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- Are you a resident in a RoyaleLife bungalow village? Email elizabeth.haigh@mailonline.co.uk
Residents at a bankrupt billionaire’s bungalow village have told MailOnline of multiple problems with sewage, security and bin collection and alleged they have been left completely in the dark since his company went into administration.
Robert ‘Bob’ Bull suffered a dramatic fall from grace last week after it was revealed he had been declared bankrupt and had debts worth some £725million – having previously been worth around £1.9billion.
The 46-year-old appeared 88th in the Sunday Times Rich List earlier this year and made his fortune by transforming static caravan parks into pre-fab bungalow villages.
But residents on one of Mr Bull’s sites in Dorset, which fell under his company RoyaleLife until it went bust in recent weeks, say their experience turned into a ‘disaster from day one’ and that they were left to find out the firm had gone into administration via the internet.
They claim staff on the site ‘don’t care’ about residents and were fearful of reprisals from speaking out. ‘It’s not nice. The whole attitude is just get the money in.’
![Robert 'Bob' Bull suffered a dramatic fall from grace last week after it was revealed he had been declared bankrupt and had debts worth some £725million (pictured with Ms Nilsen)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/11/15/75656113-12850837-Earlier_this_year_Mr_Bull_46_pictured_with_Ms_Nilsen_in_an_Insta-a-49_1702310340528.jpg)
Robert ‘Bob’ Bull suffered a dramatic fall from grace last week after it was revealed he had been declared bankrupt and had debts worth some £725million (pictured with Ms Nilsen)
![Mr Bull, 46, converted static caravan sites into bungalow communities for those over 45](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/11/16/78826681-12850837-image-a-50_1702310417870.jpg)
Mr Bull, 46, converted static caravan sites into bungalow communities for those over 45
![Mr Bull (pictured) was declared bankrupt on December 1 this year after the collapse of RoyaleLife](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/11/16/71722081-12850837-Tycoon_Robert_Bull_pictured_46_built_up_his_fortune_by_transform-a-52_1702310467767.jpg)
Mr Bull (pictured) was declared bankrupt on December 1 this year after the collapse of RoyaleLife
‘I wish we’d never come here’, said one resident, who did not want to be named. ‘We wanted to get rid of our mortgage.
‘We were told before we moved in that there would be an acoustic defence set up at the back of the property to set off the noise because there’s a dual carriageway right outside, that there would be a swimming pool, coffee house, street lighting.
‘But it became a disaster from day one’.
None of these amenities have ever appeared at the Dorset site, which offers homes to those aged 45 and above, MailOnline has been told.
Instead residents say they are facing issues such as dodgy sewage systems which leave them with sewage bubbling up beneath their shower and bathtub every time it rains.
‘The sewage unit is like a swimming pool, the stench is unbelievable,’ one resident said.
Residents also raised issues with refuse collection, recalling incidents where no waste has been collected for up to three weeks at a time.
The site is currently relying on a private service due to the site still being under construction.
‘It’s not a secure site,’ the resident added.
‘We used to have a security guard that would patrol at night, he went ages ago. The gates are left open all weekend, they are only closed at night.’
![Twice-married father-of-two Mr Bull (pictured with fiancée Sara Nilsen) told how he hauled himself out of the depths of despair](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/11/16/71722071-12850837-Twice_married_father_of_two_Mr_Bull_pictured_with_fianc_e_Sara_N-a-55_1702310676556.jpg)
Twice-married father-of-two Mr Bull (pictured with fiancée Sara Nilsen) told how he hauled himself out of the depths of despair
![Mr Bull and Ms Nilsen also share a £1million house together in Ms Nilsen's hometown in Norway](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/11/16/75656121-12850837-Mr_Bull_and_Ms_Nilsen_also_share_a_1million_house_together_in_Ms-a-53_1702310504854.jpg)
Mr Bull and Ms Nilsen also share a £1million house together in Ms Nilsen’s hometown in Norway
![Court documents show a number of insolvency claims have been filed against companies run by Mr Bull in recent months](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/11/16/71722067-12850837-Court_documents_show_a_number_of_insolvency_claims_have_been_fil-a-54_1702310667617.jpg)
Court documents show a number of insolvency claims have been filed against companies run by Mr Bull in recent months
The residents are also angry that they only discovered RoyaleLife were in financial trouble when neighbours’ repairs were not completed because contractors had allegedly not been paid.
‘We found out through hearsay and on the internet. We did get a letter eventually but nobody would tell us anything. We were getting hints that something was wrong because repairs weren’t happening.’
They continued: ‘You get the impression Mr Bull doesn’t care. He is bragging he is only going to pay 0.25 percent of his debt.’
MailOnline reported last week that Mr Bull, who owns 12 supercars worth £4million, was declared bankrupt by a court on December 1.
According to Companies House, twice-married Mr Bull holds roles at 34 separate firms that are currently in administration.
Before its collapse, RoyaleLife had been valued at £4billion.
In an advert on social media RoyaleLife claimed to offer a place to ‘retire in style’, complete with ‘luxury amenities’ and ‘maintenance-free living’.
But residents said they are worried and do not know who will be taking the company over.
Mr Bull, who now lives with his Norwegian fiancée Sara Nilsen, 30, near Southampton, hopes to enter an arrangement to pay off his debts at just 0.25 per cent, court papers show.
‘It is not a great return to the creditors, but it is a return,’ Ben Channer, a lawyer acting on behalf of Mr Bull previously told a court.
It is not the first time the businessman has faced bankruptcy – in 2016, he fought his way back after owing £3.5million to creditors and spiralling into ‘a nasty depression’ which left him unable to work for three months.
![Mr Bull's company RoyaleLife bought houses from those wishing to downsize, offering them prefab homes instead](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/11/16/78734383-12850837-Mr_Bull_s_company_RoyaleLife_bought_houses_from_those_wishing_to-a-56_1702310686203.jpg)
Mr Bull’s company RoyaleLife bought houses from those wishing to downsize, offering them prefab homes instead
![Residents at one of the sites in Dorset claim to have been living in a 'nightmare'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/11/16/78828015-12850837-image-a-57_1702310752054.jpg)
Residents at one of the sites in Dorset claim to have been living in a ‘nightmare’
![A lack of security, sewage problems and issues with refuse collection are some of the problems cited by disgruntled residents](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/11/16/78828007-12850837-image-a-58_1702310777684.jpg)
A lack of security, sewage problems and issues with refuse collection are some of the problems cited by disgruntled residents
Mr Bull said he turned his fortunes around after spotting a hole in the housing market which led to him building bungalow villages for people who wanted to sell their homes and downsize. His company, which employed 2,000 workers, was said to be worth £4billion.
He would buy the properties at market value and sell the customers a factory-prefabricated bungalow in a new community, each with a drive and garden.
He currently lives in a luxury mansion with Ms Nilsen and also co-owns a £1million property with her in her hometown in Norway.
His UK property, where the couple keep two dogs, a horse and a ferret, has its own three-lane bowling alley and six double garages.
Yet court documents show a number of insolvency claims have been filed against companies run by Mr Bull in recent months.
One of his companies, Time GB Group, is appointing administrators with a court hearing due for September 29 next year.
Bull said this year that his business interests had been subject to ‘winding-up orders based on false claims and unfounded information’, The Times reported.
RoyaleLife has been contacted for comment.