A range of detached and semi-detached homes were built for the United States Air Force in 1987. In 1996/7 half of the houses were sold off as the private estate “Stratton Fields” and the rest passed to the Ministry of Defence. Originally Stratton Fields Management Limited (SFML) was set up and run by the seller, Hodge Eastern, however residents called a meeting in October 1998 where it was decided that they would take over from Hodge Eastern and carry out the administration of the estate themselves. This was finally achieved in April 1999. Since then, SFML has been run by a Committee of around 8 volunteer residents from the estate – however it is important to note that each household is a shareholder in SFML whilst they live here. The company has issued 141 shares, and one is issued to each household. This means that each household is a shareholder in the company and has an equal say.
SFML is registered with Companies House as a Limited Company and the accounts are audited on an annual basis. We have an Annual General Meeting each year to which all shareholders are invited.
SFML maintains the common areas of the estate, for example the street lighting, roads, pavements and horticulture – including the wooded strip along Buckingham Road – and insurance. Exceptions to this are the road surface in Thompson Drive and Rau Court (only) which were adopted by the local council in 1997 and the sewers/drains that were adopted by Thames Water a few years ago.
You can contact SFML by e-mail to secretary@strattonfields.co.uk or by visiting their website at www.strattonfields.co.uk.