Sound Advice: Guidance for both landlords and leaseholders considering appointment of a managing agent.
This section of the Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd website offers advice both to landlords and those living in schemes where they are leaseholders who are obliged to pay service charges, whether in a small conversion, a large purpose built mansion block or an estate, including schemes which have been enfranchised and are subject to ‘self-management’ by resident management companies. It also encompasses issues likely to face ‘commonholders.’
Our intention is to provide you with basic guidance on how Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd can assist in managing schemes, what options are on offer for the management of the flats and how you can go about appointing and employing Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd as your managing agent.
Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd is affiliated to the Association of Residential Managing Agents. ARMA is the only professional body in England and Wales that focuses exclusively on matters relating to the block management of residential property, whether for landlords or resident management companies. Members agree to adopt and comply with the principal objectives of the Association and undertake to follow the Codes of Practice issued by ARMA and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The Association promotes and encourages consistent standards of practice by its members.
Our aim in the following pages is to help potential clients to:
• Understand the role of Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd as your managing agent
• Be able to make an informed choice between the employment of a managing agent and self-management
• know what to consider when appointing Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd as your managing agent (Clearly we offer a general guide only and we advise you also to seek independent legal advice should you decide to proceed.
FURTHER TOPICS - CLICK FOR MORE INFORMATION
• Can you manage without a professional managing agent?
• Do you need a professional agent?
• Why does a building need to be managed at all?
• Professional management standards
• Making the right choice of management
• Appointing a management agent
• Property description checklist
• Experience and skills provided by Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd
• The ARMA code of practice for residential property
Can you manage without a professional managing agent?
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Introduction
Many leaseholders do manage their buildings themselves quite competently and successfully, preserving the value of their investment in the flats and saving in management fees. However, if you are a leaseholder considering this strategy, you should give serious thought to the work to be done and the obligations arising before you make your decision.
Restrictions
A resident management company is subject to exactly the same legal duties as any other absentee or commercial landlord; those duties are owed not only to the leaseholders who are members and participants in the management company but also to those who are not involved and who may have different views and objectives for the management of the building. The rights of individual leaseholders are not in any way diminished or suspended simply because the management is through a resident-controlled company. Leaseholders proposing self-management should appreciate that this will not necessarily give them the expected freedom to manage the building exactly as they might choose; they must be closely aware of the restrictions and requirements both of the lease and relevant legislation.
Organisation
The task of managing a residential block is ongoing and a long term commitment. It should not therefore be left to one or two individuals alone, or embarked upon without regard to the future. It is necessary to consider whether there are going to be sufficient members already, willing, able and available to keep an effective management team running indefinitely. Positions held in the management company are generally unpaid and rely upon a few hard-working members. Problems can arise when a key director ‘moves on' which may lead to sudden skills gaps and cause management chaos. Disagreements do arise from time to time and sudden and unplanned resignations cannot be discounted where, for example, management team proposals prove unacceptable, or where complaints arise as to the way in which individuals fulfill the duties of their office.
Duties and obligations of the manager
Management of a residential block is a largely practical exercise but does demand considerable effort, time, organisational skills and care. The physical fabric of the building must be regularly inspected, maintained and redecorated to the required standard and at the required times. Assessment of any necessary work may require professional expertise. Monitoring and approving the finished job may demand a qualified surveyor. Work will not always be properly executed and some members or lessees may well refuse to meet the costs at the expense of the Company, which can cause friction and dispute.
Systems must be put in place to estimate and to collect the money required to pay for works and services and the company will need a full understanding of how the lease permits these charges to be raised, whether in advance or arrears. There must be sufficient accounting procedures in place to provide final accounts and the annual statutory summaries to the leaseholders. Although the company is the landlord the accounts must clearly distinguish between the financial affairs of the company and of the landlord; for example, the company cannot pay tax from the leaseholders' service charge account.
In cases where a resident is in default of his or her lease, in non-payment or arrears of rent or service charges or in breach of a clause of the lease controlling the use of the flat (subletting for example), the manager will be required to take action; this can include threat, or ultimately use of forfeiture and possession proceedings. Resident managers may feel uncomfortable when required to take direct action against a fellow leaseholder and prefer that such actions are carried out by an independent professional.
Notwithstanding these cautionary points, however, residents should not assume that there is no credible alternative to the employment of agents or that they cannot do the job to the same high standards as those of a professional manager. What is important is that leaseholders should choose self-management only where they have a complete understanding of the scope of the manager’s role and the facilities and resources to undertake the task properly. The building is, after all, the joint capital investment of many; profitable investments demand careful handling.
Do you need a professional agent?
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Professional organisation
There are many benefits of professional management, which must be balanced against the fees which member and non-member leaseholders will have to bear. As professional managing agents, Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd will bring an organised approach to the estimation, calculation, collection and dissemination of funding, the timetables for redecoration and repairs and inspection and supervision of works. Our assessment of what must be done, and when, will be independent of private interests and preferences and based solely upon our duty to the landlord and to all residents to keep the premises in good repair. Where there is self-management the process of collecting in funds and the responsibility for taking steps to recover unpaid charges will be removed from the individual directors of the management company. Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd is geared up to handle the mundane and time consuming administration, and may handle it more efficiently through better facilities for storage and retrieval of records and documentation essential for accounting purposes.
Handling disputes
Issues and disputes can be dealt with impartially by Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd as an arms length agent so as to limit any animosity and division which could arise, where personal issues would otherwise become the business of neighbours and colleagues. As managing agent Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd distinguishes clearly between the needs and duties of the client company under the Companies Acts and the needs and duties of the client company in its separate role as a landlord under the leases and the relevant Landlord and Tenant legislation.
A full-time professional service
Management is a full time affair. As managing agent Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd has the essential infrastructure to deal with the management of leasehold property efficiently and expeditiously. Full time staff employed for that sole purpose, purpose-designed IT for account handling and ready access to lawyers, technical experts, professional bodies and colleagues are some of the resources which the self-managing lessees may not be able to match. Fidelity insurance cover is available to protect client funds and this is a significant advantage over self-regulation of funds by individual members. The separate Professional Indemnity insurance cover carried by Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd is a further protection for clients against the risk of negligent acts or incompetence. Such protection cannot be obtained by resident managers on their own account.
The importance of clear instructions
Finally, it is worth stating that what may not he immediately appreciated by those who have past experience of poor management is that the professional managing agent is obliged to follow his employer`s instructions and objectives. Those objectives may sometimes differ according to the landlord's and tenants’ viewpoint. Previous bad management should not necessarily be laid at the door of the previous managing agent, who may for example have been restricted in his actions by poor instructions from an incompetent or uncooperative landlord. Proper instructions from the landlord or from well organised enfranchised leaseholders are likely to elicit a very different service in response.
Why does a building need to be managed at all?
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Protecting your investment
A building will not manage itself and there is much to be done if the leaseholders are to receive the services due to them and the building is to be kept in good repair; insurance needs to be put in place and renewed on time, bills need to be paid and services maintained, local authority and legislative requirements must be met. The leaseholders' capital investment in their flats must be maintained and their individual rights of enjoyment of the flats ensured.
Strategic planning
Whoever manages the building there are certain tasks to be carried out; there is little variation in these whether the building is a house converted into a few flats or a substantial purpose-built block or estate. Careful forward planning is necessary in terms of repair, both in the specification and pricing of the work and perhaps more important, in the financial provision for them. The terms of the leases providing for collection of service charges may not necessarily he compatible with the immediate funding needs of the management company or the building. Accurate planning and collection demands an assessment of the needs for the year ahead, some months in advance of that year’s beginning, since shortages of money for urgent works can be serious.
Duties and responsibilities
Whoever is responsible as the manager of the scheme has significant duties and responsibilities under the lease and under legislation, be it the actual landlord or the leaseholders in the form of, or acting as, the landlord. It is essential that the person or firm fulfilling the role of manager fully understands and appreciates these responsibilities if the residents are to receive the services due to them and the building is to be maintained.
These responsibilities arise in three areas:
1 Covenants in the lease:
The lease sets out both the relationship between the landlord and the individual leaseholder and the rules and obligations to be observed. Leaseholders participating in the management company may agree mutually convenient arrangements between themselves for the collection of service charge moneys and rent and timetables for repairs and maintenance. However, if these arrangements are in any way contrary to the lease they cannot be imposed or otherwise relied upon if a single leaseholder objects; in a dispute the specific requirements of the lease must prevail, no matter how much more convenient the management company's arrangements might be. It is most important, therefore, to ensure that a management company fully understands the terms of the lease and makes no irreversible decision which might be inconsistent with the lease; this may lead to loss to the company or action against it or against individual directors. Those leaseholders in a position to make decisions for the company must appreciate these restrictions, both in their fiduciary duty to the company as directors, and to the individual leaseholders as the landlord.
2 Landlord’s covenants. These usually include:
- Insurance - obtaining and arranging the insurance of the building.
- Repairs, maintenance and major works - upkeep of the structure of the building, to maintain it in a proper condition for the residents.
- Provision of services - lighting in common areas, heating, cleaning, grounds maintenance etc.; caretaker or porterage services and, in special sheltered schemes for the elderly, house manager, warden and emergency alarm call services.
- Enforcement of tenants' covenants - regulation of the use of the flats, application of covenants against sub-letting, business use etc., enforcement of tenants’ rights of quiet enjoyment, (peaceable occupation) in the event of disturbance by other residents.
3 Statutory Requirements:
The manager will need to be fully aware of the requirements of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 relating to reasonableness of costs and formal consultation procedures and be able to put them into practice. Even where there appears to be a general consensus of support by the residents to proposed works, say in a vote at a meeting, this will not remove the obligation for compliance with the statutory procedures.
Provision of information to the lessees
Under the Landlord and Tenant Acts 1985 and 1987 the landlord (or his agent) must, on the lessee’s request, provide summaries of the service charge costs and details of the insurance arrangements, and make available for the lessees' inspection all relevant invoices, documents etc., including the insurance policy.
Consultation on major works
Prior to carrying out works of repair to the building, in cases where the total cost is more than £1,000, or £50 per each flat which pays variable service charges (whichever is the greater), the landlord must formally consult the lessees, by notice and invite their comments. Failure to do this will mean that the landlord will be unable to collect any more than the statutory amounts, whatever the actual cost of the works. Departure from these duties of information can render the landlord liable to criminal prosecution.
Advising lessees of statutory rights
In the service of statutory notices on lessees in forfeiture and possession actions, the landlord must include in the notices details of the lessees' statutory rights and remedies.
Reasonableness of service charges
Any service charges levied by the landlord must be reasonable, in terms of both cost and standards. Collection of the charges is not legally enforceable in the event of their being found not to be reasonable by a court or tribunal. Inability to collect service charges in respect of works done or services provided under contract can have disastrous consequences for resident management companies operating without substantial cash reserves.
Professional management standard
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Codes of practice
Management of residential leasehold property should be in accordance with approved Codes of Practice. The Government has, to date, approved two codes of practice, one introduced by the Association of Retirement Housing Managers relating to retirement housing and one by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors relevant to all tenants paying variable service charges. While departure from the Codes is not, in itself, a statutory offence, it can provide grounds for residents to challenge the management or the service charges.
Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd procedures and practices also accord with the Good Practice Guide of the Chartered Institute of Housing and the National House Builders Council Sheltered Housing Code.
Making the right choice of management
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In deciding how to proceed you will need to consider certain options relating to the management of the scheme:
• what duties or responsibilities do the landlord or the tenant managers wish to retain?
• which duties can usefully be delegated to a managing agent?
• what arrangements are to be made for instructing the managing agent?
As managing agents Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd offer a range of services. You can choose to leave everything to us, according to your set policy and expenditure controls, or you can elect to appoint us to take on specific tasks such as collection of service charges and issue of payments. You can decide, for example, whether the tenants will share the duties of cleaning or gardening or whether the agent should arrange this through a contractor.
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Specification:
You should be clear what tasks you want the managing agent to carry out. It is prudent to set these out in the form of a specification, to be evaluated by prospective agents as a tender. If you are one of a group of leaseholders who have become the manager of the building through a process of collective purchase then it is likely that you will have employed a surveyor for purposes of valuation; if not, it may be appropriate to consult one experienced in property. The surveyor can, under your instruction, draw up a formal specification of duties, for discussion with prospective managing agents.
In cases of small buildings, the input of a surveyor may not be justifiable, but you should then agree the basic list of tasks before interviewing agents. Where, for whatever reason, the leaseholders are taking over responsibility for management for the first time, it will be sensible to arrange for a structural and condition survey of the building, in order to be able to assess future repair and maintenance and improvement obligations. This can be carried out in advance of the appointment of the agent or it could be one of the tasks included in the specified tasks.
Managing Agents’ Qualifications:
While there are no specific qualifications required to become a managing agent many agents employ staff who are members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Chartered Institute of Housing or the Incorporated Society of Valuers and Auctioneers. It is of course recognised that this can only be an indication of professional expertise and need not necessarily be a guarantee of competence. A large number of agents are now members of the Association of Residential Managing Agents, although again this is not an obligatory qualification for those offering their services in this field of work.
Nevertheless the advantages of the appointment of a firm such as Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd which is affiliated to the Association of Residential Managing Agents and which offers the services of qualified RICS, CIH or ISVA staff members is that they will have had to satisfy an independent body of their competence and, as a condition of their membership will he required to abide by its code of practice. (The ARMA Code is set our below.)
Managing Agents’ Insurance:
It is most important to confirm the prospective managing agent's professional indemnity insurance. If the agent is a member of a professional association professional indemnity insurance will be an automatic condition of membership. However, you should check the existence of the cover and its extent. Where a resident management company delegates tasks to a managing agent the residents company will remain legally answerable for any neglect, omission or mistake by the agent and must be sure that the agent has the means for compensation or damages.
References:
Experienced managing agents should be able to provide references from the manager, or the residents' association, of other buildings they manage. You should seek references in respect of schemes similar to your own. Consider for example how efficient they have been in dealing with complaints; did they act promptly on minor repairs? Did they behave in a reasonable fashion where problems arose? You may consider that their service will be fully acceptable when they are answerable to you.
Procedures:
To start with you should write to a selected group of agents inviting them to tender for the work. You may know of agents or you can consult the list of agents specialising in tenant management available from ARMA or LEASE.
It is most important that you invite prospective managing agents to the building, to see it (and to meet the Board or management committee.) Ideally, in the course of discussion, try to meet the person who will actually be managing the scheme - since this personal relationship is usually an important element in tenant management. Similarly, try to visit yourselves, other buildings presently managed by the prospective managing agent and judge their competence ‘on the ground.’ When you interview prospective agents do not be afraid to ask questions and to negotiate fees. For example:
• What arrangements does the agent have for general maintenance inspections?
• How are minor repairs responded to and in what timescale?
• How are service charge moneys collected and what are the agent’s banking arrangements - is it a separate client account? What arrangements are made regarding interest?
• How are contractors chosen?
• What arrangements are to be provided for emergency out-of-hours call-outs?
The property management contract
When Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd is the management agent chosen, we normally provide a draft contract although sometimes the management company's solicitor may draw one up; alternatively the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors have produced two standard contracts, one for purpose built blocks of flats and one for other properties. (Always seek independent legal advice before entering into the contract.)
Getting the best service from your managing agent:
The managing agent cannot work in a vacuum and it is critical to future management arrangements to establish at the outset:
• Standards of work demanded
• Response times and other time-scales for action
• The authorised lines of communication
It is essential that both the individual leaseholders and the managing agent are clear as to who is responsible for issuing instructions to the managing agent. Where enfranchisement has taken place the usual, and most effective arrangement is for the managing agent to attend, and report to, meetings of the Board of the residents' company. Where the agent is treated effectively as the general manager he is then able to provide input to policy and take overall responsibility for day-to-day affairs. Meetings should be properly organised and the Board’s instructions to the managing agent clearly minuted. The Board should set clear lines of communication, understood and observed by both sides. The managing agent should not be required to interpret unclear instructions, nor should he receive differing instructions from individual members of the Board.
The Board should also establish how the managing agent is to respond to questions from individual residents and his accountability to those individuals. The residents should be clearly informed by the Board of the identity of the managing agent, his duties and the limits of his authority. Although the managing agent will be working for the residents as a whole, his employer is the Board and the residents must be clear that he carries the authority and support of the Board in all his actions. The managing agent should not be placed in any position of ambiguity in dealing with individual residents.
Inviting tenders from managing agents:
When inviting a tender from Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd for management of a scheme please be sure to provide a full description of the property and the services required. It is important to recognise that both price and quality should be considered in making your subsequent choice of agent. An initial meeting is advisable or you may wish to visit the offices of Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd to see something of our operation.
Property Description Checklist:
It is hoped that the following property description checklist will be of assistance to you as a potential client when preparing your tender documentation:
The property:
• Full address
• Age of property and basic construction
• Number and size of units
• Number of adjacent blocks
• Communal services provided
Ownership:
• Full name and address of freeholder (and/or head lessee)
• Structure of any freehold company
• Structure of any management company and its obligations
• Length of leases
• Contents of leases (main covenants) or enclose a sample lease
• Non-participating lessees
• Tenants (ie those in occupation without long leases)
Management:
• Structure of the board or association and their officers, and whether they are paid or volunteers
• Financial year-end
• Current management arrangements (are the current managing agents proposing to tender?)
• Expected date of new appointment and details of any transitional period
• Expected length of initial term of appointment
• A copy of the existing managing agent`s contract or the intended future version
• Staff employed (if any) and duties
• Contractors employed and any present contracts in force
• Current state of day-to-day finances (budgets and actual)
• Current state of any sinking fund
• Arrears situation
• Other known major problems
Financial:
• Preparation of a reserve fund plan relating to cyclical maintenance
• Annual service charge estimation
• Weekly/monthly payment of wages and other invoices
• Regular billing and collection of service charges including management fees
• Provision of a periodic budget report of income and expenditure and cash flow
• Annual preparation of draft accounts in anticipation of audit and subsequent liaison with the auditors
• Preparation and distribution of the notices for the Annual/Extraordinary General Meetings
• Arrears collection management
• Provision of advice on block insurance and any other appropriate cover(s)
Relationship with Residents:
• Attend to routine enquiries from lessees and residents
• Respond to solicitors' and lessees' enquiries regarding assignments and licences
• Attendance at general meetings of residents (with an indication of how many of these are held per year)
• Administration of insurance claims
• Repair and maintenance management:
• Preparation of a cyclical maintenance and repair plan
• Dealing with day to day repairs and maintenance promptly and efficiently
• Preparation of maintenance plans and contracts for plant and machinery
• Advise on major contract work and the use of specialist professionals and contractors
Lease compliance:
• Ensure compliance with the terms of leases and policy agreed with the Board and where necessary, subject to landlord authorisation, instruct solicitors in relation to breaches.
Legal strategy and control:
• Formulate a safe and effective strategy within current legislation and in accordance with current best practice
• Liaise with the company’s solicitors
• Represent the landlord at County Court level, arbitration and Leasehold Valuation Tribunals.
• Maintain adequate record keeping
• Risk management and Health and Safety compliance
• Company secretarial work
Staff management:
• Prepare job descriptions for employees and specifications for contractors and go to competitive tender
• Supervise any employees and regular contractors such as cleaners etc. on behalf of the employer
• Ensure appropriate training and compliance with Health and Safety and Employment legislation.
Landlord and tenant advice:
• Advise the Board on Residential Landlord and Tenant procedures, including statute and practice.
Board support:
• Advise the Board on a suggested management policy
• Attend Board Meetings and be responsible for producing minutes (with an indication of how many of these are held per year and the meeting times)
• Provide a status report of financial, maintenance and legal matters
• Report on significant lessee communications
• Document management procedures and issues
• Produce a periodic newsletter to residents and other circulars
• Keep the Board informed of status of agreed actions
Experience and skills provided by Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd
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Experience:
• A proven record in rebuilding confidence and caring for disillusioned lessees
• Experience in working and negotiating with superior landlords
• Working with a lessee managed block
• A proven record in arrears reduction
• Cash flow management
• Legal experience e.g. obtaining Counsel`s advice; County Court representation; working effectively with solicitors; in-house legal skills
• A successful record in managing and reducing legal disputes
• Freehold purchase experience
• Leasehold standardisation experience
• Operating a management company that will stay within agreed budgets
Personal skills of Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd staff:
• Ability to formulate effective strategies to guide the Board or association
• Ability to provide written and oral reports and keep detailed records
• Ability to discuss and agree policy with the Board or association
• Efficiency in following up agreed actions
• Self motivated to continually improve and maintain good management
• Proactive problem solving
• Skillful communicating and negotiating, both written and oral
• Positive energy to inspire confidence and boost morale.
A checklist of the services available from Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd Homes & Watson Partnership was incorporated on 30 June 1998. The names and qualifications of all directors are available on request.
• Our fees carry VAT
• Our offices are located very conveniently close to the M25, providing ready accessibility throughout London and the Home Counties and beyond. Our professional staff have been in the property management business for over 32 years
• We manage various schemes in London, the Home Counties and the West Country
• We will be pleased to provide references on request
• As a guide we have set out details of our fee structure elsewhere on this web-site. (Fees are always subject to negotiation with each client.)
• We believe our fees and services provide a quality service at a fair cost.
• We employ a variety of contractors with a proven track record but will always consider contractors recommended by clients.
• We visit and inspect all our managed schemes regularly at intervals agreed with clients
• We use up-to-date specialist IT software for all accounting and other office applications and are registered under the Data Protection Act.
• We maintain totally separate client bank accounts and scheme-specific interest-bearing deposit accounts with Barclays Bank plc Chelmsford Business Centre.
• Examples of our format for scheme-specific financial information are available on request.
• For unpaid rents and service charges we operate a strict and published collection policy, agreed with each client
• Enforcement of lease covenants is dealt with fairly but firmly.
• We investigate and pursue complaints promptly and thoroughly.
• We offer an out-of-hours emergency contact service in association with a national call-centre
• Our contract provides for three months minimum notice.
• We shall be pleased to provide a list of key staff dealing with your scheme together with details of their qualifications.
• We are affiliated to the Association of Residential Managing Agents.
• We carry full professional indemnity insurance. Details are available on request.
• Our annual accounts are regularly deposited at Companies House, Cardiff.
• Our standard contract terms are available on request.
The ARMA Code of practice for management of residential property
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Homes & Watson Partnership Ltd endeavours to comply with the following duties and standards when managing residential property:
Contractual duties
• To agree, in writing, the terms of engagement to manage a client’s property in as detailed a form as is reasonably possible, and to make clear the fee structure and the categories of other services for which additional fees may be charged.
• To manage the client’s property in compliance with all the current applicable legislation, terms of leases, contract documentation and good business practice.
• To provide as cost effective a service as is reasonably possible within the constraints of prudent and planned maintenance and to enquire whether contractors preferred or selected by clients or lessees have suitable references and, where selected to do so, that all final work is checked and signed off before funds are released.
• On request, to provide guidance to the client as to the insurance requirements under the lease terms and, where required by the client, to supply an appropriate level of insurance cover based on an independent valuation, sufficient to meet the client’s needs.
Financial duties
• To ensure that clients’ money is kept separate from office accounts at all times and that client accounts can be individually identified and that funds in any one client’s account will not be used to finance another client’s property. Funds shall be held in a recognised bank or building society in a clearly designated ‘Client Account.’ (ARMA members shall require their personal auditors to confirm in published accounts their firm’s compliance with these requirements.
• To maintain a current insurance policy adequately indemnifying against proven professional negligence claims.
• To ensure that clients’ money is properly and regularly accounted for and that any funds or moneys required for specific future works are placed on deposit in an appropriate interest-bearing account to earn interest to the credit of that account.
• To keep detailed records of all transactions relating to clients’ property with all expenditure made from the client's account suitably authorised.
• To ensure that annual or other required periodic accounting is carried out promptly, ensuring adequate supporting information is provided or available for inspection.
• To concertedly endeavour, where so required, to provide all the necessary information for the audit of any end-of-period accounts so that the audit can be carried out with the minimum of delay.
Standards of service which ARMA members agree to offer to their clients
• To extend courteous and professional service to lessees and tenants and to members of the public. As far as possible to ensure that, in all their dealings, there is no bias and that all are treated equally.
• To maintain adequate records of all leases and tenancies and deal expeditiously with enquiries, particularly where information is required to assist in a sale.
• To be aware, as far as is reasonably possible, of the terms of the leases and tenancies applicable to the property concerned and the effect of legislation and any other relevant documentation, and to deal with lessees and tenants both in the spirit of the legal requirements as well as the letter of the law.
• To ensure that procedures are in place to deal with repairs within an appropriate time scale having regard to the urgency of the matter and the availability of funds.
• To actively and regularly consult with Residents’ Associations and to encourage them to become part of the decision making process.
• To discuss and consult with Residents' Associations, where major works are contemplated, and to comply with the statutory requirements.
• To have appropriate regard to views of representative groups of lessees and tenants, even where they are not a formally recognised Residents Association.
• To manage the premises by enforcing covenants for the common good, fairly and without favour where so instructed.
• To disclose in writing to relevant parties any existing conflict of interest, or any circumstances which are in future likely to give rise to a conflict of interest.
• To declare any interest in any contractor or business employed to provide services at the property that may be associated with the managing agent.
• To ensure, where there is a change of managing agent, that all pertinent information is handed over with the minimum of delay to the new agent.
• To place the fullest emphasis on any matter relating to health and safety and environmental legislation, bringing to the urgent attention of landlords and/or residents any areas of concern.
• To use all reasonable efforts, both in the interests of landlords and tenants, to settle any disputes by mediating and negotiating with all relevant parties.