E&M, the organisation that represents the landowner for our estate has notified the LPRA that as from the 1st May, management of our estate will move to RMG from First Port.

RMG manages over 115,000 properties across the UK and has already a nominated site manager who will be overseeing their management of our estate.

E&M will shortly be writing to all respective residents notifying you of the impending change. You’ll also receive full contact details from RMG (which we’ll also place on our RA website).

The LPRA has already met with our new site manager Maija and we are confident that we will be able to forge a strong and productive working relationship moving forward.

Hyde Housing & Golding Homes remain on site and as such there is no change to the management of their respective properties.

With regards to your current service charge invoice that you may have received from First Port, we have been advised that all service charges should be paid to First Port in a timely fashion. Any funds / reserves / debts will thereafter be passed over to RMG as from the 1st May. Please pay your bill to First Port on time to avoid any late payment admin fees.

This is an exciting change that allows us as a community to shape the priorities that matter most on our estate – so please let us know any concerns so that we can bring them to RMG’s attention.

You can learn about RMG HERE

Q&As

Question: Will First Port hand over all of our fees to the new company or will the new company charge us in May?

Answer: If you’ve received a bill from First Port in the last week / 2 weeks or so, you need to pay First Port in a timely manner to avoid any late payment admin charges by them. All funds, reserves (and debts) will be transferred over to RMG on the 1st May.

Question: How did the RA find out about the change of estate management company?

Answer: The Residents Association has worked hard to be formally recognised by not only First Port, Hyde Housing and Golding Homes, but also E&M who are the landowner’s managing agents. We’re also recognised by a number of other organisations including the Parish & Borough Council. The Residents Association was officially notified of the upcoming change by E&M, and have already met with the new estate management company on all residents’ behalves.

Question: Will there be a break in services (gardeners, cleaners, fire safety checks etc) that we are paying for.

Answer: No -there will be no gap in coverage provided.

Question: Will we be able to pay on a monthly plan?

Answer: We don’t know yet. It’s early days and no doubt there will be much more to discuss with RMG as to how they intend to manage the estate. Obviously, understanding service charges are high, this will be a discussion that we have with them early on.

This is the beginning of a new relationship with a new estate management company. The RA has the best interests of all residents at its core. We’ve already highlighted some of the longstanding concerns to RMG and we aim to forge a strong relationship with them to help improve our estate, our neighbourhood and our lives.