© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
If your block has recently enfranchised and acquired the freehold you can now determine who manages your block. If you choose to self manage you will still need the necessary time, skills, experience and knowledge to undertake the management yourself. You will also need a degree of patience in dealing with letters, phone calls and visits from leaseholders.The regulations themselves may seem onerous and may indeed cost leaseholders money to implement. They are however there to protect you and the occupants of the building. They also ensure the safety of visitors and contractors working at the block and importantly help to maintain the value of your investment.
When you come to sell your flat or apartment Solicitors will always ask a series of questions when dealing with the purchase of a flat. This is to ensure the block has been properly managed and is safe and that there are no expensive repairs required (such as a new roof or redecoration) required. A‚ managing agent will be experienced in dealing with such requests..
A managing agent or self managed block must have systems in place to ensure compliance with the regulatory requirements in particular:
Generally increasing amounts of regulatory requirements will require you to keep regularly updated and abreast of changes affecting leaseholds.
Whilst it is understandable that many blocks prefer to keep their service charges as low as possible, ignoring important regulations will adversely affect the value and saleability of your investment and the solicitor may well advise a purchaser not to proceed. This will create discord between leaseholders and may result in the freeholders unwittingly breaking the covenants within the lease.
A managing agent will act in an impartial way. He is the link between freeholder and leaseholder and in particular between individual leaseholders, where disputes are common. A good managing agent will add value to your block over the long term, the common parts of the building will be maintained, there will be a healthy reserve fund and service charges will be competitive.