What Do Property Management Companies Do?
Property management companies play a vital role in the property industry and their responsibilities extend far beyond the general upkeep of a building. Property managers handle a multitude of tasks essential for maintaining and enhancing the value of property investments, whilst caring for residents and managing their needs.
Here, the POD team take a detailed look at what property management companies do, common misconceptions and why their services are invaluable to landowners.
What Is a Property Management Company?
Essentially, a property management company is a third party that oversees a new or existing development. They are a representative of the landowner and responsible for upholding the terms of a lease, ensuring communal maintenance and repairs are taken care of, guaranteeing the building is compliant with the latest safety legislation, and keeping residents happy.
There are many different types of property that can require the assistance of a professional management company, including residential, commercial and industrial developments; all of which will require slightly different management approaches.
What Exactly Do They Do?
The role of a property management company is varied, and each agent will operate slightly differently. Usually, they will head the running of a building or block of flats, which includes the management, maintenance and repair of common areas, and in some cases, the amenities within a block, ensuring they are in peak condition and safe to use at all times.
Predominantly, their role is to work alongside the landowner to meet the goals of the development and ensure its safety, efficiency and presentation for residents. The scope of management is vast; from lift and gym equipment maintenance to water supply and gardening upkeep, heating, lighting and the collection of rubbish and waste are just a few of the responsibilities taken on. With specialist teams to procure insurance, utilities and telecoms, property management companies are invaluable partners for landowners and play a pivotal role in overall resident satisfaction.
At POD, we always say that if property managers are doing their jobs efficiently, residents shouldn’t even realise they are there. Now, you may be asking why? Property management companies should have clear processes and protocols in place to keep the building running as seamlessly as possible. For example, planned maintenance works and routine inspections should be scheduled in advance. This pre-planning of maintenance work aids in facility longevity and prevents costly repairs further down the line.
What They Don’t Do
In our last blog, you may have read that a property management company, when managing a block of flats or estate, isn’t responsible for maintaining individual flats/homes. It is often presumed that property managers oversee the maintenance of individual resident homes within a block; we can confirm this is not the case. Property managers purely provide services to the communal areas of a development and are responsible for keeping the overall building in check.
On the topic of misconceptions, some landowners assume they can get by and manage developments by themselves.
If you own a smaller block, you could choose to self-manage. For larger developments, however, the sheer breadth of this task soon becomes too great. Choosing a professional managing agent to oversee the property on their behalf is always the most logical and advantageous decision.
Services Provided by a Property Management Company
A good property management company should offer a wide range of services. The team at POD boasts a full turn-key service, delivered with finesse to oversee any property management needs. Our specialist services include:
Maintenance and repairs management
Service charge management
Health and safety compliance, including fire door checks
Leasehold management
Insurance administration
Utilities procurement
Resident liaison and communication
Recruitment of site staff
Key Takeaways of Property Management
So, this brings us to just some of the key takeaways freeholders can expect from a reputable property management company. As the owner of a large complex or development, there are a plethora of advantages that come with utilising the right professional property management company. Here are just a few of them:
Saving Your Time and Money
We all know time and money are two very important factors that will always impact business longevity. Outsourcing property management tasks to a professional team means landowners can focus on other priorities. Personal time won’t be spent on maintenance, financial reporting and dealing with resident queries because a trustworthy and experienced team will handle it all.
At POD, we understand every intricacy of our industry and work alongside developers and landowners alike to achieve the best, bespoke results possible for each premises. We understand that even if you hold the title to your development, delegating its day-to-day operations to a specialist company is the logical solution.
We believe it’s all about prevention and proactively delivering exemplary services to eliminate the potential for issues further down the line.
Bolstering Reputation Through Clear Communication
Happy and supported residents are likely to stay in their homes longer. A well-managed property means freeholders can be assured that those living in the building are receiving the support they have been promised. Keeping communication open, upholding a property’s high quality and delivering personable customer service bolsters the reputation of landowners. Furthermore, once residents understand exactly where their service charge is utilised, they can see its worth.
POD go above and beyond with our customer-first approach in all that we do. We are fully transparent with residents and ensure all queries are dealt with professionally by a qualified representative. In fact, our dedicated support team provides a level of tracked response that’s unrivalled in the industry, with response times under 6 hours (and under 1 hour if we have an on-site team in place), and a 90% resolution rate within 20 hours. Meanwhile, we share comprehensive breakdowns of service charges and how these are being used with residents.
Ensuring Compliance
Property management companies handle all safety aspects of building management, minimising the risk of costly penalties. Staying up to date with the latest requirements to ensure communal facilities comply with legislation and industry standards without expert guidance is no easy task. It’s challenging, constant, and at times unpredictable. Enlisting the help of a property management company ensures the correct legal obligations are met, and potential problems are caught ahead of time.
At POD, our technology allows us to make property management smarter. Our bespoke systems and live data access mean we have full transparency over compliance and health and safety matters at the touch of a button. With our record keeping being 100% digitalised, we can promise no loss of data and the benefit of automation. All compliance-related tasks are highlighted for completion when appropriate to the relevant staff members. We then report internally on this data and any upcoming or overdue items via live dashboards that are reviewed weekly.
Get in Touch
If you are looking for an expert property management company to assist in the smooth running of your property development this year, the POD team can help you today:
Fill out our enquiry form
Email us at support@podmanagement.co.uk
Call us on 0333 577 6656
We look forward to hearing from you!