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Minutes from all-residents meeting wtih Savills, 28th January

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by

rhyswjones
in

Our last all-residents meeting with Savills was held on the 28th January 2026.

Present:

  • Representatives from Savills: Lee Chapman & Aimee Wright
  • Representatives from the RAs: Oliver Parsons (SGRA), Isabel Palmer (AHRA), Rhys Fowler (AHRA), Dan Cowdrill (AHRA), Alexandros Papakostas (AHRA), Rhiannon Guy (AHRA), Rhys Jones (AHRA), Rhys Fowler (AHRA, Minutes), Philip Brassington (SGRA)


Plus ~35 residents

Welcome from the RAs

  • Ollie and Isabel (Chairs of SGRA and AHRA) welcomed everyone to the
  • meeting
  • They thanked those who participated in the campaign encouraging
  • Southwark Council to adopt the park and roads

Welcome from Savills

Lee explained how Savills works with the RAs, meeting regularly to
discuss estate and property matters every 6 weeks

Key topics from Savills including questions raised by residents in advance

  • EV charging points in the carpark – surveys undertaken to see how they can be improved (17 existing ones updated, 1 new on added). Began in February, hoping for installation in next few weeks. These have been put to Lendlease who will fund these
  • Pest control (rodents) – quarterly pest control is carried out as well as ad-hoc call outs to incidents. If you see further incidents, please let Aimee know
  • Pest control (pigeons) – birds of prey visits have proven successful. Savills have engaged with RAs across the estate, and budgeted for quarterly visit.
  • Gym upgrades – redecoration complete, air conditioning installed, and planning replacements of weights which were previously stolen. CCTV being investigated, plus also privacy screens which might hide contents of the gym from those passing by
  • Dwellant 2.0 – upgrade completed but there are some teething problems with messaging not being received. Working with Dwellant on this
  • Parcelsafe System – mixed feedback. Aimee and Concierge have been trying to improve compliance amongst delivery drivers. Please share feedback with Aimee so that we can keep improving
  • Budget versus actual (BVA) – currently budget-wise for this year running at 0.2% below budget. Last year budget was £2.7m, but currently tracking £2m spend. Caveat that reconciliation still needs to be done.
  • M&E person – now have a person contracted to the site moving between all M&E needs. Confident this is more affordable than individual call outsto a supplier.

Questions arising / AOB

  • Question related to size of underspend and recent S20 letter. And when can we expect reconciliation?
  • Lee advised costs advised in the letter were total budget plus 5% to protect the service charge, but it is not a demand or a position of expenditure.
    • Unsure when accounts will be settled – a lot hinges upon Firstport’s (previously Mainstay) unresponsiveness. Lendlease are now instructing solicitors to compel action from Firstport
    • Accounts have to be completed before refunds can be issued for any underspend
  • Question about continuous narrative of estate costs reducing as more apartments come online
    • Action Savills: to investigate
  • Question about fairness of public spaces being funded by leaseholders
    • Lee supports this campaign and perspective and is willing to add Savills’ voice
    • Savills are also looking for ways to reduce costs by negotiating with Southwark Council on facilities such as leaf disposal
  • Question about a broken window
    • Savills will take offline with the resident who raised the question