Commercial and residential property management

(except for the management of owner-occupied blocks)

Some landlords manage for themselves: it’s far from impossible. Many, though, prefer the fairly inexpensive option of delegating the work to surveyors like ourselves, thereby saving trouble, time and expense while maintaining cash flow. We work on the basis of RICS guidance and regulation, as well as on an RICS management agreement.

Routine

Routine matters include rent and service charge collection, repairs, managing voids, organising reletting, insurance, relations with tenants, assignments and underletting.

Money can be directed to the client’s own account, or surplus funds remitted as it arises; there’s no need to wait to the end of the quarter.

Fire-fighting

The occasional crisis in management is usually very time-intensive. Issues like a boiler not functioning (where the boiler is the landlord’s responsibility) are small in the context of a property portfolio, but understandably of the utmost, immediate importance to the tenant. Unravelling what has gone wrong can take a lot of management time: a roof leak likewise.

Cash flow and accounting

Arrears chasing is one of the most important functions of the managing agent. Late payment can easily mushroom if the system of chasing and enforcing payment of arrears is not pursued with determination. Maintaining a fully reliable and audit-able accounting system for what is after all client money is also of the first importance

Why not owner-occupied blocks?

The statutory regime for service charge in owner-occupied blocks of flats, combined with the contractual obligations imposed by the lease, is (in our view) now so onerous that we doubt it can be properly done by human beings in a real-world office environment. While we would not completely rule out undertaking such work, particularly for established clients, we would do so with great reluctance. We avoid promising what we cannot perform.