London calling for fast-growing property firm

Property management firm Common Ground is continuing its rapid expansion after opening a London office.

The business now manages more than 2,700 properties – a rise of more than 50 per cent over the last year – and that figure is set to continue to grow as it taps into the capital’s burgeoning market.

Managing director Alan Draper said: “London is a huge market – the ten mile range around our new Ealing office is a bigger market alone than the work we have across the Thames Valley.

“We noticed we were starting to receive enquiries from much further afield, particularly north and west London and we are already managing buildings in Denham and Uxbridge while we have just taken on a big development of 70 properties in Hayes.

“We also have staff based in London, so the new office is a natural progression, and we needed a physical presence for customers inside the M25.”

Common Ground is currently managing 97 sites across 2,142 flats and 609 houses with its geographical reach expanding across Swindon, Kent, Reading, Windsor and Surrey as well as growth continuing in its original territories of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

It also has offices in Henley on Thames and Oxford with staff numbers growing from eight to 13 in the last year and it is currently looking to recruit a Credit Controller/Accounts Assistant at the Henley office.

Alan says transparency is at the heart of the firm’s success and he has actively campaigned for leaseholders’ rights, attaining accreditation from the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership (LKP) charity.

The LKP is dedicated to advising leaseholders on the perils and pitfalls of the leasehold system, showing them how to succeed against corporate self-interest in the form of management contracts issued by housebuilders or large-scale freehold investors.

Alan has actively campaigned for leasehold and commonhold reform and wants existing leaseholders to be allowed to take back control of their service provider and fees.

He added: “Common Ground provides a completely transparent service with customers able to view our accounts and see what we are doing is right. Unlike other managing agents we are honest, and we can prove it.”