Independent South East London property agent Jennings & Barrett is using transparent client feedback to demonstrate its service standards, amid wider concerns about trust, accountability and leasehold management.
The family-run business, which provides block and estate management for developments of 4 to 400 units and has served Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich and Southwark for more than 115 years, is celebrating a second consecutive year of positive client satisfaction results for its Block & Estate Management division. It has published the findings alongside an unusually open account of the feedback received, including critical comments.
The company ran its first client satisfaction survey in 2025 and repeated it in summer 2026. Clients using its flagship block management service rated the business:
- 8/10 for overall experience
- 8/10 for likelihood of recommending Jennings & Barrett
- 4/5 for trust in their Property Manager
Notably, 88% of respondents said they believed they were receiving the highest quality of service Jennings & Barrett had provided to date.
The survey focuses on the block management service, through which developments of more than ten apartments are given a named Property Manager. Rather than simply presenting headline figures, the company has published both its analysis and the individual comments submitted by respondents in its Directors’ Feedback Report 2026.
Rebuilding trust in property management
The publication comes as trust in the property management sector remains a significant challenge, with managing agents frequently criticised over service standards, transparency and the costs of leasehold ownership. Service charges, which fund the maintenance of communal areas and shared facilities, have become a particular source of controversy.
Jennings & Barrett says much of its growth has come through personal recommendations rather than paid advertising, but that maintaining that reputation has become harder as the leasehold sector has grown more complex.
Managing Director Joanna Bould said: “As a small, local, long-running family business in the property industry, it often feels like we are fighting a losing battle. We are proud to be local employers, and through our work in property management, lettings management and estate agency, we actively improve people’s lives and living conditions, to the best of our ability.
“But these areas involve complex procedures and a range of stakeholders with often conflicting priorities who need to be consulted, advised or escalated to. This means that it often isn’t simple to do things that seem, to residents, like they should be simple, easy fixes.”
Why maintenance can take longer than residents expect
One example is the Section 20 consultation process, a statutory procedure that generally applies when qualifying major works or long-term agreements will cost an individual leaseholder more than £250. It protects leaseholders by ensuring they are consulted before significant spending is committed, but can add considerable time to essential work.
“The £250 limit hasn’t changed in a number of years, and can be reached quickly, particularly in small developments with little economies of scale,” said Bould. “This means that even performing a simple carpet change for a communal hallway, or fixing a leak in the roof within a small block, takes at least 70 days. The residents living in developments with these issues get understandably frustrated about the time it takes for these to be fixed, and feel as though it’s the fault of the managing agent.”
Proving value as a local employer
The company says its client surveys were partly driven by the need to show the value of working with a responsible local managing agent. “It has become harder and harder to be a local employer in this industry, due to the challenges that the legal structure, but also the lack of understanding about leasehold, presents,” said Bould. “In order to keep providing opportunities for the young people in our community, we’re having to find ways to prove value. That’s why we began the feedback surveys: we needed a way to show what our clients think of us, on a large scale, to ensure that we can keep this business providing jobs for years to come.”
Advice for leaseholders choosing a managing agent
Jennings & Barrett encourages residents’ management companies and leaseholders to look closely at the financial safeguards and professional standards offered by prospective managing agents. Bould recommends choosing agents who hold client money in dedicated accounts for each individual fund, in the client’s name, and highlights membership of The Property Institute (TPI), whose members are subject to professional standards and auditing requirements. For leaseholders without control of their building’s management, she also recommends exploring the Right to Manage process.
By publishing its findings for a second year, alongside the full range of client comments, the business is making the case for greater transparency in a sector where trust remains hard to win.
