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PROPERTY MANAGEMENT: FREEMONT PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Poole, where Freemont has worked in conjunction
with residents to improve the estate in a number of
ways. They included ensuring the local supermarket
keeps the site clear of litter and is part of the
progress, activity and commitment that residents like
to see on their behalf.
ESSENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS
“The thing that annoys me most is a lack of information and communication,” explains Nigel. “If you get
problems in any business, it always stems from communication so we talk to people more regularly and
provide them with better financial information. It is
common practice for management companies to
provide financial information once a year, even at the
larger or more complex developments, which is not
good enough. We provide a financial summary to
include performance against budget, bank balance,
debtors and balance on sinking funds on a quarterly
basis. After all, these are the people who pay the
service charges; it’s their home, their money and
we’re just acting on their behalf. Whe ther we’re
appointed by the landlord or the residents, we see it
the same way and it’s about information and communication they both want and need.”
The changes to the market mean companies are
appointed more frequently by residents and that
increasingly requires presentations to residents
before they vote on the appointment. Such appoint-
WE PROVIDE A FINANCIAL SUMMARY TO
INCLUDE PERFORMANCE AGAINST BUDGET,
BANK BALANCE, DEBTORS AND BALANCE ON
SINKING FUNDS ON A QUARTERLY BASIS.
ments can come through residents approaching
their landlords directly or via the Right To Manage
process.The latter is a service Freemont can provide
although in Nigel’s view it’s best avoided due to its
bureaucratic and long-winded nature. In general, the
better route is for landlords and residents to agree
to appoint a manager together and that’s the
approach the company favours.
Either way, Freemont has to live up to the expectations of the initial appointment. In that respect, it is
keen to talk to residents and establish what they’re
looking for.That, explains Nigel, includes how services
are provided: “One of the first questions we ask at a
property we look at it is if they are happy with the
services supplied and those supplying them. In most
cases, people want their contractors and suppliers to
be local and I think mistakes are made sometimes by
bigger property management companies appointing
large national contractors.
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BUILDING DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION MAGAZINE
LOCAL SUPPLIERS
“We’re trying to go local because we know that’s
what the residents want. Those that are operating
for us centrally and advising us, whether solicitors,
debt collection agencies or system suppliers, are
people we know. On a local basis, we will build up a
bank of people we trust and we’ll be looking very
closely at how they perform over the period,
although residents will tell us if they don’t like the
way something’s been done. In the retirement
schemes in particular, people are not only very interested in their homes but they have a little more time
available to take an active interest in these things and
we’re very happy when people do that.”
Trust is crucial to Freemont’s operation because
it means there’s an assurance that everyone will just
get on with their jobs properly. This helps the company’s aim of putting customer service at the heart
of everything it does, which is something it truly
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