VETERANS have slammed the sale of their homes to Chelsea FC’s home Stamford Bridge.
Those living in Sir Oswald Stoll Mansions in Fulham, London, have said they’ll refuse to leave when given their marching orders.
Now, the sale of their homes to the football club has been confirmed.
The Premier League giants have purchased the majority of a 1.2 acre site next to Stamford Bridge from the Stoll Foundation.
One of the youngest veterans, former army man Matthew Bignell, 36, told Sun Online he was “deeply disappointed” by the move.
He added: “It’s a huge shame. There’s too much emphasis on the money they’ll gain and not enough on the homes they’re losing.
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“They’ve made dozens of veterans homeless. It’s not good enough.”
He previously told how veterans would refuse to leave their homes after the sale.
He added: “We have to look into what we can do to fight back against this decision. We’re not sure making that many veterans homeless in the short term will really help in the long-term.”
The military pensioners are furious over a deal that has seen Chelsea purchase the 1.2-acre area of land for £80m.
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It comes amid its £2billion planned expansion.
But it means the 100 veterans and war widows living inside the 1915 block will have to be rehoused – something many are fighting.
Veteran Sean Kennedy, 51, has lived in his flat since 2013.
He added: “It’s disappointing but not unexpected this has happened. The charity’s quality of care has never been very strong.
“Now I have to find somewhere else to live and I’m overwhelmed. I’m too stressed to fight back, there’s nothing I can do.
“It’s not surprising, we live next to Chelsea FC. They have the power and the money to do this.”
Most of the tenants are over the age of 60, with some claiming they won’t be able to physically manage moving out.
Alan Parmenter, 67, who served in the army between 1971 and 2004, is “absolutely disgusted” by the plans.
He previously said: “We’ve done nothing wrong. There’s a lady across the way who is 94. It’ll kill them.
“I can’t physically move out. The lift doesn’t work. I’m not going to be able to move anything.”
He added that he just wants “a peaceful life” and is too old to move.
Colin Tiso, 57, suffers such severe PTSD from his time fighting in the first Gulf War he can’t leave his one-bed flat.
He added: ” Because of my PTSD I struggle to leave my flat and I’m getting treatment for that. My anxiety is overwhelming. Whenever I get the newsletters with information about the plans I completely shut down. For me as an army veteran I’m scared.
“Leaving the flat terrifies me. If I can’t leave the flat then moving is going to be traumatic.”
Another tenant, Neil Ingram, 62, said it felt “like a tsunami coming our way”.
He added that the £7,800 the tenants will get in statutory home loss payment is “not a lot of money”.
He added: “I’m concerned. It feels like a tsunami coming our way. It’s not a lot of money but some people are happy with that.”
Mark McFadden, who spent 17 years in the army, said residents “don’t know when we’re leaving” and “don’t know where to go”.
The Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation, set up to support veterans returning from the First World War, provides ex-service men and women, and their spouses, with a home.
The Fulham mansions is the original site Sir Oswald, a successful theatre magnate, donated to house veterans in 1916.
Since then the charity has expanded to sites in Acton, Hounslow, Chiswick and Aldershot, Surrey.
The charity, which listed its “comprehensive income” at £597,000 in 2022, now claims it doesn’t have enough funds to refurbish the Fulham site “to necessary Government housing standards”.
It would cost “a minimum of £10million, funds the charity simply does not currently have”, according to consultation documentation.
It added: “The overall thermal efficiency and insulation of properties in Fulham is often very poor, many tenants complain of their homes being cold and say they are unable to afford their heating bills.”
Meanwhile, Will Campbell-Wroe, the charity’s CEO, is paid between £80,000 and £90,000, according to its latest accounts.
Three other members of staff at the charity earn between £60,000 and £70,000.
The club has promised not to take possession of it until 2025 at the earliest.
Stoll Chief Executive, Will Campbell-Wroe, says: “The veterans are the heart of this organisation and we continue, as we have always done, to act in the best interests of the charity and its beneficiaries. The Chelsea FC ownership group’s offer enables us to limit uncertainty for residents and offer support over a longer period of time.
“The site at Fulham is just not fit for purpose for the long term and while this is a difficult time for our residents, it is something we must do, to enable us to support veterans now and in the future.
“We are enhancing our robust support programme for our residents during this process and our commitment to them will continue to be at the forefront of all we do at Stoll.”
Residents will not have to leave their homes straight away; the offer includes a leaseback period, meaning that the land would be temporarily given back to Stoll after completion of the sale, according to the charity.
This will allow the charity to support residents to move to alternative, suitable accommodation, it said.
Stoll’s Board of Trustees expects completion to take place in early 2024.
The Sun revealed previously that the Blues have committed to a massive redevelopment of their current home that ended fears they would relocate to a new stadium.
American owner Boehly, who bought the Premier League outfit last year for £4.25billion, made promises to the stadium freeholder to expand the ground rather than move the club to a new location.
Now Chelsea want to build a new 60,000-capacity ground to keep up with their rivals commercially with the new owners hoping for a staged rebuild of the Bridge, with the stands replaced and upgraded one by one.
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Chelsea FC refused to comment when approached by Sun Online.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
