Overview:

We were appointed as Managing Agents for a large residential development incorporating apartments, houses and maisonettes in 2010. The primary difficulties with regard to this development were the mixed areas of responsibility, as the scheme was split into six different Management Companies as well as a single Estate Company, each with differing responsibilities, regimes and leases. In total over 650 houses and apartments. This was further compounded by there being Local Authority roads, unadopted roads and a large brook controlled by the Environment Agency.

Multi-agents involvement caused considerable confusion, resulting in difficult service charge collection and administration and general frustration.

Solution:

It was clear that a lack of understanding of the legal set up of the development was leading to more and more difficulties. In order to address this the Residents Association, across all organisations, was created and meetings conducted every 8 weeks. In addition, a detailed website was created specific to the development, the key point of operation being a map with a drop pin complaints procedure. As well as identifying the different areas of responsibility, this enabled a clear notification process directly to our offices. www.stamford-brook.co.uk

Client Comment:

The implementation of the website made reporting of issues far simpler and removed previous frustrations and lack of understanding. The formation of the Residents Association enabled transparency and the ability to move forward on common ground. As a key indicator of the success of this, service charge arrears were reduced by 35%.