What does my management fee pay for?

The management fee is a small part of your service charge. While we collect service charges to cover the day-to-day running costs of the development, the management fee specifically covers the costs we incur to manage your development. These include:

Communications

• Providing management information to our customers.
• Keeping in touch with individual customers regarding management correspondence.
• Provision of our customer service team to handle all customer inquiries.
• Access to your online account where you can view and pay bills, report issues, and review information on your property.

Development Management

• Preparing specifications for works (such as cleaning, window cleaning, and gardening), arranging tendering, and administering maintenance contracts.
• Conducting property inspections, general visits, and addressing arising issues.
• Arranging ad-hoc repairs and managing contractor/supplier performance.
• Employing and working with specialist advisors such as building surveyors or structural engineers.
• Providing an on-call Development/Property Manager 365 days a year for out-of-hours support.

Regulatory Compliance

• Managing communal area insurance claims with the insurer.
• Administering public liability insurance and providing professional indemnity insurance.
• Arranging periodic health and safety and fire risk assessments of the communal areas.
• Reviewing and organising works resulting from the risk assessments conducted.

In recent years, we have seen escalating costs, beyond our control. This has included key areas such as building insurance, utilities, repairs, and staffing, alongside the financial impact of new building safety regulations, which was also reflected in research by The Property Institute’s Service Charge Index, which offers insight into service charge costs across England and Wales.  

While most service charge categories saw sharp increases, management fees remained relatively stable, rising below the rate of inflation. These charges reflect actual expenditure rather than profit, and property managers are working to contain costs despite ongoing challenges like cladding remediation and regulatory changes.