MONTGOMERY HOUSE
Montgomery House Is The Proof That We Deliver Exceptional Results, No Matter The Circumstance
The Development
Montgomery House is an HMO (house in multiple occupation) of 232 residential units with shared kitchen and toilet facilities. There is a main building with a gymnasium and a main common room and a smaller annex building. The two buildings sit just across the from the popular Victorian Alexander Park in South Manchester.
The larger of the two buildings has great historical significance. It was formally a YMCA hostel, being opened in 1950 by Field Marshall Montgomery himself. Many of the rooms were sponsored by families of those killed in WW2 and local companies who lost employees in that war. Plaques, long removed, were place beside the door of each room naming those in whose name the room was funded.
The Issues
Upon LandsmoorCarr’s takeover of the management of the site, the deterioration of the buildings, and of the community was plain to see. The gardens had overgrown, there were leaks in the roofing and floods in the basement boiler room. There was general dissatisfaction from leaseholders and low tenancy rates.
Various schemes to reduce homelessness, poor tenant checks by leaseholders and limited management communications with local agencies had resulted in difficult and vulnerable residents that needed professional support but were left to fend for themselves in the tenant mix.
Overall, there was a huge loss of faith in the management. Little had been done to fix the problems brought about by the long periods of neglect the Landlord’s assets had endured. There was a loss of confidence and consequently, a rush to sell units. Service charges were not paid causing a serious decline in cash flow and an increase in Leaseholder debt. Without the necessary injection of money, Montgomery House was becoming impossible to maintain.
To add to the woes of Montgomery House, Manchester City Housing issued two improvement notices on the buildings.
The Approach
LandsmoorCarr’s approach was to reinstall the faith in the management. This begun with the introduction of a new onsite team where the focus was to deliver an attentive, hands-on service. Greatly improved communications with all stake-holders and, an open-door policy was instrumental in the resurgence of better relations between the management team, tenants, and leaseholders.
In the background, urgent maintenance, and preventative measures were being undertaken. The main building roof was repaired to stop leakage on to the third floor. New pumps were installed in the basement bailer room. Leaky rain pipes were replaced. The Annex door was replaced and the pathway leading to the Annex building was re-paved to prevent accidents from broken flags. A huge effort was focused on all areas in dire need of attention.
With a determined team, meeting minimum statutory requirements was the priority. Improving facilities continues to be our main focus. Achieving two marks higher in the Health & Safety audit than the previous site management was just one of our many successes. To satisfy the Improvement Notices, a new cutting-edge fire alarm system was installed, 25 old wire glass fire doors replaced, and residential unit doors upgraded with new seals.
To deal with the troublesome and difficult tenants, Landsmoor Carr became involved with the police and other support agencies on a day to day basis to help deal with trouble making and vulnerable tenants. In other instances, co-operating with leaseholders to create comprehensive strategies and better vetting of potential tenants was key to the solution.
Now at Montgomery House, residents enjoy a more tranquil environment with the enforcement of new “House Rules”. This has dramatically reduced noise issues, the smoking of cannabis in rooms and verbal abuse to vulnerable residents. Leaseholder debt is reducing, and freeholder loans will be paid back.
The Outcome
Montgomery House now embodies a development in-which leaseholders and tenants alike can have faith in. With rental values and associated asset values steadily increasing, occupancy is at an all-time high. There is a lot of appreciation from long term stakeholders who talk of the ‘turn around’ of the accommodation and ‘excellent customer service’ from the onsite team. With more plans in the pipeline, we hope that we can eventually restore the accommodation to a modern standard that matches the ideals of founders back in the 1950s.
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