Over the past year, a lot of constituents have contacted me about the property management company FirstPort, who service a huge number of properties in Exeter, including those previously managed by Whitton & Laing.
I’ve been appalled to hear about leaseholders’ and freeholders’ experiences of FirstPort and have been supporting constituents with their cases.
This week, I held a meeting at my Exeter office to hear from constituents in-person about the ongoing challenges. About 40 people attended and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who gave up their Thursday evening to come and talk to me.
From a lack of transparency and communication and soaring service fees, slow transfer of management to residents who have chosen to set up their own service companies, to repairs and maintenance taking months and longer, I heard many stories of FirstPort failing residents.
As well as a chance to gather information for my ongoing efforts to hold FirstPort to account, I wanted to bring people together to share their problems with each other. I know how isolating it can feel to grapple with the faceless bureaucracy of big organisations. Sometimes sitting down over a cup of tea with people in the same boat can really lighten the load.
Ahead of the meeting, on Monday, I met Jonny Holmes, FirstPort’s Operations Director in the South West to push for updates on the many cases I’ve contacted his team about. I also recently joined a group of more than 30 Labour MPs to put our constituents’ experiences to FirstPort’s Managing Director and to demand a better and more transparent service.
While I appreciated their time, I wasn’t convinced that FirstPort understood where they were going wrong, or that they have a plan to provide a good and cost-effective service to people in Exeter.
At this meeting, MPs secured a number of concessions from FirstPort including:
- a commitment to senior management meetings with residents
- the breakdown and timely provision of bills
- clear Key Performance Indicators for service improvements and timelines for delivery
- clarity about compensation when they get things wrong
- information and evidence to allow MPs to assess the value for money FirstPort is offering
- information about pricing on related party transactions, particularly insurance
- information about FirstPort’s pricing increases compared to the market
- an outline of how falls in underlying costs will be passed on to residents
- an explanation of how value for money is ensured through their procurement processes
- an enquiry hotline for MPs
- a clear commitment on resolution timelines for most non-complex cases
- a further meeting with MPs to monitor progress
Over 60 Labour MPs are now included in this parliamentary group.
My colleagues and I will continue to push FirstPort for improvements and I will keep working with constituents who are still struggling to resolve issues with their company.
If you would like to raise any issues you have experiences with FirstPort, please do get in touch by email at steve.race.mp@parliament.uk or by writing to me at 26b Clifton Hill, Exeter EX1 2DJ.
