In the News - Property/Land Management

BBC highlights property management scandal

Last night's BBC consumer programme, Watchdog highlighted the plight of hundreds of homeowners who are stuck paying property management companies for work that is never done or of a poor standard. Whilst homeowners do have some legal avenues they can pursue, these are complicated and potentially expensive. So more often than not, management companies can continue with poor service safe in the knowledge that they are unlikely to be challenged.

Both the Federation of Private Residents Association (representing homeowner associations) and the Association of Residential Managing Agents (representing Management companies) called for a change in the law to bring in regulation of the industry with enforcable minimum standards. They said they'd been pushing the government for action for over 10 years, but so far have got nowhere.

Homeowners have been talking on Plebble about similar problems with land management companies. In one case, homeowners got together in 2007 to form an action group to share information and advice on how to tackle the land management company, Greenbelt Group.

The glimmer of hope in all this is that Jim Devine MP set up an All Party Parliamentary Group to look into property and land management companies. The group is due to report to parliament shortly.

(Sources:BBC 1 Watchdog programme 20 April 2009, Plebble.com)

AdviceCentre note: go to the Watchdog page for more information what you can do to take on a property management company. The Greenbelt Group Action page is also a good source of information on what avenues other people are pursuing.

Posted by Plebble Admin at 11:05 on 21-Apr-2009