Three individuals have been charged by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for carrying out regulated activity without authorisation, by offering a number of sale-and-rent-back agreements.

The FCA alleges that between 1 September 2014 and 7 November 2018, two of the individuals, Rajinder Gill and Jetinder Sandhu, 46 and 44 respectively, offered loans and sale-and-rent-back agreements on behalf of Secure Property Consultants Ltd (trading as Secure Property Buyers and Secure Property Sales) without approval from the regulator.

The third individual, Amandeep Heer, 42, offered two sale-and-rent-back agreements between 2 February and 17 October 2017, when not authorised to do so.

The agreements can target homeowners in financial difficulty, whereby they sell their property at a discounted price, on the basis that they can continue living there as a tenant for a set amount of time. However, rent payments can go up during the tenancy and people may be evicted if they fall behind on payments.

However, firms can misrepresent the terms of sale and tenancy, meaning consumers are not often aware of the risks.

Under Section 19 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), a person cannot carry on a regulated activity in the UK unless they are FCA authorised or exempt (this is the General Prohibition). Any person who breaches Section 19 of FSMA is committing a criminal offence for which the maximum sentence is two years’ imprisonment.

Additionally, under s993 of the Companies Act 2006, if any business of a company is carried on with intent to defraud creditors of the company or creditors of any other person, or for any fraudulent purposes, every person who is knowingly a party to the carrying on of the business in that manner commits an offence for which the maximum sentence is 10 years’ imprisonment.

Mr Gill appeared in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 17 May 2023 and did not indicate a plea. Mr Sandhu and Ms Heer appeared at the same court on 12 June, with the former indicating a not guilty plea. Ms Heer did not indicate a plea.

The case has been formally sent to Southwark Crown Court.

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