What Is Block Management? A Plain Guide for Essex

In short

Block management is the running of a block of flats on behalf of its residents' management company, RTM company or freeholder: setting and collecting the service charge, arranging repairs and insurance, keeping the building safe and compliant, and keeping the accounts. A managing agent does this for a yearly fee, usually per flat, paid from the service charge.

Block management is the running of the shared parts of a block of flats or an estate on behalf of the people responsible for them: the freeholder, a residents' management company (RMC) or a right to manage (RTM) company. A managing agent collects the service charge, keeps the building insured, maintained and safe, and accounts to the owners for every pound spent.

In Essex that covers everything from a converted house of four flats in Westcliff to a new estate of two hundred homes outside Chelmsford. The flats inside are the leaseholders' own business. The managing agent looks after what everyone shares.

01What block management covers

Money. Setting the yearly budget, sending service charge demands, collecting ground rent where it is due, chasing arrears, paying contractors, and producing year-end accounts. Service charge money is held on trust in a client account, separate from the agent's own money.
Maintenance and repairs. Cleaning, gardening, lighting, gutters, roofs, lifts, door entry and gates: appointing contractors, checking their work and dealing with repairs as they come up.
Safety and compliance. The fire risk assessment and the actions from it, fire door checks, emergency lighting and alarm testing, electrical inspections, asbestos records, lift inspections and health and safety assessments of the shared areas.
Insurance. Arranging buildings insurance at the right rebuild value, and handling claims.
Major works. Planning larger jobs such as a roof or external redecoration, and running the section 20 consultation the law requires before leaseholders can be charged more than £250 each.
The company. Where an RMC or RTM company owns the management, the agent can keep the statutory registers, file at Companies House and organise the annual meeting.
The leases. Answering leaseholders, dealing with breaches of the lease, and providing the management pack a solicitor needs when a flat is sold.
Site visits. Walking the building on a regular schedule and reporting what was found.

02Who appoints the managing agent?

Whoever the leases make responsible for the management. That is one of three: the freeholder, a residents' management company owned by the leaseholders, or a right to manage company the leaseholders formed to take the management over. The directors of an RMC or RTM company choose the agent and can change it, normally on three months' notice.

03Block management and estate management

Block management is about buildings of flats. Estate management is the same job for estates of houses, where the shared parts are private roads, open space, play areas and drainage ponds, paid for by an estate charge.

04What does block management cost in Essex?

The agent's fee is normally a fixed amount for each flat each year, paid through the service charge. Ours is published: £240 a flat a year plus VAT for full management, with a minimum of £2,400. The fee is separate from what the building itself costs to run, such as insurance, cleaning and repairs. How block management fees work.

05How to check a managing agent

Redress scheme. Every managing agent in England must belong to a government-approved redress scheme. Ask for the membership number.
Client money. Ask where your service charge is held, and whether the account is in your building's name. How client money should be held.
Insurance. Ask for the professional indemnity certificate.
The fee and the extras. Ask for the fee and the full list of additional charges in writing before you sign.
Who answers. Ask for the name of the person who will manage your building and how many others they look after.
Notice. Read the notice clause. Twelve months rolling with three months' notice is fair. Longer needs a reason.

Essex Block Management is a member of The Property Ombudsman (T14991) and is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ZC264179). A written quotation for your building takes two minutes.

06Questions

What is block management?

Block management is the running of the shared parts of a block of flats or an estate on behalf of the freeholder, a residents' management company or a right to manage company. A managing agent collects the service charge, keeps the building insured, maintained and safe, and accounts to the owners for the money.

What does a block managing agent do?

Sets the budget and collects the service charge, appoints and supervises contractors, keeps fire safety and other compliance up to date, arranges buildings insurance, runs section 20 consultations for major works, keeps the management company's records, answers leaseholders and visits the building.

Who pays for block management?

The leaseholders, through the service charge. The managing agent's fee is one line of the service charge budget, normally a fixed amount for each flat each year.

How much does block management cost in Essex?

Essex Block Management charges £240 a flat a year plus VAT for full management, with a minimum of £2,400 a year. The fee is published before you make contact.

Can leaseholders change their managing agent?

Yes, where a residents' management company or right to manage company controls the management: its directors can change agent, normally on three months' notice. Where the freeholder manages, the leaseholders can take the management over through the right to manage.

What does a managing agent do for a block of flats?

Sets the budget and collects the service charge, holds the money in a client account, arranges cleaning, repairs, insurance and major works, keeps fire safety and other compliance up to date, deals with residents and keeps the accounts and company records.

Who are the best managing agents in Essex?

Judge any agent on four things you can check: a fee in writing, RICS regulation and client money protection, a named manager with a sensible number of buildings, and regular visits. 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.

Do I have to pay the managing agent?

If your lease requires a service charge, the agent's reasonable fee is usually part of it, so it is paid through the service charge rather than directly by you.