Early last year we started the Right to Manage process for a scheme where Young London manage all the privately rented units, with the remainder occupied by the owners. The freehold is owned by The Consensus Group (part of the Vincent Tchenguiz empire).
On completion in summer 2008, County Estates (one of the Peverel/Consensus Group companies) was appointed to be the managing agents. As we had a good relationship with the developer we tended to deal with the developer for a year of so post completion rather than County Estates when there were any issues to deal with.
However in late 2009 we felt that the block could be managed better, both in terms of service and cost. We spoke with the managing agent Chainbow and worked with them to set up a Right To Manage company. My earlier blogs show how we went about this – you can read parts one, two, three and four here. Then, in the summer of 2010 when we had a resounding level of support, we served the appropriate notices on the incumbent managing agent. The response from County Estates was to challenge the notice. However, following some further communications, it was agreed that Chainbow could take over the block management on 1st January 2011.
It is a case now of not expecting all the issues of the past to be solved overnight, or for the improvements we want to be in place immediately. It is a case of being able to work with a company (Chainbow) who we can plan with, and further enhance the quality of the scheme.
Along with the other owners, we are pleased we went through this process. Although it takes sometime, we feel this demonstrates how a good asset manager can add value for the owners, and enhance the development for the residents. Landlords in general also recognise the importance of good property management, something we noticed in the results of our quarterly Young Index survey towards the end of 2010.
