County councillor urges authority to tackle 'undemocratic' managed agencies charging residents hefty fees

The motion will be discussed at County Hall

Conservative county councillor Pinder Chauhan is set to raise a motion at Thursday’s full council meeting (March 21) at County Hall calling on MPs to raise the matter in parliament.

Her motion states: “Quite often residents are penalised and paying a second tax in newly built areas through developers establishing and allocating Managed Agencies on new developments. It is important to recognise the issue of Managed Agencies allocated by developers at a national level and the need for them to be regulated.”

She cites neighbouring Northampton Borough Council as an authority that is also trying to tackle the issue. In September the borough recognised the number of housing developments that were establishing management companies to manage and maintain open spaces with ‘no democratic oversight or accountability’.

And earlier this month they agreed a similar motion to aim for open space land on new residential developments to be transferred into the council’s ownership, and for other amenities to be built to council required standards. They were doing this in order to ‘protect residents from uncontrolled charges and poor levels of service’.

Now Councillor Chauhan is aiming to convince the county council to follow the borough’s lead.

She adds: “Northampton Borough Council, as the local planning authority for the county council and responsible for the adoption of roads, has passed a motion expressing residents’ views and concerns and are actively looking at ways to regulate Managed Agencies locally, including encouraging developers to consider all the alternatives available.

“Northamptonshire County Council, therefore, resolves to make it clear that there are significant concerns regarding the establishment of Managed Agencies. Furthermore, this motion urges our MPs to raise this matter in Parliament and to work towards regulating the issues of Managed Agencies.”

Residents’ associations have previously complained about rising maintenance fees at the Upton Meadows estate, and the Timken Estate in Duston.