Are you doing block property management in Birmingham? If so, you are in the right place. Here we look at what block property management is, the responsibilities involved, and how block management software can make it much easier.
Block property management in Birmingham
It’s easy to see why Birmingham has a lot of block management opportunities. As a city containing just over a million people, there are about 800 tower blocks across the metropolis. That’s a lot of property that needs managing!
Block management is the name for the industry in which block management companies provide management services to residential leasehold buildings in the UK.
What is block property management?
You may have heard it referred to by various names, such as Estate Management, Leasehold Management, Property Management or Block Management. Essentially, this is when a company provides services to look after the communal parts of residential properties. This can include a variety of tasks, such as maintenance, insurance, ground rent collection, and service charge collection.
An essential part of block property management involves following legislation and preparing budgets. It is also vital to ensure that both the leaseholder and freeholder receive good value for money and are not overcharged for the services.
The responsibilities of a block management agent
A block manager’s specific responsibilities can be anything from gardening, emergency repairs, communal cleaning, and painting and decorating. But each property has its own unique set of requirements, so the specific work required will vary for each particular lease. Although the lease relates to a whole block, individual leases can have their own particular clauses.
What are leaseholds?
There are different types of leasehold properties for example, converted houses, purpose-built properties, or those situated above commercial units. When a property is bought as a leasehold, the land it sits on, as well as the structure and common parts of the building, are usually under the ownership of the freeholder. Essentially, this means that the leaseholder is renting the property from the freeholder for several years, which technically means the freeholder is a landlord.
Service charges
The freeholder has the responsibility for the building’s repair and maintenance. As these will incur various costs, these costs will then be billed to the leaseholders as ‘Service Charges’. The leaseholder is then responsible for paying these service charges according to the lease terms.
How block property management software can help
Because block management agents will likely have multiple blocks to look after, it is helpful to have a quick and easy way to manage these blocks. That’s where block management software comes in. It enables you to issue service charges and ground rent demands, raise ad-hoc invoices, record leaseholder funds, and record all expenditures.
With Blocks Online, everything is web-based, so there is no software to install on any computers or devices. All you need is an internet connection, and you’re good to go. The user-friendly cloud-based interface makes it ideal for busy agents who are often on the move and have little time to learn a complicated new system. All financial information is then instantly available to your support staff, making it easy for you to keep on top of it all.
So, if you are doing block property management in Birmingham or any other location, take a look at Blocks Online. It could be just what you need to save you time and make your block management much simpler and less stressful.
