Information Below you will find details of what is included in our block management service. In short, we look after the day to day running of your block, dealing with maintenance issues, collecting service charges, keeping financial records, dealing with solicitors requests for information and arrange & attend meetings and AGMs. Don't worry if you're not sure what services your block or estate require as we will tailor our services to meet your needs when we meet you, and if your block requires us to do something that isn't mentioned in our list, that's not a problem. Treasurer Arrange for the collection of service charge, annual insurance, ground rent and estate maintenance payments as specified by the lease and record receipts accurately. Arrange for the collection of a fee from new flat owners. Keep individual property financial records in respect of service charge payments. Maintain financial accountancy books and records including bank reconciliation statements and monthly management accounts. Maintain cash book for all incoming payments and authorized outgoings. Ensure all monies held in the bank receive the best rate of interest available and to negotiate bank charges. Prepare cash book for the annual audit and to assist accountants in this respect as necessary. Be responsible for the payment of all contract work carried out at the Company's request. Prepare a budget forecast for the following financial year for the Directors approval annually. Secretary Inspect the estate on a monthly basis and record requests from shareholders for ongoing maintenance work to be carried out. Liaise with all staff and ensure that work is carried out to maintain the quality of the estate and to conform to the term of the lease. Call out the maintenance staff for all emergency works and ensure a contact number is available at all times. Deal with all notified breaches of the lease. Ensure the relevant buildings and estate are insured. To deal with all correspondence from solicitors and other interested parties in relation to the sale of a property and to provide accounts and insurance documentation when requested. Deal with any insurance claim on behalf of the shareholder and obtain estimates if necessary. Call and attend the meetings of the Directors as may be necessary from time to time and to ensure the minutes are accurate. Call and attend the AGM of the company and ensure the minutes are taken and recorded accurately. Ensure all information requested by Companies House is forwarded annually and at the time specified. Maintain the statutory company books and records in respect of members, including entry of current Directors and Secretary. As part of the secretary service we will deal with any correspondence or telephone calls in respect of the estate. Fees The amount we charge will depend on the size of your block or estate and what your block requires us to do. We use our in house maintenance team hence our fees and service charges are extremely competitive. We have reduced service charges on most blocks and estates, often by more than 50% We would be more than happy to discuss our fees with you further. Please do not hesitate to contact our office. The "Fees" should not be confused with the "Service Charge" that your block pays. Our fees will form a part of your Company's service charge. BLOCKS WITH 6 OR LESS PROPERTIES BLOCKS WITH 7 OR MORE PROPERTIES ESTATES £120 per flat per year. £100 per flat per year. £100 per flat per year. £50 per house per year. MEETINGS AND AGMs Depending on the size of your block meetings will be held up to 4 times a year - with one of those meeting being an AGM (Annual General Meeting). The number, location of meetings and who is present is also dependant on the size of your block. SMALL BLOCKS (blocks with 6 or less flats in them) When we hold meeting for smaller blocks all owners are invited to attend. Once the block is up and running our aim is to hold 2 meetings a year, one of those meeting being an AGM, but when we take over the running of the block, the meetings may be as frequent as every 4 months to start with until everything settles down. Meeting are normally held in someone's flat. Minutes of all meeting are taken and are made available to everyone either by post or e mail. Some small blocks that we manage have opted to have just one meeting a year (being the AGM). MEDIUM SIZED BLOCKS AND ESTATES We hold up to 4 meetings a year, one of those being the AGM. Everyone is, of course, invited to attend the AGM, but with the other meetings a number of the residents will volunteer themselves to become Directors of the Company and attend those meetings on behalf of the other residents. Matters are discussed concerning the Block at these meetings and are voted on. Minutes of the meeting are taken and are made available to everyone either by post or e mail. Directors meetings are normally held in someone's flat. AGMs are held a suitable local venue (a private meeting room in a local pub or local school hall are common). THE SERVICE CHARGE We will draw up a budget for your block each year. The budget sets out what the expenditure is going to be over the next year - using a combination of factual information and estimates*. From this we work out what the service charge for the year will be. The service charge is calculated as per how the block was set up. Most blocks share the costs evenly - so if there are 7 flats in the block - each flat will pay one seventh of the total amount. With estates, where there is often a mixture of houses and flats, a separate service charge is calculated for the houses and flat, as each require difference needs. The flats may require the common areas to be cleaned, and the houses would not contribute to this cost. Items that make up a budget include: Our fees Buildings insurance Accountancy fees Lift maintenance Cleaning Gardening Communal electricity Ground rent Alarm and security service General maintenance Redecorating provision Factual information would include such things as our fees or buildings insurance. These are things where we know what the costs for the forthcoming year will be. Estimated information would be things like communal electricity, where we can make an educated guess what the charges will be for the year, but wont know exactly what the costs will be until be get the bill in.