Residents of the Colindale estate pushed landlord Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) to take legal action after claims the management company director ignored their requests for transparency and collaboration, reports Leïla Davaud

Adastral Village (credit Fiona Cameron)

“We are being held hostage,” declares Fiona Cameron, spokesperson for the Adastral Village South residents action group. With a number of neighbours by her side, Fiona has been relentlessly pushing for a drastic change in how the estate is managed.

She explains: “Decades ago, landlord Notting Hill Genesis set up a resident management company (RMC) called Adastral Village South Residents Ltd. They said it was for us to have a say in how the estate was taken care of, alongside management company BLR.”

In theory, a certain number of residents are supposed to be part of the RMC. “However, some paid for their membership but never got their certificate. And when they did, they still didn’t get a say,” she highlights.

This is exactly what Kamal Shah, a freeholder on the estate, has been going through. “I am supposed to be a member of the RMC. In 21 years that I have lived on the estate, I have never been informed of a single meeting.”

Frustrated, he adds: “NHG removed themselves from the board of the RMC very early on, leaving a sole director in charge who has remained unanswerable to residents. As a member, I am asking for an EGM and a new board.”

To achieve that, residents requested the membership list from John Galliers, RMC director, who until recently was also a director at BLR, in order to establish who could get involved and organise an emergency meeting. Fiona Cameron recounts: “He simply ignored us.” What followed were long months of pressing NHG to help them acquire the list.

“It took them 15 years, but NHG finally came through and started legal action. On the 16th of March, the court ordered the RMC and John Galliers to hand over the list,” one of the residents announces. “But it backfired for a moment. It was said that legal fees would have to be paid by the RMC, of which residents are technically still a part.”

A Notting Hill Genesis spokesperson told Barnet Post: “We work closely with resident management companies (RMCs) across our portfolio and have engaged with Adastral Village South Residents Limited over two years to obtain the list of members. Reluctantly, we had no choice but to take legal action to order the information be disclosed, which has now happened.

They added: “We did incur legal costs in obtaining the list, and the court ordered this to be paid by the RMC and not the residents. However, we do not intend to pursue the RMC for these costs, and the RMC are not legally able to pursue residents for those costs, so this legal action has no financial impact on them. This was a purely administrative compliance issue and has no detrimental impact on the day-to-day management of the estate.”

“Currently, there is one sole director. That arrangement does not offer residents the opportunity to democratically make decisions about the maintenance of their estate and buildings. Using the list of more than 170 residents provided to us, we will this week write to all members about how they would like to be involved in the RMC and the future running of the Adastral Village South.”

While waiting for the list to be shared with them, residents are not standing down. Robert Williams, a leaseholder on the estate, sums up years of feeling let down: “We have been unrepresented by design, underserved to line pockets, and only when threatened with litigation will they so much as raise a finger. I’ve lived here for eight years, we’ve never had an AGM despite asking repeatedly, never had a query responded to, and all issues are pingponged between NHG and BLR and never addressed.”

Kamal Shah echoes the frustration: “After NHG left the RMC, our service charges increased by 30%. Ever since, we have been paying our charges while barely anything was done to the estate. We have been asking for invoices and proof of work, but before that was sent to us, we received our 2026 service charges, another 30% increase. We are also told the sink fund is empty. How was it spent? We need answers. Now.”

In response to residents’ mismanagement claims, a BLR spokesperson said: “Following the acquisition of BLR Property Management in December 2025, a number of historical management and maintenance issues at Adastral Village came to light that were not fully apparent prior to the purchase.”

“In response, the new leadership team moved quickly to take corrective action, including placing a new property manager to oversee the estate, replacing all existing cleaning and grounds maintenance contracts, and introducing a more hands-on approach with regular weekly site visits and direct engagement with residents.”

On the subject of service charges, BLR added: “The service charge budget increase reflects the reality of addressing these legacy issues. It has been carefully prepared following a detailed review of the estate, incorporating resident feedback, and balancing the need to maintain core services, deliver requested improvements, and meet all statutory health and safety requirements. A significant factor in the increase is the need to carry out urgent repairs.

“A detailed cover letter was issued with the service charges to fully explain the costs to all residents, and we encourage anyone having financial difficulty to contact us so that we can assist, something we made clear in our correspondence. It is also important to note that, even with the increase, the service charge remains competitive.”

Residents, however, remain on their guard. One says: “I’m sceptical. I’ve been here 22 years and NHG have never wanted to be involved when it came to sorting out issues with BLR. It is positive that NHG helped by taking the RMC director to court, but we need him removed from the RMC and BLR replaced due to many ongoing property management issues.”

Others say they will “give them the benefit of the doubt.” Most are now turning their attention to the original member of the tripartite: Notting Hill Genesis.

“Why did it take decades for them to act?” asks Fiona Cameron. “Leaving the RMC and giving such power to a solo director was a mistake they need to own. They need to take responsibility for failing us.” Another resident agrees: “I would like NHG to support residents in removing John Galliers. This needs to be continued support until he is gone, with no repercussions on residents. They need to support this financially. For years they turned a blind eye.”

Now that NHG holds the membership list, residents are being invited to a meeting to begin the process of electing new RMC directors. For Fiona Cameron, it is a moment of cautious hope: “We are finally getting somewhere. It is not an easy situation and it has been going on for so long.”

Residents are calling on NHG “to go further, like funding the process of removing Galliers from the RMC and covering any associated costs, given years of inaction.”

In the conclusion to their statement, the NHG spokesperson said: “It is unfortunate that it took this long and required legal action to reach this stage, but we will continue to work with residents at Adastral South so they can have genuine input into the running of their estate.”

The Adastral Village South Action Group waits to see whether this time, after almost 20 years, the system will finally work in their favour.

Mr. Galliers has been contacted for comment.

Barnet Post

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