Colin Stokes, the MD of adiuvo, the UK’s leading call handling service (who so far this year have dealt with over 60,000 maintenance issues and emergencies) looks back at 2023 and gazes into the future world of Property Management in 2024,
It’s never boring in Property Management and 2023 was no different with several major legislative changes, the world of tech taking ever increasing leaps forward all in the context of changing working preferences and pressures for employers.
The fallout from Grenfell continued, and rightly so as another deadline from the Building Safety Act came and went as by 30 September 2023 applications to register any qualifying “higher-risk buildings” that are used for any residential purposes, including as part of a mixed-use regime had to be complete alongside installing lock boxes and appointing Responsible Persons. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 also came into force with deadlines included such as all internal doors (both communal and individual demises). The FCA effectively removed insurance commissions from Managing Agents and just recently the Leasehold Reform Act was published.
2024 will see the ramifications from the Reform Act play out alongside more of a focus on sustainability with developers and Property Managers adopting eco-friendly practices, implementing energy saving solutions as climate change concerns growing. Related to that, in our niche, we expect repair and maintenance demands to increase (average per household) again as they have, year on year from 2021 as different climate patterns have led to further more extreme events alongside what we see a state of disrepair of infrastructure over energy and water networks.
To somewhat counter that and end on a positive note there is light at the end of the tunnel via the exponential change in technology; from “simple” smart locks, IOT sensors and more available data for predictive maintenance to the almost daily advances in AI – from assistants that read Leases and take basic leaseholder and resident enquiries to AI assisted everyday working tasks making Property Managers more effective, something sorely needed as the demands on them increase. Technology is the one weapon managers and suppliers have to be able to streamline operations and continue to provide a service in an increasingly difficult landscape. Those that embrace it, will, in our opinion be the winners in 2024.
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