Block Management for new owners – Do you know what you have bought?

Here at Howkins & Harrison, we can provide you with a first-class block management service that is professional, affordable, and efficient for apartment owners, residents associations and freeholders.

What is Block Management?

Block Management refers to the management of a residential block of flats or development. Block management companies take charge of all financial administration, maintenance of communal areas and ensuring that the building is fully compliant and up to date with current legislation, particularly with regard to fire safety.

Whilst often misunderstood for Property Management which refers to the focused management of a single building and tenancy, block management refers to the overall management of a whole development with wider responsibilities.

Block management companies are appointed by a group of freeholders or Residents’ Flat Management Companies (RMCs). The block manager then becomes the primary point of contact between the freeholders, leaseholders, and contractors. The role requires a crucial, specialist, up to date understanding of the relevant legislation surrounding block management. Block management companies must be regulated by either RICS (the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) or ARMA (the Association of Residential Managing Agents).

A block management service is paid for through the leaseholder’s service charges. These fees depend on how many flats are within a block, what management responsibilities are taken on and where the block is located.

What is a leasehold?

When purchasers buy a leasehold flat, there is often a limited understanding of what they have actually bought into.

A leasehold is where you purchase the property, but not the land it sits on. The plot itself, is owned by the freeholder, who is selling the property for a set term. Commonly, the leasehold usually lasts between 125-999 years.

All communal spaces in a leasehold agreement, such as gardens, communal areas, lifts and car parks are maintained as per the terms set out in the leases and as such, the individual leaseholders are required to pay a service charge to cover this . The leaseholders will also pay a ground rent depending on how the lease has been set up. Ground rent is the fee paid to cover the cost of the land that the block of flats or building was built on.

A leasehold property, such as a flat within a block, can be sub-let on a short-term tenancy, referred to as an AST. The occupier then becomes the ‘tenant’.

As Block Managers, what are Howkins & Harrison’s main responsibilities?

At Howkins & Harrison, we currently block manage over 20 developments around the Midlands, which involves managing around 450 individual leaseholders. With this, our main responsibilities include:

Maintenance:

We take care of general, routine maintenance responsibilities for all communal areas within a block or development. This includes, gardening, cleaning, ground keeping, security etc. We ensure that these maintenance needs are met by carrying out regular inspections at the building.

Compliance:

By way of regular inspections, our block managers check that all aspects of the block abide by up-to-date UK Building and Health and Safety Laws. At Howkins & Harrison, we visit all our sites once a year (on top of our routine monthly inspections) with an experienced Fire Officer to ensure that the compliance surrounding fire safety is adhered to.

Budgeting/Accounting:

At Howkins & Harrison, we take responsibility for service charge collection and arrears (debt) management. On top of this, we ensure that the management account holds the required funds for any emergency repairs, for example, roof damage or floor to floor leaks. This means large-scale jobs are carried out cost effectively, obtaining the best value from our trusted portfolio of local contractors.

Hosting Annual General Meetings (AGMs):

All RMCs are legally required to hold an AGM as part of their constitution. We host and arrange AGMs as part of our block managed service. This includes finding a venue, coordinating invitees and attendance, communicating the agenda to attendees, leading the meetings (outside of regular working hours ensuring availability of all Directors to attend), taking and distributing minutes and any relevant follow up actions.

Insurance claims: 

As part of the block management service offered, should an event occur requiring a claim to be made against the buildings insurance policy then we would liaise with all parties to facilitate and administer the claim.

Conveyancing on sales:

It is standard practice, and forms part of our block management service with all of our developments, that when a flat is being sold we handover to our solicitors, Arnold Thomson. They act on behalf of the management company and/or freeholder. This is due to complexities that sometimes arise with lease enquiries, of which we as the managing agent, are not legally qualified to answer. We find the process goes through quickly and are also then confident that all legal documentation when handing over the property to a new owner is correct.

During a flat sale our capacity is to initially complete the LPE1 enquiry form which is submitted to Arnold Thomson and then we send over any supporting documentation, such as statements of account, fire risk assessments, buildings insurance details, accounts etc and we answer any queries via Arnold Thomson that we can help with or answer.

Reasons to choose Howkins & Harrison’s Block Management Service:

One of the most common complaints amongst leaseholders is that the managing agent for the building is expensive, inefficient, and unconcerned with the well-being of the occupants or the property itself.

At Howkins & Harrison, our block management team provides a first-class management administration and charges collection service which very much differs from the norm. It is our aim to ensure you get a professional, affordable, and efficient service at all times in order to provide a proactive, cost-effective and unsurpassable management solution for leaseholders, residents associations and freeholders alike.

If you are looking for a managing agent, are dissatisfied with your existing agent, or if your block is going out for tender soon, please contact our office to arrange a free, no obligation quotation from our experienced team.

14 Bridge Street, Northampton NN1 1NW – 01604 823445

Mark.manning@howkinsandharrison.co.uk

Sophie.bazeley@howkinsandharrison.co.uk

Don’t just take our word for it, read one of our testimonials:

My company has been using Howkins & Harrison’s block management department to manage several blocks of flats that we developed. The team, lead by Mark and Sophie, are instrumental in getting all the correct processes in place to ensure that the blocks meet the legal and safety standards in addition to ensuring the day to day duties of maintaining and running the blocks are in place.  

The team takes time in understanding the dynamics of a block by visiting several times during the development and the handover is always smooth.  During our sales process the team assist in responding to the block management enquiries making that side of the conveyance process easier.  

I know from experience that after the handover they manage any issues that may arise from the blocks, allowing us to simply focus on our current projects.

It’s a complete peace of mind for us, which is the reason for Howkins & Harrison being our preferred block manager. – Parm, Tier 7 Developments Ltd, Director.