What we do

A guide to our estate management services

The following guide explains what we do at Preim, the estate management services we offer and how we support the communities (and Residents’ Management Companies) we work for. On many estates, particularly those where building works are ongoing, there can be some confusion over what is and isn’t within the remit of Preim, or of a developer or the local authority. We hope this guide is helpful in explaining what we do at Preim and how our services relate to those provided by other stakeholders of your community.

What Preim does

At Preim, we are responsible for:

• Resident support relating to estate management

  • • Providing a 24/7, 365 days a year telephone helpline for residents.
    • Handling queries from property owners and seeing those queries raised through to completion, providing updates where required.
    • Providing an online residents portal where you can access useful information relating to your estate, and your own service charge account.
    • Liaising with vendors and purchasers’ solicitors and responding to queries during property re-sales.
    • Arranging and attending annual residents’ meetings.
    • Provision of Welcome Packs for Homeowners

• Building a dedicated team

  • • Your estate will be allocated a Customer Account Manager who will take ownership of Preim’s role at your development.
    • We will arrange and attend Steering Committee/Management Company Director meetings when required.
    • We will support the Steering Committee/Management Company Directors in their work on the development.

• Managing finances and the good governance of your Residents’ Management Company or Community Interest Company:

  • Often overlooked but incredibly important is the proper financial management of a Residents’ Management Company (a Community Interest Company or Management Company), along with good governance of its administration and management. At Preim we have a specialist team that understands the nuances of service charges, estate management schedules and who are well versed in ensuring good cashflow and the financial health of your management company. That all includes:

    • Provision of insurances as required, including public liability, buildings and directors liability insurance
    • Preparation of an accurate annual service charge budget, which provides good value for money.
    • Issuing service charge invoices along with a copy of the agreed budget and an explanation of why the budget has been allocated in such a way.
    • Preparation and issuing of annual service charge accounts and statutory accounts for your management company. This gives you full transparency on what is spent and where.
    • Establishing a reserve fund for the development which will fund the cost of larger (or unexpected) works, such as replacement or renewal of communal assets.
    • Holding service charge monies in client / escrow accounts and administering them to comply with the RICS Code of Practice service charge, Residential Management Code and the ARMA, ICAEW, ACCA & RICS joint guidance on accounting for service charges.
    • Collecting service charge arrears in order to ensure the management company is financially robust.
    • Preparation of monthly income and expenditure reports which are accessible to property owners.
    • Checks and authorization of payments to contractors.
    • Provision of any other financial reports/information which may be reasonably required.
    • Arranging an independent annual audit of the management company and service charge accounts.
    • Certification of annual income and expenditure incurred.
    • Fulfilling the role of Company Secretary for the management company.
    • Holding a register of property owners and maintaining records.
    • Making the annual return for the management company.

• Maintenance of communal amenities

  • • Finding and vetting high quality contractors to provide maintenance services at the development.
    • Issuing instructions for maintenance works and overseeing works.
    • Undertaking estate visits when required in order to ensure a high standard of maintenance.
    • Organising mandatory surveys on the development, such as a Health & Safety surveys, Fire Risk Assessments, Tree Surveys, Play Area Surveys etc. Ensuring any actions required are undertaken.

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For different estates, depending upon their requirements and different amenities, we also undertake the following:

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• Management of additional communal amenities

  • • Managing the allocations and ongoing administration of any onsite allotments.
    • On behalf of your management company, prepare maintenance budgets and operational management strategies for any proposed community buildings.
    • Providing IT solutions and operational management strategies based upon smart phone technology for communal pavilion booking systems.

• Community support

  • • Provision of a Community Mobiliser who is responsible for organising community events, encouraging community engagement and interaction with other local community groups (Parish Councils etc).
    • Preparation and issuing of newsletters.
    • Provision of a community website which is accessible to members.
    • Provision of a smartphone app for your development which is accessible to management company members.
    • Providing updates via the community website and app on development related matters.

• Managing developer handovers

  • • Undertaking detailed defect identification (snagging) on areas which are being handed over from the developer to the management company and working with the developer to ensure resolution on behalf of residents.
    • Review input and develop as required any developer-commenced management company-owned communal building business plans.
    • Undertaking feasibility/design/budgetary/operational works as required, including inputting, commenting and revising on third party leases, to look after the management company interests. Recent examples relate to an oil pipeline, a Wildlife Trust linked to a Nature Park and non-adoptable (e.g. not to be adopted by the local authority) land drainage developer proposals.

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Some points to be aware of: variations for your estate, and ongoing works:

Please note, some of the services included within this guide may not be applicable to your community. Each estate and communal amenity vary from the next and our services are tailored to each. This guide is intended to give you a broad overview of our estate management services. For specifics on what your service charge covers at your estate, please refer to your Estate Management Plan or management company budget.

It is also worth noting that, in some circumstances, estate management services may also vary depending upon whether or not a communal amenity has been handed over to your Residents’ Management Company. For example, some areas may still be under the ownership of a housebuilder or developer – and so a part of their responsibility to maintain. Until they are handed over to your Residents’ Management Company (or in some cases Community Interest Company) your service charge will not be spent on maintaining these areas. This is really important as it means you will not be paying for unfinished areas of your estate and when they are handed over your community will have a say on how they are used.

If you would like any further information specific to your estate, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us via 01778 382 210 or helpdesk@preim.co.uk.