Residential Estate Management Companies Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Nesil Caliskan
Main Page: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)Department Debates - View all Nesil Caliskan's debates with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
(1 week, 5 days ago)
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Nesil Caliskan (Barking) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. My constituents tell me over and over again about the poor performance and lack of accountability of residential estate management companies. In this country, the truth is that there is a complex web of operating companies, parent companies and, in some cases, companies registered in offshore tax havens, with no individuals to hold to account. It should not be like that, and it does not have to be like that.
Some management companies have turned dreams of home ownership into absolute nightmares, and that is certainly the case for my constituents in Barking. Residents of John Miller House and Leslie Hitchcock House on Minter Road face ongoing issues with their management company, RMG, and the district heating system that is in place. They face high, unexplained charges for their energy, including service charges that are not itemised. RMG has failed to install energy meters in individual properties, despite residents asking for them and RMG promising them. In the meantime, constituents in these properties have been charged arbitrary estimates for their energy, including for energy they have not used. RMG has threatened them with legal notices and has in some cases demanded £6,000, be paid in 10 days. That is simply unjustifiable.
In my most recent interaction with RMG, it showed some willingness to engage and to rectify the situation, but it has also been clear that it is acting on behalf of a freeholder—a company called HomeGround. After a little digging around at Companies House, I have established that Baron William Astor is a director of HomeGround. This is a family with a long-standing connection to Parliament who have made their fortune through land and property. Now, they are seemingly exploiting my constituents through unfair energy bills and threatening them with legal action. Frustratingly, I am still waiting for a response from HomeGround. That is just one of the many examples faced by my constituents.