PRESS RELEASE FROM ALISTAIR STRATHERN MP
FRIDAY 7th FEBRUARY 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alistair Strathern, MP for the Hitchin constituency, has condemned the estate management company FirstPort for their poor treatment of residents at retirement home in Hitchin.
Strathern visited Harrison Court, Hitchin this week to hear residents’ stories and offer assistance.
Residents of the court relayed to Mr Strathern some of their shocking experiences in recent years, including saving themselves a reported £80,000 from FirstPort bills by finding themselves other contractors and challenging the true necessity of works. In one example shared by the residents with Mr Strathern, FirstPort had quoted residents c. £20,000 pounds for roof repairs, only for a local Hitchin business they called out to price the works at £2000.
As a result, residents have tried to break away from their managing agent, and manage themselves. But their landlord, Estates and Management (E&M), which residents believe has significant ties to FirstPort, has tried to block them from choosing their own management company.
Strathern has written to FirstPort and E&M to voice his concerns on behalf of the residents. He has also written to the Housing Minister to share the resident’s experiences.
Mr Strathern is a longstanding campaigner on leasehold issues and rogue managing agents. He has frequently campaigned on for stronger legislation to protect and empower residents, including on the Leasehold and Freehold Bill committee in the last parliament. Earlier this year he joined forces with other Labour MPs to summon FirstPort directors to Parliament and challenge them about their poor management practices on local estates.
Alistair Strathern MP said:
“I have met with so many estates in my constituency, just like Harrison Court, facing rogue, unaccountable estate management companies.
“It was deeply frustrating and shocking to hear from Harrison Court’s residents the way in which they have been treated, but by banding together they have been able to resist some of the most excessive bills from FirstPort.
“They should not have do this, though. I will continue to campaign for the reforms we need locally and nationally to finally put the power in the hand of residents, not management companies.”
Notes for Editors
You can see a picture of Strathern outside Harrison Court, attached.
You can see Strathern speaking about management companies in Parliament, as part of his campaign for reforms, here
Strathern has joined a cross-party group in Parliament working together to tackle this issue. They recently grilled FirstPort’s managing director. See here.
Since becoming an MP in 2023, Strathern has been campaigning on this issue. He successfully pushed for a commitment to be in Labour’s manifesto to regulate leasehold, for residents like those at Harrison Court.
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