Essex Properties as a Partnership, has worked in the Essex and East London Area for more than 31 years specialising solely in residential and estate management. Earlier in 2011 Essex Properties Limited was formed to split the company into the two sections - lettings, and estate management. Both the partnership and the company have the same two principals and both come under the banner of the Essex Properties Group of Companies, and have decades of experience in the specialised field of leasehold and block flat management. We have 20 staff at the moment, 16 of which work solely in the Estates Management and Accounts Departments. Each property will have a designated Property Manager and dedicated Accounts Manager who will be responsible overall for the property.
We do not generally advertise, our service is usually recommended by existing clients, other professionals in related fields, and more often than not, by word of mouth. Our staff are all long-standing, we do not have a high turnover of staff. All are trained in house to our exacting high standards and on external courses. All Estate Management staff are affiliated to and working towards the membership of the Institute of Residential Property Management - the only relevant membership at present for individual staff that is exam driven, not a "paid for" membership.
We are in the position that in more than 30 years of working in this field, we have not lost the management of a single block of flats or a leasehold development. We still manage each and every development we have taken on over the years, due, we believe, to the personalised service we offer, and the high level of customer satisfaction.
We work hand in hand with the appointed residential Directors in ensuring that costs are kept as low as possible, whilst building reserves to cover the larger items such as external redecoration etc, so that there should never be a large unexpected invoice to pay. On a larger development we would arrange a planned maintenance programme for 5-10 years, and cost reserves accordingly.
Although the lease usually states service charges and ground rents are to be collected annually or 6 monthly, we generally make the facility of payment on a 12-monthly standing order (without any additional charges), this usually helps cashflow and tends to avoid a majority of non-payment cases. All of our credit control is carried out in our accounts department for speedier and more effective results - right up to Court or LVT Representation if required.
If we are instructed to take over from an existing agent (which is what happens in the majority of cases), we can assist you in arranging the relevant meetings, notice letters, etc, and once instructed, we take over all the hassle of changing agents, obtaining the funds for the development and the records from the last agents. With the large companies presently covering the majority of developments, this work itself is quite exhaustive and takes 3 or 4 months before all records are handed over. We take on this work at no cost to you, and simply charge the agreed management fee from the day our contract commences, there are no additional up-front costs.
The majority of leasehold management that we handle comes from clients who are presently with one of the large corporates, many of which receive extremely bad press on the “leasehold nightmare forums” on the web, usually with the employed companies themselves acting as Directors, leaving the residents with little or no input in how affairs are run, for them. We are happy to act as Company Secretary for the company as this involves other legal responsibilities, but we actively encourage members to stand as Directors, for the little work this involves, it gives far more satisfaction in knowing your input into the management of your development is taken into account.
We are open 6 days a week, and of course realise that direct communications and a quick response to issues raised is paramount, especially when things go wrong. We handle all the maintenance and repairs, from a broken light bulb, to a leaking roof fast, and keeping costs to minimum. All regulatory and health and safety issues are dealt with as a priority
Proposed budgets are prepared each year, and are discussed with the Directors before they are put into place. We usually hold a minimum of one Directors Meeting and one AGM each year, plus of course as many visits as you feel you require. We usually find that once you have moved over to a company such as Essex Properties, within a short time you feel more comfortable that things are being acted upon promptly, and the management will run as it should, unobtrusively, but with everything covered as it should be.
As a matter of course we inspect the development a minimum of once every three months so that we can inspect the work the contractors are carrying out to ensure that standards are kept high. We use the services of various contractors, and work is always put out to tender to keep the price competitive. If the contractor is working well, and you and we are happy with their work, their contract usually runs for two years before it is reviewed. If however you or we are unhappy with their work, they will be given fair warning. If things still do not improve, their contract will be terminated, and the contract will go to the next competitive tender. We manage developments from 3 units up to 300 from a variety of areas - Chelmsford, Suffolk, Colchester, Southend, Tiptree, East London, North London, Canary Wharf, Grays, Ilford, Woodford, Redhill and all areas in between
We have our own in-house insurance departmant through our appointed representative status with Barbon Insurance Group to enable us to be able to get your building insurance fully tendered at renewal to get the best price for you and also to deal, as intermediary, with all insurance claims.
Right to manage
Usually the developer of your site will set up a management company to handle the day to day affairs of the development, and after the first initial period, the development passes to residential control, when residents can be appointed as Directors. It is at that stage that you can appoint alternative agents.
However in some instances a management company is not set up, or there are restrictions on your lease as to who can manage the development. In this instance, we would need to take the RIGHT TO MANAGE option, which we can arrange for you, so that you can take over the residential control of your development.
The procedure is more involved and prolonged when the Right to Manage route has to be taken, but it does have to be taken only once. Essex Properties will carry out all the paperwork, setting up the company, serving all the legal notices on the freeholder etc, the cost for this is £500, shared between as many properties as there are within the development. This is purely the cost for the London Law Company to set up the Right to Manage Company itself, we do all the rest of the work for you at no extra charge.
A minimum of 50% of members will need to be in agreement to set this up and we are able to assist in setting up meetings with the members to discuss this, and put the relevant proposals forward.
Fee structure
We do not have a specified fee structure for flat management, but it is unlikely that the cost you are presently paying will be less than our charges. You must also take into account that we do not make the additional charges, on top of the management fees, that the larger companies charge,
Once we have seen the development, we will be able to determine a fee for you and this will be the only fee that you pay, no extras.
If you are unhappy with your present agent, we would be delighted to meet with you to discuss your proposals, of course free of charge and without obligation. Appointments can be made evenings and Saturdays as well as during the week.
Don't put up with a bad, expensive service. If you are not happy, contact Essex Properties on 01245 428159 or 08456 187292
