Managing Agents for Small Blocks - London
Block Management for Small Blocks in London
East Valley Properties is an independent managing agent based in Romford. We manage small residential developments across London, including smaller purpose-built blocks and converted houses run by resident management companies, RTM companies, share-of-freehold companies and freeholders. Fees start from £2,000 per year, we do not currently charge VAT, and we take no contractor or insurance commissions.
- Independent managing agent, directors keep control
- Fees from £2,000 per year, agreed in writing
- No contractor, insurance or utility commissions
- A named contact who knows the building
Who this service is for
This page is about small residential developments specifically. We also manage larger developments - see our block management service and block management across London for the wider picture.
Smaller purpose-built blocks
Modern and older purpose-built developments where the communal areas, plant and compliance obligations are real but the budget has to stay proportionate.
Converted houses
Victorian, Edwardian and interwar houses converted into flats, where leases are often older, apportionments vary and the structure is shared between a handful of leaseholders.
RMCs and RTM companies
Resident management companies and RTM companies running their own development, whether newly formed or moving away from a previous agent.
Share of freehold developments
Resident-owned freehold companies that need service charge administration, company records and compliance coordination handled properly.
Freeholders of smaller blocks
Freeholders responsible for small residential developments who want hands-on management and clear reporting rather than a volume service.
Why small blocks need proportionate management
Smaller developments are not simply large blocks with fewer flats. The practical pressures are different, and the service has to reflect that.
Minimum fees bite harder on small developments
Every managing agent has a level below which a building cannot be run properly. On a small development that minimum is spread across fewer flats, so the per-unit figure matters more. The honest answer is to be open about the minimum and about what it buys, rather than quoting a per-unit rate that does not reflect the real cost of running the building.
Directors usually want direct access
In a small RMC, RTM or share-of-freehold company the directors are also residents. They want to speak to the person who knows their building, not be routed through a general enquiries queue.
Budgets have to be proportionate
A small development cannot absorb the same cost base as a large estate. Budgets, contracts and planned maintenance need to be scaled to the building and to what the lease actually allows to be recovered.
The obligations do not shrink
Insurance, fire safety, service charge accounting, statutory demand requirements, contractor management and reserve funding all still apply to a six-flat conversion. A smaller building is a smaller job, not a simpler set of duties.
A large-estate service model can fit badly
Processes built for a several-hundred-unit estate can leave a small block paying for structure it does not need while the practical work drifts. The service should be shaped around the development.
How East Valley manages small developments
We are an independent managing agent. The board keeps control of budgets and significant expenditure, our fee is agreed in writing before appointment, and we take no commission from contractors, building insurance or communal utility supply.
Service charge administration
Annual budgets, demands issued with the statutory summary of rights and obligations, collection, arrears monitoring and expenditure reporting through the year.
Accounts and reserve funds
Coordination of year-end service charge accounts with an accountant, plus reserve fund administration in line with what the lease permits.
Maintenance coordination
Reactive repairs, planned maintenance and contractor procurement, with directors told what is happening and what it will cost.
Compliance coordination
Where applicable: fire risk assessments, fire door checks, health and safety and water hygiene. We coordinate competent specialists to carry out assessments; we do not carry them out ourselves.
Section 20 support where required
Consultation administration and leaseholder correspondence at each stage where the qualifying thresholds are met, including on smaller developments where the threshold is reached quickly.
Direct communication and director control
A named contact, agreed expenditure approval thresholds and reporting arrangements set with the board rather than left to the agent's discretion.
What small block management costs
Block management fees start from £2,000 per year, and for many developments work out at approximately £315 to £365 per unit annually. East Valley Properties does not currently charge VAT, and there is no London surcharge. On a small development the starting fee is the figure that usually matters most, so we say it plainly rather than leaving it to a quotation.
Section 20 consultation and major works administration may carry a separately agreed fee, set out before the work starts. The full fee schedule, including company secretarial work and Section 20 bands, is published in one place.
View our block management feesSmall blocks, RTM companies, RMCs and share of freehold
Small developments are managed under several different structures, and the structure decides who appoints the managing agent and who approves the budget.
Resident management company (RMC)
RTM company
Share of freehold
Managed by a freeholder
Changing managing agent on a small development
Many boards contacting us already have an agent and want the building run differently. Whether you can change depends on who holds the appointment and what the existing management agreement says about term, notice and termination. In outline, the transition looks like this.
1. Review the current arrangements
Who holds the appointment, what the management agreement says about term, notice and termination, and what the lease requires.
2. Proposal
A written scope and fee for your development, so the board can compare it against what is being paid now.
3. Appointment
The RMC, RTM company, resident-owned freehold company or freeholder appoints us and a handover date is agreed.
4. Records and financial information
Leases, service charge accounts and budgets, bank and reserve fund balances, arrears, debtors and creditors, and company records.
5. Contractors, insurance and compliance
Contracts and service agreements, insurance policies and claims history, compliance records and any outstanding actions.
6. Communications
Leaseholders are told who to contact, how to report repairs and how service charge payments should be made from the changeover date.
More detail is set out in our guide to changing managing agent and in the managing agent handover checklist.
Work on smaller resident-controlled developments
Anonymised examples from our portfolio, which is concentrated in East London, Romford and the Essex border.
Service charge reset for a converted Victorian block
Reserve fund contributions during an RTM handover
Small block management FAQs
Talk to us about your small block
Tell us about the development and what is not working. We will tell you plainly whether we are the right agent for it.