as the East of England’s, is a great starting place to forge those friendships.”

In one or two cases it would be no exaggeration to say that these sub-BCCs are little short of a lifeline. Of course, BCC Members who don’t live on the UK mainland have access to the same range of events as those who do; but cost and logistical implications sometimes mean that they can’t take advantage of the opportunities quite so easily.

Northern Ireland

Hugo Ritchie, from the small town of Donaghadee in Northern Ireland, faced just such an impasse. Hugo, in his mid-60s, invested in HPB two or three years ago – and joined the BCC at the same time. “My wife had passed away,” he says. “I’d been aware of the Bond for a while, and went along to a local open event, where I discovered the BCC, what it was and what it did. Being on your own is not much fun – as anyone who’s in a similar situation will tell you. Here was a solution.”

Hugo decided to set up a local group while on his first BCC Holiday, at Tigh Mor Trossachs, last year. “I was struck by how my fellow Companions knew each other so well – it couldn’t just be down to meeting up on Holidays and Weekends, surely? And it turned out it wasn’t – many Members were getting together on a regular basis, having set something up for themselves. I decided to do the same in Northern Ireland.”

There are 10 BCC-ers in Northern Ireland. “So far, we’ve met up for lunch a couple of times,” says Hugo. “Enjoyable occasions, both – we have yet to explore whether or not we would like to do more; organising our own holidays, maybe, or excursions. If the will is there – and I’m sure it is – we can forge friendships, and have fun, on a local level.”

Hugo is keen to stress, however, that he is in no way in competition with the BCC. “Good grief, no! Margaret and Liza are brilliant organisers, backed by the well-oiled machine that is HPB. We couldn’t compete, even if we wanted to. Which we don’t. All we’re trying to do is to complement the fantastic opportunities we already enjoy, with a few more, closer to home.”

You can enjoy holidays like this too

Find out more about how you can take your pick from over 1,400 holiday properties at more than 30 stunning locations in the UK and throughout Europe. Click here for your free HPB information pack, with full colour brochure and introductory DVD.

Important Information
This advertisement is issued by HPB Management Limited (HPBM) registered at HPB House, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 8EH. HPBM is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is the main UK agent and the property manager for HPB, issued by HPB Assurance Limited (HPBA) registered in the Isle of Man and authorised by the Financial Services Authority there. The Trustee of HPB is HSBC Trustee (C.I.) Limited registered at HSBC House, Esplanade, St Helier, Jersey, JE1 1GT. The Securities Manager is Stanhope Capital LLP of 35 Portman Square, London, W1H 6LR.

HPBM promotes only HPB and is not independent of HPBA. Holders of policies issued by HPBA will not be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the company becomes unable to meet its liabilities to them but Isle of Man compensation arrangements apply to new policies.

Silver Travel Advisor recommends Holiday Property Bond.

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