Caterham woman struggled to sell father's Epsom retirement flat

A woman said she was left paying hundreds of pounds a month for her late father's retirement flat for two years because she could not sell it. Jackie Stacey, 67, from Caterham, Surrey, said the financial pressure and uncertainty became so severe she collapsed at home from stress weeks before the sale finally completed. She said she and her brother were forced to slash the asking price by £70,000 while continuing to pay rising maintenance charges, management fees and council tax on the empty property in Epsom. Epsom and Ewell Borough Council said it could not comment on individual cases. It pointed residents to its policy outlining that owners of properties that remain empty and unfurnished for more than a year can face a 100% council tax premium. Stacey is one of hundreds of people who contacted the BBC after families said they were being left with hefty bills when inheriting retirement properties. Our earlier reporting found thousands of retirement flats across England and Wales were vacant. Families blamed high service charges for making the properties unattractive and complained of a collapse in the value of the flats. Stacey said her parents bought the retirement flat in the ce