If you’ve ever wondered what block management entails, it’s a bit like managing a business. Looking after a block of flats or apartments takes specific knowledge and experience and is often best left to a property management company to deal with.

Leaseholders will have a strong interest in the management of their building, how it is being handled and who is doing the handling. A property that’s badly managed can have a long-term effect on how people live and enjoy their homes and even future value.

Landlords are normally responsible for the general overseeing of a property, but landlords can vary. It might be a solitary person, a local authority or a management company. It’s normally the landlord who is responsible for the overall management of the building. This could be an individual person, a company or a local authority. It is more common for an individual landlord to hire a management company to look after the property on their behalf as it’s often too big a job for one inexperienced person. For a professional Block Management Company in Gloucestershire, visit http://www.completepropertygroup.co.uk/property-block-and-estate-management/

Why hire a block management company?

A group of more than one properties requires dedication, time and a professional approach that is much better served by a specialist company. A property management specialist will be knowledgeable in tenant and landlord law, health and safety laws, accounting and building construction.

The managing company take their direction from the landlord and not the leaseholders, but a professional agent will always be mindful of the tenants needs and issues. The job can involve anything from making sure all is in good working order, like the lifts to dealing with gardens and accounting. They play an essential role in the experience of both leaseholder and landlord. The leaseholders pay service charges to cover the costs accrued by the management company in maintaining and servicing the building. That is why it’s important to have an experienced and highly professional agent.

What you should look for in a block management agent:

• Highly Knowledgeable
• Have a wealth of experience in understanding leases and tenant/landlord legislation
• Be able to guide leaseholders in their obligations and their rights
• Always be committed to best practice and high standards of customer care
• Always comply with industry codes of practice
• Have an accessible and independent complaints process
• Be open and transparent
• Be able to supply extensive accounting options including service charge collection, expenditure and budgeting
• Make good decisions in how service charge money is used

A more spacious home tends to be a more enjoyable home, and the Government intends to introduce legislation to monitor the minimum amount of space in private lettings in an attempt to reduce overcrowding. There are now new regulations governing HMOs, or houses of multiple occupation. In an HMO, there may be at least three tenants who are not part of the same household but may share facilities such as a kitchen or a bathroom.

Image Credit

Minimum bedroom sizes

Part of this new legislation covers the minimum sizes of rooms where tenants sleep. A room where two adults sleep will have to be at least 10.22 square metres. A room in which one adult sleeps will have to be at least 6.51 square metres in size, and a room for a child under the age of 10 will have to be at least 4.64 square metres in size.

Changes are coming

This legislation is expected to pass into law during the early part of 2018. The Department of Communities and Local Government said that the rise in demand for HMOs had given some unscrupulous landlords the opportunity to provide sub-standard housing that leads to overcrowding, undesirable tenant behaviour and a general lack of standards for health and safety.

Image Credit

The Government also plans further measures to get tougher on landlords who are not considered to be serving the needs of their tenants properly. For more on what may happen to landlords that councils believe are exploiting tenants, see this report from The Guardian.

Renting out property seems to keep generating more rules to make it more complicated for landlords. However, one tool that has emerged to make things simpler is property inventory software. If you are interested in finding out more about the possibilities of property inventory software, it’s time to take a look at what an expert in the field, such as https://inventorybase.co.uk/, has to offer.

Many landlords manage their properties properly, so they will have little to fear from these new regulations. However, for those who think it is fine to crowd vulnerable people into tiny spaces with inadequate facilities, a reckoning may be coming. The effects of poor housing also spread to neighbours and those living nearby, and no one should have to endure the effects of sub-standard accommodation.

You might have heard that you should be doing a fire risk assessment, but what is this and why is it so important? Basically, the reason this assessment is so important is its designed to lower the risk of a fire breaking out inside a building. With some very high-profile fires recently, this is more imperative than ever. It doesn’t just look at the structural safety of a building but examines its contents as well. It also takes into account the building’s layout and how it is used.

All businesses and public structures, whether they are bars, churches, shops or office blocks must have a fire risk assessment carried out if they are used for non-domestic purposes.

The legislation involved stipulates not only that an assessment must be completed but also states who can complete one, who is responsible in the event of a fire, procedures for evacuation and how this information is supplied to employees or members of the public. Failure to comply can lead to large fines and even imprisonment.

It is not a task that can be done lightly, as the law states the assessment must be both suitable and sufficient. Not all properties are the same, so a suitable assessment must be tailored to the exact requirements of each individual building. An assessment also needs to be amended and updated whenever any changes occur in the use or layout of the building.

A risk assessment can be completed by anyone who is deemed competent, but unless you have specialist knowledge, it’s wise to call in the professionals. For a thorough fire risk assessment Gloucester, visit http://keloscape.co.uk/fire-risk-assessment/

An inexperienced person could miss potential hazards, leaving risks not being properly assessed. This could prove devastating and even fatal in the event a fire does break out on the property. That is why it is imperative that a full and professional assessment is carried out from the beginning. It’s important to use only certified and trusted risk assessors for the legal requirement of having a risk assessment.

There are some specific rules with regards to your assessment:

It must be regularly reviewed, with the ideal scenario being once every 12 months following the first assessment. Every five years, a new assessment must be carried out. This needs to take place sooner if the fabric of the property has changed, the purpose has changed, or the occupants have changed. Such changes can have a big impact on fire safety planning, so a review must be completed in these instances.

Any good manager knows that in order for a project to succeed everything must be organized properly for everyone. This is where project management software comes in. A lot of this popular software usually comes at a premium price tag which is often beyond the budget of small to medium sized businesses. The good thing though is that there are also free project management software’s available that can do the same job.

Open Workbench

If you are familiar with Microsoft Project then you may want to take a look at its free alternative which is called Open Workbench. The main focus of this application is project scheduling and it does a great job. You can access several features such as resource management, scheduling, planning and reviews.

This is highly recommended software for startup companies who are looking for an effective solution in managing their projects that isn’t complex and expensive.

OpenProj

One other software to consider in managing your projects is OpenProj. This free task tracking application has several features comparable to that of paid versions. It is compatible with Microsoft Project files and uses less resource. Project managers who have tried this software find it a very useful tool in task management.

GanttProject

GanttProject is cross-platform software that works in Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. It has basic project management features that will help you oversee your project to the end. Some of its features include

• Creation of a Gantt chart
• Assigning of human resources
• Generate a PERT chart from a Gantt chart
• Save charts as .PNG
• Generate .PDF and .HTML report
• Import and export projects to Microsoft Project

dotProject

This is web based project management software that helps you in your project layout and control. It has extensive features that make it the choice for company’s who are particular in task management. Some of its features include

• User Management
• Email based trouble Ticket System, (Integrated voxel.net’sticketsmith)
• Client/Company Management
• Project listings
• Hierarchical Task List
• File Repository
• Contact List
• Calendar
• Discussion Forum
• Resource Based Permissions

ReqMan

Managers love to use this tool because it is highly configurable and versatile. It packs in several powerful features such as a planning module, time module, reporting module and even a questionnaire. It is also web based so you need to be connected online.

In times when companies everywhere are making budget cuts it is time to make the smart decision. Even if funding has been reduced any manager can still manage a project by using these free project management software. Although they may differ from the paid versions that some of you are used to it still provides the same end result.