Your Property & Block Management Questions Answered

Please contact us offices or send us an email to info@mandeville-pm.co.uk to report any maintenance issues. Please ensure you include your name, address and telephone number in your email and provide an as detailed description of the issue as possible, with accompanying photographs (where appropriate). This will ensure the issue is attended to as quickly as possible.

These two terms are often used interchangeably but are actually, quite distinct. A managing agent, like Mandeville, is a third-party contractor that residents or a freeholder/developer will engage to provide the shared services to an estate or block.  A reference to a management company, on the other hand, is usually a reference to a residents’ management company that has been put in place to make the day to day management decisions at a block of flats or estate. That management company is usually incorporated when the development is first constructed, and each owner is entitled to become a member of that company. That way, the residents have a say in who they appoint as the managing agent to deal with the management tasks on the residents’ behalf. It is the management company that is in control of the management decisions including what works are completed and what costs are incurred. The managing agent is simply there to facilitate and action the management company’s requests.

Ground rent is a payment you make to the landlord, usually on a yearly basis, in consideration for living in your development. Sometimes we will collect that on the landlord’s behalf, or they will invoice you directly. Your lease documents should set out how much the ground rent is and if and when this is due to increase.

A reserve fund is a separate “pot” to cover any unexpected maintenance or major works. It is a sensible idea to put aside a small amount of money each year as a way of saving up for any non-routine maintenance that may be needed, such as roof repairs, external painting or window replacements. The money is held in the same way as other service charge funds, in a separate trust account, with any interest being applied for the benefit of the reserve fund.

It is important that rubbish, including unwanted furniture, is not disposed of in the communal bin store areas as these will not be collected by the local authority.

You should speak to your local authority to establish where your nearest disposal point is located. Some local authorities will also collect items for you.

Any resident caught dumping rubbish in the communal areas may be subject to a fine.

If there is no management company set up at your development, the residents will have little say in the management decisions. In those scenarios, residents could form a 'Right to Manage' company. The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 allows qualifying leaseholders to get together and form a company to take over the management functions of their block. The advantage of this is that the RTM company is then entitled to choose the managing agent itself, and dismiss them later on if unsatisfied with their services. More information on forming a Right to Manage company can be found here.

When you come to sell or remortgage your property, the buyer or lender will require an information pack to provide them with details about the property they are purchasing. A sales information pack is essentially a collation of documents presented to a potential purchaser, which provides details of the service charge, ground rent, any future major works, buildings insurance and any other information concerning the building as a whole. A buyer and lender will want that information pack put together by the managing agent, to verify that the information is true and accurate.

Service charge is the accumulative cost of maintaining the building or estate you live in. Every leaseholder or freeholder that lives on a shared estate will pay a service charge to contribute towards the shared costs of the building or estate. Those costs may include, the buildings insurance, cleaning, gardening, routine maintenance and the general day to day running of your block or development. The costs will include the costs of materials, staff (whether permanent or temporary) and management fees.

Your lease or transfer deed may specify when you are required to make payment. It could be six-monthly, quarterly, or yearly. If the legal documents are silent on payment times, we will help you come up with appropriate dates that meet with the demands of the development and the convenience of the residents.

This will depend on your own managing agent. At Mandeville, we offer four ways to pay. All our residents may pay over the phone, with a debit or credit card, online (using this link), by bank transfer (standing order) or by cheque. The bank details and reference will be set out on your demand.

At the beginning of each year, we prepare an estimate of what we anticipate the costs of maintaining the building or the estate to be. This will be based on the actual costs incurred in the previous year. All costs expected to be incurred will be included in that budget and may include, window cleaning, gardening, internal cleaning, heating and electric in the communal areas, lighting, lift maintenance, fire equipment, building insurance and other items specific to your development. At the end of the year, we compare the estimate with the actual spend and adjust the budget accordingly.