“I'm trying to buy a flat in a development managed by First Port. We (me and the seller) have been waiting for months for them to reply to the solicitors enquiries and still no reply. I'm going to give up on the purchase.”
“The estimates of the roof works cost ranged from £49,800 to £95,130. The cost was to be shared between 8 flats. We paid our share stipulated as £5560.25. FirstPort later refunded it due them breaking the lease. They charged us instead by increasing the reserve fund.
*If they just increased our reserve fund share by the £5560.25 stipulated as our proportion on 2021-12-07; that would have been acceptable, instead they increased our reserve fund contributions by 714%. Our service charges thus increased by £6782.58 in 2023, and by £7405.14 in 2024 – a total increase of £14,187.12.
We are one of 8 flats, if every flat pays this increase, this is a total of £113,501.76, which is double the maximum estimate of £95,130 required for the major roof works.”
“Absolute dreadful company. They have left a number of over 90s in damp conditions with water running down their walls and through their electric lights for 13 MONTHS after a bad job replacing decking . No thought what so ever for the conditions these elderly people are having to put up with in their owned flats. Buckets out having to move out of their bedrooms. Still the Saga goes on.
DO NOT CONSIDER BUYING ANYTHING FIRSTPORT MANAGE.”
“They simply ignore requests for basic information, including about the money they are supposed to be holding for leaseholders. They have been caught several times overcharging. How come nobody goes to prison for this? If I steal money I expect to be prosecuted, but they keep doing it, and they seem to get away with it. Amazing!”
“They do absolutely nothing but ask you for money! They never follow up reports, fix anything just close them down and don't even get notified they closed report. They dont close them because they have corrected/fixed anything, just because they can.”
“The property manager will not phone you back she’s always on annual leave
My service charge has gone up by 90 %
They do nothing !
I pay a window cleaner
I’ve no communal area
And do my own bit of garden
I’m going to a tribunal
Or paying for legal advice
Their not getting away with it
People need to put up a fight”
“If I could give a 0 I would.
Unfortunately I am still going through the ordeal with FirstPort. I am or was in the process of selling my flat and needed the management to complete the sale. Could I, my solicitor or Riverside get through to FirstPort. We requested the pack in June and it's now nearly October. The buyer is looking to pull out now and I'm thousands of pounds down due to increase mortgage and bills (and paying for 2 places). I have told FirstPort I am unable to afford Childcare while they are holding things up. Firstport do not realise behind their computer screens there's people struggling, Financially and mentally. This has caused me so much anxiety and stress. I have no idea how to get out of this blackhole now.”
“FirstPort is our management company in Hampton ... and they caused delays with our purchase and the solicitors couldn't exchange until we'd heard back from them. They are now doing the same with our neighbours who are selling ... not replying to their solicitors "enquiries". Am going to report them to the Property Ombudsman as they don't seem to be accountable to anyone.”
“Could not agree more with everything everyone else has said. They are responsible for Rivermill in Currie. Appalling in all respects. I have now refused to pay my fees in the hope they may pay some attention.”
“I would feel extremely ashamed and embarrassed if I worked for FirstPort. An absolutely useless company that is focussed on robbing already stretched individuals in return for absolutely nothing other than a person who occasionally pops into tick a sheet on the wall that necessary checks have been done.
Meanwhile the issues experienced include:
- An extremely filthy exterior of the building
- Overflowing garbage bins
- Filthy external windows (because apparently they expect people who live on the top floor to clean their own windows externally)
- Extremely filthy carpets which were cleaned out by the previous Property Management company, who although were not good, they were extremely responsive to all the issues mentioned above.
- A broken front door which can be accessed by anyone- they think they have fixed it, but they have not.”
“I am extremely disappointed with the property management services provided by FirstPort. The level of neglect surrounding my property is appalling, with decayed conditions and dying plants left unaddressed for an unacceptable period. Despite numerous attempts to communicate and seek resolution, the management company has consistently failed to respond or take any meaningful action.
Furthermore, a section of the hedge was destroyed by their gardeners, and the management company has failed to replace it, leaving a significant gap that further worsens the appearance of the property.
What is even more concerning is the presence of a large branch from the Oak tree on the property that appears to be half broken. Despite multiple reports and pleas for action, the management company has entirely ignored this potential safety hazard. This poses a significant risk of injury or even death to residents or visitors should the branch fall at any time.
Attempting to escalate these issues with the property manager was met with the same lack of response and urgency, leaving me no choice but to seek intervention from external authorities.
Overall, I cannot recommend FirstPort to anyone, as they continuously fail to meet basic expectations and uphold their commitments. The neglect, broken promises and lack of accountability makes me wonder how a company like this is allowed to operate at all.”
“I bought my property in August, still received no correspondence from them- I assume they want paying for the service charges. I have emailed them numerous times and my solicitor has re-sent them the relevant forms which they claimed they hadn't received (they were sent on completion). I'm still getting correspondence to my address addressed to the old owners, I keep returning to sender but I am assuming these are the invoices that should be coming to me. I wouldn't mind as it means I haven't paid anything yet but after reading other reviews about bailiffs being instructed I really don't want that happening to me when I have been trying to get an account set up ever since I moved in nearly a year ago- I certainly won't be paying any late payment/ bailiff fees if these are charged as I have evidence of trying to get these bills.”
“If I could score into minus's, that would have been my first option. I have had the misfortune of dealing with this woeful Organization since 2009, under their range of guises, Peverel, Solitaire, OM Property Management and now First Port. Same shambles, and the same appalling approach to dealing with their customers. Management and service fees are as transparent as frozen mud. I urge anyone who has the pain of dealing with First Port to speak to your local Member of Parliament, so that they can at lease pursue your matter via "Levelling Up"”
“Currently living in Porterbrook 2, Sheffield which is managed by this company. Will be leaving in a few months in big part because of them. It is absolutely impossible to get anything fixed or get in touch with anyone who manages this building. A water leak has been destroying walls on the top floor for weeks and no action has been taken which is hardly surprising when the ceiling of the first floor hallways have been collapsed in with water damage since last year. The lift breaks constantly and there is zero airflow through the building so you're climbing 10 sets of stairs easily reaching 35 degrees in temperature on a warm day. If you need to access your electric meter, just forget about it. There is no one who officially checks the meters even though your letting agent will tell you there is. The fire alarm used to go off for 24 hours at a time as it was faulty (cutting off all hot water and heating to the building) and was not fixed until the council got involved and a warning was issued by the local fire department. But no amount of tenants calling FirstPort was enough for them to fix it, even after a year had passed with the alarm blaring for 24 hours+ once every couple of weeks. I feel like living here has been a psychological experiment because of the things FirstPort will put you through that in any other building would be important matters sorted the same day or at least within a few days. FirstPort make their money by pocketing whats left of the allowance for repairs at the end of the year and they are happy to pocket every single penny of that instead of doing literally a single thing. Do not rent in a building managed by this company unless your option is homelessness and under no circumstances purchase a property being managed by this company. From what I've heard its next to impossible to get it sold when you realise what you've done and want to leave as FirstPort won't give you any paperwork you need to get that done. Absolutely criminal company, will most definitely go under with lawsuits within the next 10 years”
“They really are the worst, recently have had no running water for 4 days (not the first time). First Port have been increasingly neglectful over 5 years in charge of our building, amounting to corruption. A constant rotation of new 'property Manager' fodder take the brunt of the residents' despair. We are currently taking legal action.”
