Property Management for Resident Management Companies

When you buy an apartment - or sometimes a freehold house - within a development, there are common items that need to be maintained. In an apartment block, the hallways need to be cleaned, a lift will need to be serviced and the exterior of the building will need to be repainted from time to time. In a housing development, gardens and possibly security gates will need to be maintained.

All of this will usually be documented in a lease (for an apartment) or TP1 (for a freehold house), and all of these obligations need to be organised by someone. A maintenance plan needs to be developed, a budget needs to be prepared, funds need to be raised and various tradespeople need to be contracted, all managed in accordance with the lease and the law. This is the role of the estate manager or managing agent.

The many different areas of residential block or property management can be confusing - even more so if you are new to apartment living - and especially daunting if as a resident management company director you have assumed responsibility for ensuring your development is being maintained and that the finances are in order. The service charge you pay is not an insignificant amount of money, so how do you go about finding a managing agent you can trust?

Our first piece of advice is always to choose an agent who is ARMA-Q accredited. The property management industry is currently unregulated so ARMA (the Association of Residential Managing Agents) introduced this stringent set of standards to provide badly needed protection to leaseholders.

5 REASONS TO CHOOSE ENCORE

MAKING YOUR ESTATE LOOK GREAT

Both our facilities team and estate managers will visit each development to carry out regular Quality Site Audits. Covering all aspects of the scope of services for the property, these audits allow us to flag up any issues and address them quickly and professionally so that they don’t become a problem.

Site inspections are all about making sure everything is correct and that "The Estate Looks Great".
GOOD WITH MONEY

It's your money we're looking after so we set credible budgets and critically examine all expenditure to ensure best value for money. Service charge funds are held in separate interest-bearing accounts and are verified annually by an external accountant.

Our qualified and experienced accountants are an integral part of the property management team, and work closely with your estate manager to ensure finances are properly recorded, managed and reported.
QUICK RESPONSE

Our goal is to maintain every estate we manage to consistently high standards in order to deal with any potential problems before they escalate.

Response times are closely monitored - whether they relate to the time it takes to deal with a maintenance issue, or to answer an email or letter from a leaseholder.
GREAT COMMUNICATION

We are available by office phone, mobile and email and can provide an after-hours call response service where appropriate. Our estate managers make regular visits to site, attend resident and company meetings and AGMs as required and are always happy to meet with residents to discuss concerns they might have. Our staff work to strict timetables in relation to communicating property-specific information including financial updates and major works programmes.
EVERYTHING IS CORRECT

An effective managing agent needs a complete understanding of complex landlord and tenant law, building construction and maintenance, health and safety regulations, finance and more. Encore's experienced team of people - backed up by robust systems and proven procedures - brings all of these disciplines together, ensuring we meet key legal and accounting milestones, continually maintain high standards of day to day management at the estate, and control expenditure.

The manager allocated to manage our development has always given good professional and sound practical advice and is always available to meet when necessary. Since Encore’s presence the accounts department has managed the issue of service charge invoices and preparation of the annual accounts most efficiently.
- Mr Jessey
- Berkshire
Encore's administration has been excellent - they respond to queries quickly and accurately and maintain good communications both with the Management Committee and with the residents.
- Mr Apthorp
- Cambridgeshire
We have had a successful and improving relationship with Encore who have managed and reduced our annual budget well over the last few years."
- Mr Simpson
- Lincolnshire
"Thanks for all the work you have done since taking over the account. You and your team have been a pleasure to work with and like a breath of fresh air."
- Mr Orwell
- Suffolk
"I have the impression that you want to improve standards and care about our development. This is very encouraging."
- Mr Shotton
- Cambridgeshire

WORKING WITH LEASEHOLDERS

5 REASONS TO CHOOSE ENCORE

MAKING YOUR ESTATE LOOK GREAT

GOOD WITH MONEY

QUICK RESPONSE

GREAT COMMUNICATION

EVERYTHING IS CORRECT

ENCORE COMMENDED FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 2019 ARMA AWARDS