Are Managing Agents Doing A Good Job?
May 1st, 2014
Earlier this year the Office of Fair Trading (now the Competitions and Markets Authority, CMA) announced their intention to undertake a UK wide study into residential property management services. The aim of the study is to review the current market and establish whether it is working for consumers and if not, what the reasons are for this and whether they can be remedied. There has been no specific catalyst for the study but it is without doubt that Managing Agents and Estate Agents alike have been a ‘hot topic’ in the press for the last few years and I suspect this has played a significant part in the resultant investigation. The study itself will not lead to remedial action but the CMA are able to make recommendations to parliament which could result in legislative changes or further investigations.
The CMA are seeking input from all parties who have a connection with the management functions of property and Pier Management Ltd are uniquely placed as they not only act as managing agents themselves but also represent freeholders whose blocks are managed by third party managing agents. Further still, they represent their client in leasehold matters where their clients own flats in other peoples freehold blocks. The study is still at early stages but Pier Management Ltd was keen to become involved and share the wealth of knowledge and expertise embodied within the company; a meeting was therefore held earlier this month with several senior members of the investigation team.
A number of topics were covered and the CMA were keen to hear our views, varied knowledge and experiences. The opportunity was taken to highlight areas of the sector that we believe could be improved and one of these was the formal training of property management staff. Pier Management invest heavily in the training of their staff to ensure that they are at the forefront of the sector however, having dealt with a vast number of property managers across the country it is apparent that the level of competence can vary dramatically; we believe this could be remedied through compulsory training and/or qualifications of property managers similar to those already offered by the IRPM. The above would be most useful to those seeking to invoke a Right to Manage scheme as we often find that the directors of such companies have no prior knowledge of property management which can lead to issues further down the line.
Whilst the study may have been prompted by public concern we are confident that on the whole our sector operates with impeccable ethics and integrity that mimic those of the RICS and the Law Society, who straddle our daily functions. Overall it provided a great opportunity for us to impart some of our knowledge and experiences both good and bad with individuals who have genuine capacity to make improvements throughout the sector; this can only be deemed as a positive and we are proud to have been able to contribute.
Daniel Harrison- Head of Property Management
