OpinionINTERVIEW


Our in the


WhereisBen Jordan hoping to takeARMAduring his year as chairman? LESLEYDAVIS finds out


THESE ARE EXCITING TIMES forthe AssociationofResidentialManaging Agents (ARMA). This year sees the launch of ARMA-Q, anew self-regulationregimeset to drive up standards in propertymanagement (see News p9 of this issue for more on this). For chairmanBen Jordan,thismeans ensuring “all thepieces of thejigsaware in place” to get memberstofully engage with thenew rules andbuy-intoARMA’svision. Although the schemehas nowbeen


officially launched,there is stillasignificant amount of work to be done to publicise ARMA-Q because, as Benexplains, in order for it to work to itsmaximumpotential, leaseholders need to be awareofitand understandwhatitmeans.“Thereisa communication strategy in place to publicise ARMA-Q and I hope the fact that ARMA members will be opening themselves up to independent self-regulation against a set of publishedstandards will help ensure that fewer and fewer leaseholders are prepared to appoint a non-member,” he adds.


Although morethan50% of privately


managedleaseholdflatsinEngland and Walesare runbyARMAmembers,that figurestill leaves alarge number of managing agentswho are probably unqualified and certainly unregulated –eitherbecausetheydon’t fit theARMA membership criteria or have chosen not to join.Therefore,saysBen,ARMAmust continue to marketitselftoleaseholders “...untilwereach apointwhereflat owners will only consider appointing amanaging agentiftheyareamember.”Thisobjective is somethinghewillbeworking on during the comingmonths. After years in the political wilderness,


leasehold issues are steadily gaining momentumwithinbothgovernmentand the media. Sowhilethe roll-out of ARMA-Q is his key priority, Benmust also continue to deal with other high profile issues. These include the newEnterprise and Regulatory Reform Actwhich cameinto force in April andwhich will impact on propertymanagers.


WHERENOWFOR LEASEHOLD?


WeaskedBenwhathethinksthefutureholdsforleasehold andpropertymanagement.Here’swhathehadtosay


“I do notsee leasehold legislation changingsubstantially withinthe nextfive years.Wemay seesome tweaks around theedges but I don’t envisagewholesale change. Hopefullywewill getsome legislation that will drag section 20 back towhat it is supposed to be,ratherthanwhatwehave now, postPhillips andFrancis, whichisaconfusingmess. “MyhopeisthatARMA-Qwill


provetobeamassive success to thepointwhereveryfew agents decide nottojoinARMA andcomplywiththe Consumer Charterand accompanying Standards, or better still, government decidesthatit has an off the shelf solution to statutoryregulationofthe entire sector andmakes compliance


34


withARMA’smodel compulsory. “I also think theproperty


managementsectorisripefor consolidation. I suspectwewill seemoreofthesmaller firms beingswallowedupbythe larger ones. If as expected,we see an upturn in theproperty market withinthe nextfive years,Isuspectthere will be alot ofsmallplayerswho feel their effortscan be spent more profitablyelsewhere and whobale outofthe property managementmarket. Thereare only arelatively


smallnumberoffirmswho possessthe necessaryskill settomanagesomeof thevery complicatedlarge mixeduse schemesthatare nowappearing in ourcitycentres.Asthe plant


andequipment,particularly lifesaving systems, getsmore andmorecomplicated,Itis possible thatsmaller agents mayhavetoexcusethemselves fromthismarket. “Asanindustry,weareyet to


embrace greentechnologies andsolutions.Isuspectsuch innovation will be ledbythe housebuildingindustryand wewill find ourselves having to acquireexpertiseifwe want to be considered forthe management of developments that contain suchsolutions. However Ialsothinkthatwehave aparttoplayinourownright by advising leaseholders of existing developmentsonenergysaving measures,waterharvestingand recycling schemes.”


Issue 14, Spring Flat Living


FRIEND NORTH


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