Residents to take over management of housing estate

People living on a newly built housing estate said they are preparing to take over the management of the site.

Residents of Bassingbourn Fields in Fordham, Cambridgeshire, moved to take over from Bassingbourn Fields Management Company, set up by developer Bellway Homes, after being unhappy with the cost of service fees.

Traditionally local councils are responsible for maintenance of roads, parks and green spaces, but recently it has become more common for this responsibility to be given to a management company - who then charges residents for services.

James Greenall, a retired accountant, said: "We felt that those charges that they wanted to make for the management of the site were excessive."

The charges, which have been deferred because of the residents' complaints, were initially set at £165 per year in 2022 and have risen to £222 in 2026 - an increase of over a third.

"We held a meeting of the residents and they unanimously agreed that we would get rid of the management company and manage it ourselves," Greenall added.

Greenall got in touch with BBC Your Voice after reading about Marleigh Park, a housing estate in Cambridge, where the service charge has more than doubled in recent years.

Greenall, who bought his house in Bassingbourn Fields five years ago and is among the residents organising the new management company, said there were enough people living locally who had the time and the knowledge to take on the responsibility.

"We have a variety of skills, gardeners, accountants, business managers so we have the skills to look after it ourselves," Greenall said.

He said he welcomed the government's proposal to make residents managing housing estates the norm.

"The standard model should be that residents have control. They are the ones footing the bill at the end of the day," Greenall said.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said last year it wants to make it easier for residents to take over the management of their estates.

Bellway Homes said management companies were set up "due to local authorities not adopting new developments".

The BBC has approached the Bassingbourn Fields Management Company for comment.

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