Multi award winning Property Management Company Fraser Allen Estate Management share their top tips so you can be better prepared for your major works.
There are three common challenges that a residents management company will usually experience when planning major works – and the good news is, they can all be avoided. They are, in no particular order: Knowledge, Communication, Money! Of course, there are many more, but essentially, they can all be boiled down to just three critical areas. In this short article I plan to show you how to avoid these common pitfalls:
1. Knowledge Management
They don’t understand the lease, for example, what’s covered and what’s not. Our advice is – always start with the lease. The lease is king! Everyone should have a copy of their own lease, and everyone has a responsibility to understand what they signed up for. If you can’t find it, or have misplaced it, you can always get hold of a copy from the Land Registry online for £24.95 – here’s the link. Remember the Lease contains the terms of the leasehold agreement (rights, restrictions, rent clauses etc), however, it is not proof of current ownership. The Title Register is the only document that shows the current owner of the property. Having a copy of your own lease is just good practice. If you don’t know where yours is – order one today!
2. Effective Communication
Another common challenge is effective communication, you’d be horrified to learn how many leaseholders just don’t or won’t communicate, which makes it challenging when you need to arrange to get anything done. We would advise encouraging an active and effective communication platform so everyone can have their say. It sounds onerous but trust me when I say it will save so much time, emotion, and effort in the longer term. You don’t have to meet in person, although face to face communication we find is always more effective. Leverage technology and access and set up a system that works best for the majority.
3. Financial Management
Money is always an issue, and no one likes financial surprises, so know how much you have in your sinking fund and plan accordingly. There’s nothing worse than wanting and planning for a five-year cycle to do the external decoration, then someone new moves in four and a half years into that cycle and they get hit with an unexpected bill. This could be because the managing agent hasn’t told the solicitor, or the solicitor hasn’t passed on that information. Other issues could be that the solicitor hasn’t held a retainer when they have been advised to do so by the agent. At this point everything moves back to communication. Obviously, there’s unforeseen circumstances like a major roof leak and although something like storm damage wouldn’t necessarily be a financial impact because it would be covered under an insurance claim, there would still be a lot of inconvenience to those affected with scaffolding up for a long period of time.
Planning
Planning underpins everything you do to run a successful Residents Management Company. Get the knowledge and share it, knowledge is power but only if it is shared. Communicate openly and often and through as many media outlets that you need. Be transparent and open about financial management – no one likes financial surprises and it’s an emotional subject that is quick to ignite frustration. A well run Residential Management Company always have a effective plan, as it underpins everything you do.
10 Year Maintenance Plan
It’s always useful when we do a 10-year maintenance plan. It’s a high-level plan of what you’d like to complete, it’s agile, not set in stone and the actions and dates can be moved slightly depending on various factors such as current state of repair or other unforeseen repairs have taken priority. As always, the starting point is always the lease, the lease is king (or queen), and then to have a 10 year, a plan that you can flex according to your current needs. Having a Preventative Planned Maintenance (PPM) strategy is a great way to help preserve the property’s condition and prevent problems from occurring. It’s a proactive approach to maintenance, designed to avoid failures, breakages and unexpected maintenance costs or unplanned disturbances from reactive works, having one will save you time, and unnecessary frustration. Resident Management Companies with a good PPM strategy in place will enjoy the following benefits:
- Extended lifespan of property assets
- Less need for major unplanned repair work
- Increased productivity with less unplanned downtime
- Improved overall efficiency
- Reduced maintenance costs and overtime costs
- Increased safety management and usually a better-quality job
- Asset enhancement – planned works can react more frequently to changing business needs
- Less stress and a happy business! Reactive work is generally more time-consuming and urgent
You could review the PPM annually, either at the AGM or with the directors and use it as an outline project plan. To plan and execute major works takes time and it takes planning and the three key challenges of knowledge management, effective communication, and financial management.
