We are a group of leaseholders that own properties within Victoria Wharf, Cardiff and are tired of having our property managed by FirstPort. The doubling in costs, the slow remediation work, lack of visibility of progress and the snail’s pace of the cladding upgrade have all led us to believe that we would be far better off both financially and emotionally under a new management team. We want to return this site to the one that we all bought into originally, one that is run by the owners for the benefit to all that live here.
That is why we have formed a company to take over the day-to-day running of the site and are working with a professional, local, managing agent to take back full control of these grounds. However, we need 75% of leaseholders to agree, which is where, if you are a leaseholder, or know someone that owns a property in Victoria Wharf, we need your support. We are so close but need a few more of you to fill in these 3 simple documents. Don’t worry you are not signing over any control on your flat, it is just that we need your permission to remove the current management company. Sign up to regain control and save your hard-earned cash.
The main reasons to change from FirstPort to a local management company is to take back control of our site. We want to be able to choose who runs and manages our grounds and our homes.
Lack of financial visibility, and a general sense that the site is not being run for the benefit of those that live here is obvious. By having a Victoria Wharf committee run by owners, we will be able to appoint a new management company and constantly oversee their progress, and carry out yearly assessments – with the right to reappoint new management if necessary, without having to go through this process again.
Other benefits we aim to achieve with this greater insight is to reduce costs, improve responsiveness and service quality, increase personal engagement and control, and ultimately receive management tailored to our local needs and community preference.
Changing from FirstPort, a larger national property management company, to a local management company is desirable for several reasons:
What are Residents’ Management Companies (RMCs)? An RMC is usually a party to the lease (along with the freeholder), with the leaseholders as shareholders in the company. When someone sells their flat, their share will pass to the new owner. Residents can become directors of their RMC (usually on a volunteer basis) if they are nominated by other shareholders. The resident management company (in our case Victoria Wharf Company) directors’ responsibilities are to manage the property on behalf of the freeholder and have control over service charge expenditure. RMCs do not own the freehold.
What is Right to Manage (RTM)? Right to Manage is a legal process that enables leaseholders to acquire the right to take over the management of the freehold. RTM is often pursued by leaseholders where there is no RMC in place or where the leaseholders are not happy with the standard of management.
As with anything, there are pros and cons to Right to Manage. An RTM must adopt specific articles of association and must be a company limited by guarantee, and leaseholders are company members rather than shareholders. Like RMCs, when a member of an RTM company sells their flat, they must resign from the company, and the incoming flat owner takes their place.If we go down the RTM route, we must have 7 different companies as we have 7 different buildings. We also may not be able to manage the estate, outside of the buildings which is where the vast majority of costs are incurred. The RMC will allow us to take all the buildings and estate in the control of one company.
Why do we want to manage ourselves?
We don’t necessarily want to take control of the day-to-day ourselves. We want to choose who runs the site on our behalf, set our own budget, set our own priorities and have someone report to us and take instructions from us.
We know we can get the remedial work done more quickly, reduce the budget and improve the service on site.
Whilst we can’t guarantee the service charge will be reduced, we have investigated the comparable costs seen on local sites around us. We have obtained various invoices such as the managing agent, repairs and electricity and feel that if applied here it will make what we are paying significantly cheaper. How can you ensure my costs only rise by a reasonable amount
There are always unexpected events, but we will put in place long term plans based on the condition of the building and what needs to be done to spread out the cost. The directors of the new management company all own flats in the building so we also don’t want sudden increases.
We will carry out a transaction analysis to ensure all funds are transferred. The managing agent we have chosen is experienced and has worked with a team where First Port initially didn’t transfer all funds but after their work has transferred the remainder.
It is the duty of the management company to follow the lease. However, we commit to ensuring that everyone who pays monthly will be able to do so for the foreseeable future.
You will get a better managed site and improved living space, accompany that with the potential to reduce the maintenance costs meaning would ultimately make the site a better investment for you and a better experience for your tenant.
Ground rents would stay the same based on the terms of your lease.
Sign a participation agreement, an agreement to transfer and an agreement for the example deed of variation
Signing a participation agreement means you become part of the company that is going to control the management of the site. Your liability is limited to £1 and you don’t have to do anything more if you don’t want to. However, the company will hold AGM’s for the leaseholders to attend and if you want to do more then you can be elected as a director of the board. Please let us know if you are interested in that role.
There will be a small variation to your lease which just changes who can collect funds and do the works on site. It will mean that the people that own there can have much more control on who does what and how much it costs.
Your rights as a leaseholder will not change. There will however be a variation to the lease if and when the transfer occurs, simply to remove Firstport as your Managing Agent and to instate Victoria Wharf Management Company Limited as your
The cost of running the RMC will come out of the service charges but this will be a few hundred pounds a year which is negligible for the amount of money it will save.
Your lease would be revised as part of the lease variation, however if you weren't to sign, you would not be part of the new management company, Victoria Wharf Management Company Limited, and therefore wouldn't hold any voting rights on decision making matters, particularly at AGM's. Therefore, if and when the transfer were to occur, it would be in your best interest to at least sign the participation agreement.
Send your details here [needs link] and someone will contact you.
Any leaseholder who has signed up to the management company can become a director. If two owners of the same flat wish to both become directors you will only have one vote.
Yes, they can vote on their election at an AGM.
Yes, there will be an AGM where director elections can take place and leaseholders can feed back their views and opinions to the directors and vote on resolutions of the company.
Staff on site that spend all or the majority of their time working on Victoria Wharf will be TUPE’d and become a staff member of the new managing agent if they want to. If not we will appoint new staff.
The issues with FirstPort are well documented in the press. We are also aware of sites that have had financial mismanagement and little transparency over costs. FirstPort have been given plenty of opportunities to improve over the years but have not.
Firstport would have nothing to do with Victoria Wharf going forward. They do not own the freehold, they are just a managing agent and the freeholder stays the same.
Seraph were one of 5 companies that a group of leaseholders met. They also presented online and in person to a large group of leaseholders and answered questions. Seraph are local, they have the track record of delivery locally and understand large and complex buildings. They were also highly competitive and open to different ways of working.
Seraph would be contracted for 1 year, at which point we can review their performance and if agreed at the AGM choose a new managing agent or continue with them
Seraph is completely independent of the freeholder and the developer. They have worked on buildings that have required extensive works due to fire safety and were recently involved in a successful case against a major developer which resulted in the remediation being paid for and substantial funds returned to the leaseholders. They were also a pilot managing agent for orphan building schemes where the developer could no longer be held to account and the Welsh Government were covering the cost for remedial works.
Seraph will be accountable to the VWMC board. We have agreed what activities they will carry out and their expected service levels. We will meet with them regularly as a board and they will report to the board which will include all financial reports.
We have confirmed that Seraph will hold our funds in a designated client account. We will agree a budget annually for Seraph to instruct works on our behalf on a regular basis and they will be given maximum amounts they can spend before they consult with us directly. We will have instant access to all invoices that receive on our behalf. Seraph are also fully insured and members of an Ombudsman. The very big difference if they aren’t transparent and accountable, we can dispose of their services which we can’t do with FirstPort now.
Absolutely. The owner of the company has been at presentation events and regularly meets with the board and has spoken to many leaseholders.
If you are an owner and want to sign up, or know someone who is, please visit our Referral Page.