You’ve heard the saying first impressions count, well, they really do. You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression which is why cleaning and maintenance are vital to maintain the value of your property investment.
But it’s so much more than just finding the right cleaner, or gardener or reliable tradespeople.
Potential purchasers will be searching for properties which are well maintained and offer little hassle.
Let’s Talk Maintenance
First things first check the lease – what does it stipulate?
Every block is different and the maintenance programme should be developed to suit that building’s unique characteristics, such as its age, construction method, overall condition and any objects that will eventually require repair or replacement.
So, what’s the plan?
Like any investment, you need to maintain the investment and ensure your return on investment – so what’s the plan? What is the cyclical plan for maintenance, whether it’s the painting, or the roof, or the windows – what is the plan?
We were approached recently by a prospective client in Brighton who has a 84 unit block and they all have metal balconies – he said they’d started painting and repairing them eight years ago and it was painting the Forth Bridge – describing a never-ending job, one which takes so long that when you have finished it, it is time to start again
Are there building works that you’ve been meaning to sort out for months? Do you have any niggling problems that you see everyday and just haven’t got around to sorting out? Many of the blocks we’ve been talking to haven’t got together for months due to Covid and lockdown, so this is the perfect time.
Follow this simple 3 stage process for your Fresh Start:
Step One: Get all the leaseholders together and start a wish list of all the work that needs attention. It would be great to involve your Property Manager from your block management company at this stage. Just so everyone is aware of the plans.
This is especially important this year as many management companies did not get together and hold their regular meetings and Annual General Meetings due to Covid.
It is important to keep up regular and consistent communication. What we have found is that when communication breaks down, relationships break down, and that doesn’t help anyone!
Step Two: Next categorise the list in order of importance – High, Medium and Low.
Step Three: Next categorise each task with a timeline:
Urgent (within 1 week)
Non Urgent (within 1- 3 months)
Nice to Have (3 – 6 months)
Obviously super urgent tasks you’ll (hopefully) already be planning.
Step Four: The next step would be to assign costs against all these tasks – this is where your managing agent comes in. They’ll have the contractor contacts and will need to arrange three quotes of the work and issue Section 20 notices if required.
Here’s my final piece of advice:
- Get in touch your managing agent and arrange to talk about your planning your Fresh Start
- Get all your leaseholders together and seek their input
- Follow this simple 3 step approach
There are so many great and compelling reasons to keep up with your maintenance, there are so many but the obvious ones are:
- Maintenance is detailed within your lease
- There will be legal requirements
- There are health and safety requirements
- It will help maintain the comfort for the leaseholders
- Catching issues early on is likely to save higher costs in the future
- A well-maintained property is likely to cost less to insure
Let’s Talk Cleaning
Making sure communal areas are regularly cleaned and maintained can be a nightmare, especially as the standard and quality of cleanliness is subjective and one person’s clean could still be another person’s dirty, depending on how exacting your standards are. So how can you agree what “great” or even ‘good enough’ looks like when it comes to communal cleaning?
That’s where a professional Property Manager comes in. It all comes down to planning and communication – again!
We usually find when leaseholders try and save money and someone steps up to do the cleaning, or they create a rota it is never done to everyone’s satisfaction, it gets forgotten, or missed. This causes frustration and resentment and communication and relationships break down and what was a simple cleaning job spirals out of control.
So we would always recommend employing a cleaner. It will cost £15 – £20 per hour, but what is your time worth?
The exact cleaning needs of your block will depend on its size, design and use. For example:
- Is the hall carpeted, or is it tiled or has a wood floor?
- How many residents use the shared spaces?
- Is there a lot of glass or are there other fixtures that can gather dust and grubby fingerprints?
- Can people store stuff in shared spaces, like bikes or buggies?
- Are there communal bins in the hallways?
- What’s the plan for the post?
- Where are the recycling bins kept?
To ensure the right job is being done to the right standards, we recommend that you have a plan and communicate regularly, to make sure your communal areas continue to do your block justice and create the best first impression.
1) A Detailed Cleaning Schedule
If your building is being managed properly, a detailed cleaning schedule should have been worked out in advance between the managing agent or landlord and their professional cleaning contractor. An initial site visit would take into account all of the specific needs of your building, working out what needs to be cleaned, how and when.
In our experience, this cleaning schedule should also be reviewed regularly to make sure the jobs on the list and the frequency they get done continue to be right for the block and it’s residents.
2) Regular Cleaning
If your block isn’t being cleaned and taken care of regularly it’s very easy for things to get out of hand. What starts off as an annoyance can easily escalate into a health and safety concern. For instance, rubbish left in shared areas for too long can quickly attract insects or vermin, and dirty floors and door handles can become a breeding ground for germs. Not good.
Regular cleaning doesn’t necessarily mean the entire block needs bleaching to within an inch of its life every week. There might be some jobs that only need doing once every few weeks or months (for example, window cleaning or a deep clean of carpets). The important thing is that the right jobs get tackled at the right time.
If you’re concerned about the frequency of scrubbing in your block, why not ask your managing agent for a copy of the cleaning schedule so you can see what is supposed to be done and when? If you have any concerns, raise them quickly to help prevent little problems escalating into big ones.
3) A Cleaning Record
It’s not always possible to catch sight of staff from the appointed cleaning company if you’re out at work during the day, but that doesn’t mean they’re not doing the job. We always request that our cleaning contractors pin up a visible record sheet that is signed each time an area is cleaned. If there isn’t one in your block, why not ask for one to be put up so cleaning is easier to track?
Finally, don’t think of it as boring maintenance and cleaning – reposition your approach and attitude, and instead think of it as maintaining your investment.
If you like the sound of the way we work at Fraser Allen and you’d like your property to be in safe hands, then please call 01242 399150 or email us on [email protected] and let’s see how we can support you.
