The Managing Agent

Appointment of the Managing Agent

In accordance with the terms of the lease the Block Landlord (G&O Investments Ltd) is required to ensure that the building, systems and services are appropriately managed and maintained.

To carry out these functions, the Block Landlord appointed Plymouth Block Management Ltd as the Managing Agent to undertake the financial and day-to-day management of the building and the collection of service charges from leaseholders.

The Block Landlord also appointed Urbanpoint Properties Ltd. as agents for the collection of ground rents (payable by leaseholders) and to hold and manage the Building Insurance Policy. Sub-lessees of apartments for which the primary lease is held by the Grey GR Limited Partnership have separate arrangements for the payment of ground rents through HomeGround Management Limited.

The Managing Agent, whilst accountable to Block Landlord, is also obliged to provide leaseholders (apartment owners) with certain financial information. Furthermore, the managing agent’s books of account, together with all invoices relating to the building must be open to inspection by the owners, if required, and in accordance with statutory requirements.

Managing Agents’ duties are regulated by the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) who offer the following guidance:

WHY USE A MANAGING AGENT?

Managing a block of flats requires a professional approach and the time to do it. Today’s managing agents need to have a good knowledge of landlord and tenant law, building construction, health and safety regulations, basic accounting and a range of other skills.

Managing agents take instructions from the landlord not the individual leaseholders. But a good managing agent will always be aware of the requirements and wishes of the flat owners. From keeping the lift working to doing the accounting; maintaining the garden to decorating the hallway the managing agent plays an important part in your life as a leaseholder and the smooth running of your building.

Whoever appoints the managing agent, as a leaseholder you pay for their services through your service charges. So its in your interests to have a professional and experienced agent who does the job well.

WHAT YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO EXPECT FROM YOUR MANAGING AGENT

A good managing agent will be:

Knowledgeable

Have a full understanding of the structure and meaning of leases
Have thorough knowledge of relevant Landlord and Tenant legislation
Help you understand your rights and obligations

Professional

Committed to best practice
Committed to good customer service
Comply with relevant standards and codes of practice
Operate an independent complaints procedure
Be subject to external scrutiny

Transparent

Able to provide full accounting facilities for budgeting, service charge and year-end accounting and give you access to them
Able to support you and your fellow leaseholders in ensuring that service charge money is spent wisely
Open about connections with other service providers and about commissions

The Managing Agent’s responsibilities

In accordance with the lease, the Managing Agent’s main role and responsibilities are the security, support, maintenance and servicing of the common areas and structure of the Hebble Wharf building.

These services are managed remotely by Plymouth Block Management, with support from local maintenance contractors and the Hebble Wharf Residents & Owners Association.

The Managing Agent is responsible for such matters as:

• Communal areas of the building

• Building access and security (including cctv systems)

• Building fire alarms

• External and internal lighting of communal areas

• Cold water supply and sewerage services

• Terrestrial and satellite media distribution services

• Fabric of the buildings including water leaks or flooding

• Refuse storage and recycling

• Provision of mailboxes (maintained at leaseholder’s expense)

• External window cleaning (except for apartments on 4th floor)

• Utility issues (including meter readings provided by the Association)

• Power failure and systems failures

• Car park

• Parking issues

• Unsociable behaviour

• Any financial queries

• Concerns over staffing

• Suspected lease breaches

• Emergency repairs

• Fob and radio transmitter unit reordering

• Budget and accounts requests

• Insurance claims (managed by Urbanpoint Properties Ltd)

Complaints Procedure

In the event a complaint needs to be made and formally recorded, Plymouth Block Management will follow a simple procedure to record, investigate and address the complaint in a professional and timely manner using the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management
System.

Download a copy of Plymouth Block Management’s Official Complaints Procedure.

Unreasonable Behaviour Policy

Plymouth Block Management’s declared role is to deliver an exceptional customer service to all their customers, whether that be residents, leaseholders, or clients. Managing people’s homes requires dealing with customers that have an emotional investment and this can sometimes cause distress and make dealing with customers difficult. PBM is prepared and have tools to enable them to ease such conversations and provide effective resolutions to these problems.
Occasionally however, there may be instances when an individual’s behaviour is considered unreasonable. PBM has a duty to ensure that their staff are properly protected, in accordance with their health and safety obligations and a general responsibility to safeguard their welfare. Staff will not be expected to tolerate unreasonable behaviour.

Download a copy of Plymouth Block Management’s Unreasonable Behaviour Policy