Block Management Braintree | Halstead, Great Notley, Coggeshall

In short

Essex Block Management manages blocks of flats and estates of houses in Braintree and nearby, including Great Notley, Halstead and Coggeshall, from our office in Chelmsford. Full management is £240 a flat a year plus VAT, minimum £2,400, with a named manager, four site visits a year and the service charge held in a client account in your building's own name. We are regulated by RICS and members of The Property Ombudsman. In Braintree district most homes are houses, so estate charges matter as much as service charges.

Braintree and Great Notley have grown quickly through new estates of family houses with shared open space, play areas and estate roads, most of them paid for through an estate charge collected by a management company. Converted mills and older town-centre buildings add small blocks where the right contractor and, sometimes, listed building consent are the work.

Estate owners here usually ask two things: what the estate charge actually pays for, and how to get the management company handed over from the developer to the residents. We answer both in writing.

01The buildings we look after in Braintree

Great Notley and the family-house estates. Shared open space, play areas and estate roads paid for through an estate charge. The work is a budget homeowners can follow and a management company run properly.
Converted mills and town-centre buildings. Small blocks in older buildings where the right contractor and, sometimes, listed building consent are the work.
Developer-controlled estates waiting for handover. Estates where the homes are sold but the management company has not passed to the residents. We run that handover.

Braintree falls under Braintree District Council, whose planning and building control teams we deal with when repairs need consent.

02Flats in Braintree district, in numbers

At the 2021 census 8,690 households in Braintree district lived in a flat, 13.4%, and only 3.4% rented from the council. Most of the district's homes are houses, many on newer estates paying an estate charge, so estate management matters here as much as block management. Census 2021, Office for National Statistics.

03What the tribunal has decided on Braintree buildings

Building	What happened	What the tribunal decided
Jutland Court, Mountbatten Road CAM/22UCX/LSC/2022/0037, 2022	A leaseholder challenged two years of service charges, about £20,000 a year for the block, including an "account management fee" on top of the management fee.	The £252 a year account management fee was disallowed: that work belongs in the management fee. Two inspections a year and an insurance valuation every three years were reasonable.
The Timber Yard, Station Approach CAM/22UC/LDC/2025/0672, 2026	Fire stopping to faulty communal fire doors in a block built around 2005, £3,665 plus VAT.	Consultation dispensed with.
The Timber Yard, Station Approach CAM/22UC/LDC/2025/0655, 2025	Replacement of a failed waste water pump.	Consultation dispensed with.
Temperance Hall, Halstead CAM/22UG/LDC/2021/0011, 2021	Lead soakers missing from 11 dormer windows since construction, hidden by roofing felt until it perished and let water in.	Consultation dispensed with.
Congregation House, Halstead CAM/22UC/LAM/2019/0010, 2020	A leaseholder asked for a manager to replace the leaseholders' own freehold company, and disputed three years' charges.	No manager appointed. Balances of £875.50, £1,207.27 and £728.94 payable.
Monken Hadley House, Broad Road CAM/22UC/LSC/2019/0038, 2019	Arrears sent from the county court to the tribunal.	Settled: the arrears were paid and a £150 solicitor's instruction fee was waived.

From decisions of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), Eastern region, published on GOV.UK. Search a case reference there to read the decision in full.

04What we take from them

The tribunal will strip out a charge that is really the managing agent's own work billed twice, as at Jutland Court. On our buildings the management fee is one line on the budget, and every other charge we make is on one published table.

Fire doors and hidden roof defects come up again and again in blocks of this age. Our visits check communal fire doors and roofs each quarter, so a fault is found before it lets water in.

05Block and estate management in Braintree

We look after blocks of flats and estates of houses across Braintree and the villages around it, including Great Notley, Witham, Halstead, Coggeshall and Silver End. Every building has a named manager with a direct line, four site visits a year on full management, a client bank account in the building's own name, and every question answered in writing.

Our fees. Full management £240 a flat a year, minimum £2,400. Director Desk £895 a year for two to six flats, then £110 a flat. Estates of houses £100 a home for the first hundred homes and £40 after that, minimum £1,000. All plus VAT, twelve-month rolling agreement, three months' notice. How our fees work.

06Block management, not lettings

Most firms that come up for property management in Braintree are letting agents, who look after one landlord's flat and its tenant. Block management is different. We act for the residents' company, the right to manage company or the freeholder that runs the whole building: the shared parts, the service charge and the company itself.

07Changing managing agent in Braintree

Boards stay with agents who do not answer because switching sounds hard. It is not, if it is done in order: read the notice clause, get written quotations, resolve it at a board meeting, serve notice, and hand over. How to change managing agent sets out each step. We publish the handover checklist we send an outgoing agent and the three letters a board needs, and the free switching pack puts it all in one PDF.

08Other areas we cover

09Questions

What does our estate charge actually pay for?

It should pay for the shared parts in your transfer: grounds, play areas, unadopted roads, lighting and drainage, insurance, the company's costs and the agent. Ask for the budget and the accounts in writing.

Our developer still controls the management company. Can you help?

Yes. We ask the developer in writing for the handover timetable, then take on the estate for the residents' board once control passes.

How much does block management cost in Braintree?

£240 a flat a year plus VAT for full management, with a £2,400 minimum. Director Desk, for boards who run the building themselves, is £895 a year for two to six flats and £110 a flat above that. Estates of houses are £100 a home for the first hundred homes and £40 after that, minimum £1,000.

Who manages blocks of flats in Braintree?

Essex Block Management is a RICS regulated managing agent based in Chelmsford. Full management is £240 a flat a year plus VAT (minimum £2,400), with a named manager, four site visits a year and the service charge held in a client account in the building's own name. We manage residents' management companies, right to manage companies and freeholders' buildings in Braintree.

How do I choose a managing agent in Braintree?

Ask four things in writing: the fee per flat and every charge on top of it, whether the firm is regulated by RICS and protects client money, who your named manager will be and how many buildings they run, and how often they visit. A firm that will not put its fee in writing before a meeting is worth questioning.

How do we change managing agent for our block in Braintree?

Check the notice clause in your current management agreement, usually one to three months, then serve notice in writing from the company that appointed the agent. The new agent arranges the handover of the money, accounts and records. Our free switching pack has the letters and the handover checklist.

Can a managing agent charge an account management fee on top of the management fee?

Not without a real reason. At Jutland Court in Braintree the tribunal disallowed a £252 a year account management fee in 2022, because that work belonged in the management fee.

How many flats are there in Braintree district?

At the 2021 census 8,690 households in Braintree district lived in a flat, 13.4%. Most homes are houses, many on estates paying an estate charge.

Block management in Braintree