Altamira was originally a family home set in large grounds on the edge of Topsham. The original building was approximately where Block E now stands, at the highest point of the estate and looking out towards Haldon Hills. It was requisitioned by the Army during the Second World War, following which it was demolished.
In about 1960 a local building firm built the blocks of flats on the site of the house and grounds, leaving only Altamira Lodge as it originally stood. The firm later sold the flats and freehold to another firm, who sold it on.
Altamira was then owned by a large, national residential investment company. That company decided to sell the Altamira freehold and several flat-owners therefore formed a committee to steer the project through the buying process. In order to accomplish the purchase of the freehold we had to form our own company, Altamira Estate Limited (“AEL”) and the purchase of the freehold by AEL was completed on 1 January 2005.
Since nothing but the most pressing maintenance had been carried out for very many years, the company’s first job was to deal with urgent roof repairs. Since then we have slowly worked our way through a long list of repairs, maintenance and improvements.
TODAY
We are proud of what we have achieved so far, and continue to try to make Altamira a pleasant community for those who live here, whether owner-occupier or tenant.
We aim to keep service charges at an affordable level, and try to balance these charges so that there are sufficient funds in our reserves to enable us to meet emergencies, carry out routine maintenance and run the company, without building up too much in reserves.
The company has a Board of Directors who all own flats at Altamira (indeed, it is a requirement of the lease that a director must be a flat-owner) and therefore have a vested interest in the welfare of the estate.
MANAGING AGENTS
The estate is managed by Firstport. The Property Manager is Leah Green, Property Manager, who works closely with the Directors in the smooth-running of the estate.