This is often referred to as the estate, which all properties on the development will contribute to. Your Property Manager will ensure that an annual order is in place with a gardening or landscaping company for them to attend periodically throughout the year.

There may also be reactive repairs raised for ad-hoc works that are not regular enough to be included within the annual order (jet washing of pathways, etc). Sign up to My Home to view the annual orders raised and check the contractors’ attendance dates.

In some instances, there may be areas of the estate owned by a third party, as the local council, meaning they will not be maintained by FirstPort. For any information regarding this land, you will need to contact their owners or managing agent.

Residents in independent retirement living developments may be able to plant flowers or shrubs in the communal garden, so if you are a keen gardener please get in touch with your Development Manager.

Our supply chain process is rigorous at both a national and local level to make sure each service provides value for money and can be maintained for the long-term and in line with rising regulatory standards in areas like building safety and health and safety. 

We operate a multi-stage process:  

1. Registration

To register as an approved FirstPort supplier, businesses or sole traders must have a SafeContractor ‘Safety Schemes in Procurement’ accreditation from the Health and Safety Executive, pass the relevant credit checks, and provide proof of the necessary trade qualifications. This is a base-level requirement, with further assessments made for specialist trades or services as needed.   

2. Tendering

Depending on the nature of the work, jobs are tendered to multiple approved suppliers and to suppliers that have been nominated by homeowners:  

• For approved suppliers (these can be national or local scale), pricing is agreed through a competitive tender process, with these prices locked for as long as possible to benefit homeowners. Proposed prices are compared against the existing rates, and we perform wider research to determine the average cost within the UK for the trade or service being provided. If any supplier is charging higher than the average, we negotiate with them to bring this down. As the pricing is locked for the duration of the framework, this protects homeowners from increases due to unforeseen circumstances, such as increases in inflation.
• We also carry out ad-hoc benchmarking. For example, if we identify a supplier charging lower rates than an existing approved FirstPort supplier. We then approach the approved supplier to ask them to match the cheaper rates that have been identified.

3. Ongoing review

Operational staff regularly review supplier performance. Where suppliers are failing to meet the expected standards agreed at the tender stage, they are given the opportunity to improve their performance. If no improvements are seen, they are removed from the job or may be removed from our supply chain.  

If you are an owner of the property and require a new key or fob, you will need to get in touch with our Customer Services team who will complete our internal security checks and then ask our approved locksmith specialist to help with your request. Once we have passed your request to them they will take payment over the phone by credit or debit card and arrange for your new key/fob to be sent recorded delivery.

Customers that live on a development with site staff, you will be able to collect your key/fob from the onsite office. The onsite office may also be able to take your payment so check with them beforehand.

If you are a tenant or are acting on behalf of the owner, we will need their authority in writing to confirm that they are happy for you to purchase a key or a fob. If you do not have direct contact with your landlord, speak with your letting agent for assistance.

If you are an owner providing authority for a tenant or somebody acting on your behalf, please specify whether you are authorising for one time only or for any future occasions that a key or fob is required.

• Communal equipment repairs: if communal equipment – such as the lift – develops a fault, we have a 24-hour emergency call-out facility to solve the problem. 
• Major works: there may be associated costs for larger repairs or essential maintenance work. Residents will always be consulted before works are carried out. 
• Estimates for major repairs: we aim to obtain at least three estimates for any proposed repair work. Residents may also nominate their own contractor. 
• Your right to comment: we always take your views into account and any resident has 30 days from the date of the notice to comment on the proposed repairs.

If you have any concerns about repairs or maintenance, you can get in touch with us on our customer services page and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Maintaining door entry systems, as well as communal internal and external doors, may be covered by your service charge. Door entry systems may be covered by an annual contract and they are maintained to a high standard. All other doors are checked regularly to ensure they are working correctly.

2. Normal and emergency lighting

Emergency lighting is covered by an annual contract and is serviced regularly to ensure you are safe at all times. Internal and external lights, where applicable, are checked and maintained on an ad-hoc basis and will be fixed as a priority if needed. If you notice a light bulb is not working properly please inform your onsite FirstPort staff member and we will ensure the cleaners make the change on their next visit.

If you do not have an onsite FirstPort member of staff, please contact our Customer Services team.

Our role is to manage and maintain the building structure and the common areas/facilities within your development. This excludes anything within the four walls of your own individual property – this is your own responsibility or that of the actual owner if you rent it.

2. Who cleans and maintains the communal areas?

Communal cleaning is carried out by contracted cleaners we appoint on your behalf. The cleaners will be dedicated to your communal areas and will clean regularly all communal corridors, stairwells, and windowsills. If you have any queries in relation to the cleaning within your development, please do not hesitate to contact us.

• We are responsible for managing the maintenance and upkeep of communal areas.
• We arrange for contract gardeners to maintain the grounds and gardens.
• We always aim to provide an attractive environment for you to enjoy.

If you have any suggestions about the communal areas, please speak to your onsite FirstPort staff member.

3. Do you look after the window cleaning?

If stated in your Deed of Conditions, contract window cleaners carry out your external window cleaning. They also clean the internal windows in the communal areas.

• For residents in independent retirement living developments please get in touch with your Development Manager for details.
• For residents in general residential developments without on-site staff please get in touch with our Customer Services team.

If you live on the third floor or above, window cleaners may need to come into your flat to clean the outside window surfaces from the inside. Your Development Manager will be able to tell you if this needs to be done.

4. Who looks after the gardens on my development?

Garden maintenance is normally carried out by external contractors. For residents in independent retirement living developments who are keen gardeners, get in touch with your Development Manager as it may be possible to plant flowers or shrubs in the garden. Unfortunately, we cannot make any provision for items such as greenhouses, sheds or vegetable gardens. For all enquiries, please speak to your on-site FirstPort member of staff or contact our Customer Services team.

5. The bins area is messy, so who can I contact?

Within your development, you will have a refuse collection area (often referred to as a bin store). This is a communal area and is managed and maintained by us. We do really appreciate your help in keeping this area as tidy as possible.

• Please continue to put everything in sealed plastic sacks.
• Please put the sacks in the bins in the refuse area.
• Please make sure the lids of the bins are shut afterward.
• If you’ve got an external bin-store with a door, please shut it behind you so it doesn’t slam and get damaged.
• If you’ve got any big rubbish (old electrical items, furniture), please take it to the local tip or ask the council to dispose of it for you. If we have to get it removed, we have to charge everyone in your block or development.

In our drive to improve our service standards and deliver value for money, our procurement team selected eight lift maintenance suppliers in September 2017 following a comprehensive tendering process.

The contracts were awarded to:

• Ace Lifts
• Amalgamated lifts
• Orona
• Otis
• P.I.P
• Stour Lifts
• Pickerings Lifts
• ELA
• ThyssenKrupp

The lift contracts are fully comprehensive.

Other lift contractors may be used for new build developments chosen by the developer, in general, these contracts typically are for one year.

The welfare and wellbeing of our residents is always our most important concern. The onsite Development Manager will keep residents fully informed throughout a lift outage and help those residents who rely heavily on the lift with shopping and day-to-day tasks.

If I spot a leak into my property from the flat above, what should I do?

• For residents in independent retirement, living developments let your Development Manager know straight away.
• For residents in general residential developments without on-site FirstPort staff quite often, your neighbour will be unaware of a fault and so knocking on, or dropping a note through the door to let them know means they could rectify the problem straight away.

If you need our help contacting the owner of the property, please get in touch with your Customer Services team.

If there is any damage caused to your property and you need to make a claim on the block buildings insurance, we can help, please get in touch with your Customer Services team.

You should be aware that there are different types of ownership and use regarding parking allocations that will be outlined in your Lease, Transfer document or, in Scotland, the Deed of Conditions. Some people own a bay, have a right to use an allocated bay or have a shared use which works on a first come, first served basis, and this will affect the actions to be taken in the event of a parking problem.

If you do encounter a problem we’d recommend that you park your own vehicle safely avoiding further obstructions, leaving a polite note on the offending vehicle as a first approach.

Car parking arrangements can vary from development to development:

• For residents in independent retirement living developments please get in touch with your Development Manager
• For residents in general residential developments without on-site staff please get in touch with your Customer Services team

Your relatives and visitors should use the visitor parking area (if provided on your developments) and, when this is full, please ask them to park elsewhere. Parking restrictions may apply on some estates or developments near town centres and other locations.

Freehold properties tend to have their own wheelie bins which the council should also collect.

Bin stores are not an area for fly-tipping large items. Not only could this pose a fire risk, but the cost of the service charge will also have to cover the removal of these items. If we identify the property that has dumped the items, the owner will be charged directly. Your local council should offer a collection of large items for a small fee.

If you are an owner and your bin store has a code on which you do not know, please get in touch with our Customer Services team who will be able to advise.

If you are a tenant and do not know the code, please consult with your landlord in the first instance as authorisation will be required from them in order to provide the information to you directly.