Flat owners get a lease of life with new support service

by Mary-Anne Bowring

A new online solution www.leaseholdersupport.co.uk is to be launched at the Autumn Ideal Home Show (6 15 October 2006 Earls Court, London, stand no: T37). Written by surveyors & property managers for the consumer, Leaseholder Support is the brainchild of The Ringley Group. It provides everyone in property with a one-stop-shop for property management advice, tools for planning budgets & reserves, legal & valuation procedures to get out of tricky situations such as defective or short leases or recovery of ground rent/service charge arrears.

Due to the property industry charging minimum fees for management, around £2,000 in London, leaseholders of small blocks of flats often lose out. Leaseholder Support takes away the 4 main burdens of self-managing:

1. Chasing your neighbour for unpaid service charges
2. Legal compliance: the lease, shares, company secretarial work
3. Not knowing how to plan for major works
4. Financial administration & getting accounts prepared & field

The Leaseholder Support service costs from £525. This includes access to support time, conference with a specialist, quality-controlled contractors and competitive Block policy insurance rates.

Mary-Anne Bowring, Founding Director of The Ringley Group comments:

All leaseholders of small blocks of flats need a reliable back-up to support their strategy, financial information when they need it and professionals available when necessary. Trying to manage legal formalities, getting all the occupants to pay for repairs or maintenance on time or even telling a neighbour they can't make an illegal alteration to their property is stressful and sometimes impossible. Leaseholder Support is a resource centre providing tools to facilitate the making of strategic decisions and eliminates the risk of key tasks not being actioned on time. Our aim is to provide the client with an affordable alternative to full support and property management. Our experience as a multi-disciplinary practice and established London player in full Block Management has allowed us to remove the mysticism of property management and provide the concisely packaged tools just for small blocks of flats.
Leaseholder Support acts as a safety net for blocks of flats by managing deadlines for payments, making payments by direct debit, providing financial and legal documentation and advice to recover late payments.