Understanding Property Management - June 2011
I remember when I bought my first flat how soon afterwards it was I realised that I did not really understand the terms of the lease I had just signed.
I didn’t understand the role of the managing agent, let alone the landlord, the building surveyor or the independent auditor who certified the service charge accounts. Perhaps more embarrassingly, as a former auditor myself, I didn’t understand the difference between service charge accounts (which are “certified” by an independent accountant under the Landlord & Tenant Act) and a set of company accounts that are “audited” under the terms of the Companies Act.
I have become so much more familiar with the “peculiarities” of what is called “block management” within the property services industry now that I have spent over 10 years working it. I have become painfully aware of the degree to which the service is so easily misunderstood by those who pay for it. Equally I find myself frequently wondering how a service that is so extremely complex does not always get the professional respect it deserves.
The role of a property manager includes, inter alia, the following disciplines; the maintenance of buildings (and their equipment), budgeting and accounting, contract law, litigation and debtor recovery law, employment law, as well as the softer social services skills required to deal with inevitable inter-lessee or lessee-landlord disputes that plague communal living.
The more thoroughly a property manager can communicate and explain the nature of the service (and the laws that influence it), the easier his or her job would be.
With the need to communicate the nature of the service comes a realisation that the audience to whom the communication needs to be addressed is as diverse as society itself. Property managers need to adapt their communication to suit a wide range of lessees from differing social and professional backgrounds. The nature of explanation required by a social worker, for example, who understands completely the issues surrounding, say, “noise disturbance” will be very different from the type of explanation a solicitor or barrister wants. The legal professional will understand a Section 20 or 146 notice but may not understand why bicycles can’t be left in the hallway!
We as professionals need to upgrade our effort to explain our service more thoroughly and recognise that clear and effective communication will lead to a more harmonious environment for all concerned.
For more information please contact:
Robert Plumb, CEO
HML Holdings plc
020 8439 8529
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