They claim maintenance problems are being ignored while they’re collectively charged £21,112 a year
Rochester ‘taken for a ride’ being ‘billed thousands for imaginary services’(Image: )
Residents of a Rochester estate say they are being charged more than £21,000 a year for ‘imaginary’ services; including terrorism insurance and lift maintenance for buildings that don’t have lifts.
Controversial management company FirstPort has come under fire yet again from housing estate residents who say they’re being taken for a ride. People living in Moat Lane, Upnor, near Rochester, are accusing the firm of being “all admin, no action”.
They claim maintenance problems are being ignored while they’re collectively charged £21,112 a year for services, including a non-existent lift and terrorism insurance, costing £13.
Among the main concerns are the company’s failure to fix fencing which started leaning over back in 2022. A landslip made this worse, but rather than deal with the problem, temporary metal fencing was put in front of it instead. Decade-long resident Sharon Massey slammed FirstPort, saying: “It’s just complete neglect, they’re all admin, no action. We pay maintenance charges and all we actually see is grass being cut.”
The 59-year-old added: “Only £8,000 is actually itemised for things like grass cutting. The rest, probably most of it, is just their staffing costs and even a terrorism cover charge. What we actually pay for and what we can see being done with our money is very different.” The fencing is right next to her home and went completely unattended until the landslip in 2023.
She said: “It has been there now for three years and they have only ever come back and stood next to our neighbour’s property to look at the damage. They’ve never done any checks to see what needs to be done. They tell us they’re going to do something, but nothing ever happens, they just kick it down the road every time. They send out letters saying ‘we’re charging you for maintaining lifts or cleaning windows’ when we clearly don’t have that on this estate, it’s just their lack of care for us as residents.”
FirstPort is the country’s largest property management firm with contracts to manage thousands of estates. Fellow resident Claire Yorke says problems pre-date her arrival eight years ago.
She said: “When we first moved in, we had massive delays on the house due to the fact FirstPort wanted £3,000 from the previous tenant as she hadn’t paid because she’d had problems with them. Gradually, the management fee has really gone up, but we’ve seen little or no work. Occasionally, they’ll come out and cut the grass and use a leafblower.”
All the homes on the estate pay different amounts towards the annual fee, but she said hers for 2025 was £306, up from £209 in 2023 – with a late payment charge of £85 if not settled quickly enough.
The 50-year-old added: “I personally believe property management should be stopped completely – it’s a licence to print money. They’re just taking from people for doing next to nothing.”
Legally, residents have a right to appoint their own management company if enough of them vote for it. As previously reported, FirstPort has come under fire in the county of late.
Residents of Faversham Lakes, St Clement’s Lakes in Greenhithe, Nelson View in Greenhithe, and Unicorn Walk in Greenhithe have given the firm the boot after reporting similar issues.
Addressing the Moat Lane complaints, a FirstPort spokesman said: “Our priority is to ensure the areas we manage remain safe and well-maintained. While there have been delays as we determined responsibility for the fence repair, this is now progressing. We will be meeting with residents to discuss the next steps for completing the fence replacement.”
The firm added that service charge cost estimates are calculated and set at the beginning of each year, factoring in the work and maintenance planned for the development over the next 12 months.
An administrative error in the letter accompanying this year’s cost estimate incorrectly referenced window cleaning.
The property manager assured residents that no service charge costs have been applied for this service at the development.
