The problems faced by the directors
- Severe financial mismanagement with accounts discrepancies, inability to match costs to invoices, preparation of budgets without approval of Directors, spending without authorisation, maintenance overspending, and unaccounted-for costs.
- Large-scale Section 20 projects were pending. Confusion around costs and an inability to get proper quotes and cost estimates had resulted in a deterioration of the building — funds were being gathered from owners without a plan for how or where to spend them.
- No fire safety report had been done for 4 years, with changes in legislation not being embedded — creating significant compliance risks for Directors and residents.
Our approach
From Day 1 we started putting together a strategy to get this block back on track and help the Directors and residents enjoy the place where they live. To do so, we did the following:
We started from scratch by auditing all historical information and creating detailed reconciliation schedules — a new process with monthly management reports, and a new system for preparing budgets authorised by Directors and collecting service charges.
We started all Section 20 consultations with a fresh perspective, and within 6 months had completed major projects and put to work funds that had been sitting idle for so many months.
We set up a plan to get all compliance work done as soon as we took over the management.
The results
After putting all the pieces in place, the Directors and residents of Minster Court started to see the results.
01
Lower service charges
The new processes and budgeting resulted in a 20% lower service charge for Year 1.
02
Improved asset value
The Section 20 works and major projects we started didn’t just increase residents’ satisfaction — several reported an increase in the prices they were able to achieve when selling.
03
Compliance up to date
Within 3 months, all compliance was sorted out — relieving Directors of the stress they’d been carrying for so long.
Talk to our Block Management team
Tell us about your building and we'll show you how Wilson Hawkins could help.