Householders on one of the city’s newest estates are protesting about the service charge they have to pay to a property management company.
All residents in Barrett-built homes on Fairfields have to pay an annual sum to FirstPort. This goes towards the day-to-day running costs of the development and covers items such as buildings insurance, maintenance, repairs, gardening and communal facilities.
On Fairfields, families say the service charge has risen by more than 50% year’s over the past few years – and the service is not giving value for money.
FirstPort, however, insist they are doing their best and blame the increase on the cost of living crisis.
Apartment owner Darren Forster last month submitted an official complaint to FirstPort about the management fees and quality of service.
Darren said: “The charges for my property have increased from £909 per year in December 2018 to £1,444.17 per year in March 2023. This is an increase of over 58% in just four years…They (FirstPort) are unfairly squeezing household budgets for customers.”
He added: “We are not receiving anything for the costs we pay. The grass on Cicero Crescent has not been cut in months and is now overgrown with weeds. The plants in the ‘All Hallows’ park are now dead, as are many of the trees on the estate.
“As for our communal garden area, this is visited once per year by your teams and there is litter and a spare wheel in the courtyard which has been there for over a year.”
In his complaint, he also slammed FirstPort’s customer service as the worst he has come across.
“Our Estate Manager is impossible to speak with and the customer service team have admitted to me in phone calls that they are woefully understaffed.
“I, and many others on this estate feel we are being taken advantage of by a firm we have been forced into using by Barratt Homes…We have absolutely no say in who provides management for our estate and we are forced to pay FirstPort huge amounts of money for poor quality services.”
Darren’s complaint was followed by a meeting of Fairfields Community Council specifically to discuss the “poor service” from FirstPort. The minutes of this meeting are here.
During the meeting, it was announced that Barrett Homes will be retendering the contract and will provide the community council with a list of potential alternative management companies.
The Citizen asked FirstPort for a comment about Darren’s complaint letter.
The response, which took two weeks to arrive, was a statement saying: “We understand the importance of providing value for money for our customers. Every year, we estimate how much money will be needed to cover the work there is to do and we share this information with customers. Unfortunately, the UK-wide cost of living challenges we’re all facing have affected some areas of service charge budget, but we do everything we can to keep costs as low as possible whilst not compromising on the service we provide.
“It is always disappointing to hear when customers are unhappy with our service, and we will always work with them to put things right quickly. We are currently investigating the matters raised and will update the customer as soon as possible.”