What Are The Responsibilities Of A Block Manager?

Block management simply put is managing blocks of flats where the individual properties are owned by various leaseholders. As the managing agent, our main roles include; arranging for maintenance, collecting service charges, looking after the communal areas, and a number of important legal responsibilities.

Top 10 responsibilities of the Block Manager:

1. Knowing the lease terms

Often, individual flats in the same block can have different lease terms. As manager, we need to know what each owner is permitted to do and what we’re required to do for them.

2. Enforcing the lease terms

If any leaseholder breaches the terms of their lease – e.g. by sub-letting or making unauthorised alterations to the property – we’ve got to deal with the issue.

3. Insurance

Each leaseholder’s service charge includes a contribution to buildings insurance for the whole block. We have to inform the insurer:-

How many flats are owner-occupied
How many are rented out
What type of tenants are living there

This helps ensure we have the right cover for the block’s circumstances.

4. Health & safety

As manager, we are responsible for making sure the site always complies with health and safety law and that all maintenance works are carried out by approved contractors.

5. Fire safety

We are responsible for having a risk assessment carried out and must ensure the right fire safety measures are in place for the communal areas, including fire doors, alarms, extinguishers, etc. The best way to do this is have a professional fire safety representative visit to carry out the assessment and inform us of what needs doing.

6. Routine inspections

We’ve got to schedule regular inspections of the communal areas, inside and outside the building, to make sure the property remains in good condition and nobody is violating any of the terms of their lease.

7. Keeping detailed records

It’s our responsibility to keep clear, detailed records of all works, payments, inspections, etc.

8. Accounting

Among other things, we are responsible for:

Collecting service charges and ground rent
Budgeting and making sure there’s always enough money in the management account
Allocating resources

Making sure accounts are prepared correctly for the shareholders of the block.

9. Section 20 Notice for works to the building

This is complex but, if certain building works need to be carried out and the cost to each individual leaseholder will be more than £250, there is a three-stage consultation procedure that we need to follow. If it’s not done properly, we could be liable for any cost of the works, over and above £250 per leaseholder.

10. Keeping up to date with legal changes

We must make sure we know about and understand all new legislation and amendments to existing laws that will affect the block and our management of it.

If you have any questions about right to manage, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team hello@horizonmanagement.co.uk

We’ve had a great experience with the Horizon team, our questions have been answered straight away and work has been completed to a high standard. I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a new building management team as we were.

Bolton Hackett

Katie & Chris are pros. They’ve sorted all our problems immediately. They are very nice people to deal with. Highly recommend.

Rosie Moss

A really great company. Our previous Block Managers were providing a poor service and were expensive. Within a short period Horizon Management have turned the Block around at a considerably cheaper price. Highly recommended!

Marc Willton

I rarely write reviews but felt compelled to write this.
The team at Horizon management is just fantastic, 100% on top of everything, hard-working and always there when I need them or have a question.
Cannot recommended them highly enough..????

Ben Holmes

Great communicators, timely, efficient and great to work with. I would 100% recommend working with this company.

Adam Smith

The whole team has always been extremely helpful and responsive when dealing with any issues we have come across in any blocks they manage. A massive thank you to the continued hard work from Lisa and the whole team!

Leef Properties

Excellent company, very conscientious and on the ball. The team are great and cannot do enough for you. Always contactable and helpful in every way. Highly recommended!

Lisa Calvert

Great guys to work with everything was smooth highly recommend

Martin Attride

Excellent Service, the team is friendly & reliable. Pleasure to work with.

Kris Maple

My experience with Horizon Management has been great, pity they are no longer managing another apartment I own.

Jie Shen

Very professional, friendly and hard working team. I would highly recommend their services.

L P

Very recommended. Horizon team is very helpful. Working with them is a pleasure. ????????

Piotr Uczkuronis

I have really enjoyed working with Horizon Management. Their work ethic and blocks are first class.

Peter Cox

A truly exceptional and professional service.
Attention to detail and level of competency are unsurpassed. Really recommend ????

Piotr Uczkuronis

Great company to work with, we’d highly recommend working with them! The team including Chris and Katie have been an absolute pleasure to deal with!

AJ Richmond

I have been dealing with Horizon for over 2 years now in a maintenance capacity. Throughout the years their responsiveness to their customers has been top notch.

This shows most when we (my maintenance business) are late or cannot make it to an appointment at one of their sites. The team are straight on the case, they always have a backup option.

It shows clearly that their customers investment is their top priority.

I can not recommend this friendly bunch highly enough! Well done.

Michael Bishop

Excellent company and team, couldnt recommend them enough.

Chris Whitlock

Fantastic company with huge importance on customer service.
Every question gets answered and they are thoroughly professional.

Neil Smith

Horizon only took over my block a few months before I sold up so I only have limited experience but it was all positive. Very helpful, professional people.

Jimmy L

An absolute dream to work with.
They make everything simple, easy and straight forward.
Very easy to talk to and nothing is to much trouble.
5 stars isn’t enough!
Thanks Chris and the team!!
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Neil Smith

Couldn’t fault them - since they’ve stepped in the service is so much better ????????

Steph Hitchman

Brilliant company to work with, really responsive and can’t do enough to help!

Ellen Cantrill

Great company, whole team has always been helpful and responsive when dealing with any issues we have come across .A massive thank you! Absolutely satisfied and highly recommended .

Andrea

We've used several management companies over the years to look after our apartment block , Horizon were recommended to us and we would not hesitate to recommend them to others
First class service from the whole team

Brian

I'm extremely impressed with Horizon Management. Their team is professional, attentive, and efficient. They've significantly improved the maintenance of our property and are always responsive to our needs. Their dedication to customer satisfaction is outstanding. Highly recommend for reliable and exceptional block management services.

Piotr

Excellent service from the team at Horizon! A pleasure to work with.

Kris Maple

Always reassuring to deal with a company who answer the phone and are helpful and friendly. Horizon look after my apartment building and have helped turn it around since the previous agents seemed to have given up!

Victoria

Really good company to deal with, very professional. It is so rare to find someone good in this industry. Highly recommended.

James Fawcett

Great company to work with, we’d highly recommend working with them! The team including Chris and Katie have been an absolute pleasure to deal with!

Ashley Richmond

As always, the service from Horizon Management is clear, helpful, friendly and efficient. Katie and the team patiently explained everything to us and I have complete confidence that our legal matters will be completed to our total satisfaction.

Rob Zak

A first class team!!! Always very helpful

Catherine Pickard

They’ve done a good job so far and easy to get hold of.

Mike Thomas

Horizon Management have been fantastic. Our previous management company were very unprofessional, not doing their job and hiking up their fees considerably every year.
Horizon Management have come in taken control from day one, are now charging a fair service charge, carrying out all the required duties and have been very transparent throughout. I would highly recommend!

Marc

To put some context in my review: Horizon manage a building where I own a flat and after years of mismanagement by the previous block managers, Centrick, Horizon took over the building with outstanding results. I find their approach to be extremely transparent, working hard to improve the building while not putting up costs unnecessarily. To me they are a breath of fresh air in an industry where its all to easy to exploit flat owners with lazy management.

I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Horizon to anyone who wants a managing agent that actually works hard for leaseholders, freeholders and tenants.

Richard Ball