WTS buys £1,000,000 luxury sea-front property in Wales, UK

by Simon 157 Replies latest watchtower scandals

  • Interested Observer
    Interested Observer

    I just purchased a copy of the records from the land registry. I havd the pdf file but not sure how to attach. Below is a cut and paste of it.

    Title Number: CYM259200
    Address of Property: Y Gwylain, Holyhead Road, Bangor (LL57 2HQ)
    Price Stated: £910,000
    Registered Owner(s): INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION (Co. Regn. No.
    136726) of IBSA House, The Ridgeway, London NW7 1RN.
    Lender(s): None
    1

  • KateWild
    KateWild

    Cool thanks for buying it. I bet it was worth the £3 just to satisfy your curiosity. Thanks for sharing. Kate xx

  • Oubliette
    Oubliette

    Interested Observer, thanks for researching and posting this information.

    Price Stated: £910,000

    For those of us on the other side of the pond:

    • At the current exchange rate of $1.68 US to £.00 British Pound Sterling, this is a purchase price of $1,532,076.

    Jesus said to him: “Foxes have dens and birds of heaven have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay down his head.” - Luke 9:58

  • Slidin Fast
    Slidin Fast

    You know what? I smell a little dissembling here. I think the word locally is that the purchase price was much lower than that actually paid. I think people would have been very upset if they knew the truth so the amount involved was massaged, adjusted slightly to soften the blow.

  • frankiespeakin
    frankiespeakin

    Truley a fitting resident building for the "ancient worthies" who will be ressureected before armageddon so that they can have a ringside seat when Jehovah starts his fireworks to destroy all these governments, it may even house some very special Faithful Slaves too.

  • Simon
    Simon

    Thanks for the confirmation Interested Observer !

    I've never liked making wild claims about things as I think it's counter-productive - your reputation is valuable and hard-earned over time. We've all seen people claiming things like "the WTS hacked my site" which (for those with some know-how) usually more accurately described as "I'm a clueless sys admin, ignored notices or let something expire but now want to make myself sound important" LOL.

    But anyway ... I posted the info because I had very very good sources for it. Although I could back up my claims it would have possibly compromised those sources so I chose not to because the information would come out in the end. I'm happy that it's now been confirmed.

    As it happens, the purchase price was just shy of one million GBP (not sure if that includes taxes though - it could well be more with those and fees etc...) and the WTS has already sunk more money into it in the form of renovation work. At least the labor is 'free' (but costs the ones doing it, probably even to travel to the site to do the work!).

    I also know details of who will be living there and it is as suspected - reserved for a small number of 'special' people.

    You can guarantee that some old pioneer sister who's spent years trudging round north wales telling people about 'the good news' won't be relaxing on the deck with a glass of wine enjoying the view. Now will the ones who's contributions paid for it or who's weekends were spent improving it.

    But they get to clap about how wonderful the Org is to buy it ...

  • Witness My Fury
    Witness My Fury

    I can't see the local JWs there being too happy about it, anyone with half a brain knows they dont need a £1m house to do translation in, they could all do it anywhere and telecommute, or else hot desk in person at bethel somwhere.

    No need to be in the locale you are translating for and north Wales is not the ticking pulse of all things welsh as the lingo is different in some respects to the rest.

    This really is now a real estate company.

  • Simon
    Simon

    Remember that in the UK, the purchaser has to pay Stamp Duty. For the sale price, this would be 4% (See: https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax-rates) so they will have about 36k GBP to pay in tax as well as legal fees.

    Apparently the WTS is telling the locals that it was up for sale for 1.7m to spin it that they "got a bargain" - quoting the asking price from the peak of the property boom is a little disengenuous and obviously intended to distract from the simple reality: "we bought a 1m luxury property".

  • Finkelstein
    Finkelstein

    What if the purchaser is a Church or religious institution ?

    Do they still have to pay a Stamp Tax ?

  • Laika
    Laika

    Thanks for this info Simon. It's a big scandal, and one I think they'll find more difficult to defend then their other mishaps.

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