Entrepreneurs go underground as London runs short of burial space

LONDON - Aug. 28, 2015 - PRLog -- Spiralling costs for burial plots in London compounded by an acute lack of space in local authority-owned graveyards has prompted two businessmen to launch their own private cemetery business.

Regent Memorial, run by entrepreneurs Henry Anderson from London and Kamran Saleem from Solihull, both aged 31, has opened its first 3,000 plot cemetery on a three acre site in Farnham, Surrey. Located adjacent to an existing churchyard which has no further capacity for burials, Farnham Park Cemetery offers a final resting place for people of all religious denominations.

According to Regent Memorial’s directors, private cemeteries are a solution not only to the diminishing number of burial plots but also the escalating costs of purchasing one. In Wandsworth, for example, it costs more than £4,500 to be buried.

“An ageing population has fuelled an explosion in the pre-pay funeral plan industry,” said Kamran Saleem, who also manages a cemetery in the West Midlands.

“People are often unaware that the cost of a burial plot is a further extra to these plans, which is usually the largest proportion of the funeral fees and these have been going up every year since 1975 with no Government mandated cap in sight. It’s effectively a stealth tax on dying,” he continued.

Research carried out by University of York’s Cemetery Research Group (http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Audit%20of%2...) found that space for burials in the London area is running out with many council controlled cemeteries already full or at ‘critical’ levels. The Group contends that over the next twenty years, London will require virgin burial space for more than 314,000 interments. Local authority planning restrictions prohibit the use of green belt land for burial plots.

Currently, cremation is much more popular than burial (70:30 ratio) but significantly less environmentally friendly as it’s very energy intensive and responsible for high C02 emissions. In addition, 15% of all the UK’s mercury emissions are due to the burning of dental fillings.

Commented Henry Anderson, co-director of Regent Memorial:

“With pressure on space for burials and exorbitant fees, there has been virtually no choice for families, so we have to look to the private sector to provide the land that’s going to be needed.”

“Some local authorities are even charging premiums for non-residents but at Farnham Park, we have a universal cost structure. We believe it to be the most affordable cemetery in and around the London area and as a multi-faith site, there are dedicated sections.”

For further information on Farnham Park Cemetery, including a map of the site, visit http://www.regentmemorial.co.uk