Our block management service

Building safety management

Building Safety Management continues to expand with The Building Safety and The Fire Safety Bill progressing, with secondary elements due to come into force in due course. At KFH we are continuing to assess this, with suitable proactive measures in place in support of our clients, enabling quick progression with robust advice and support when needed.

Following the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has been focussing on identifying and advising on short term and remedial measures for existing high rise buildings, both with Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) and non ACM clad buildings.

KFH have led on the advice to our clients, with a dedicated Building Safety Team, keeping clients and all customers on site updated, assisting with expression of interest applications and Government funding portal completion, allowing our property managers to manage on a day to day basis. Clients have found this to be a supportive approach and giving them the ability to focus on remediating as quickly as possible, allowing the property managers to continue concentrating on the progression of all other property matters.

We are here to help and are happy to assist you with some of the more frequently asked questions, such as:

• What do I need to do to obtain an EWS1 certificate?
• Do I need an EWS1 for my re-mortgage or for moving home?
• What should my Managing Agent be doing to protect us with the failed external cladding and fire safety as a whole?
• Will my insurance premium increase as a result?
• Who will pay for our cladding?
• Is legal advice necessary for advising on any warranty claims?
• Is the Freeholder or House Builder responsible?
• Will the service charge have to pay any elements, following recent government intervention?
• How will the remedial works be managed and what is best practice?

Please do ask your Management Company Directors to get in touch with us, where we are happy to have a discussion with them.

Resident Controlled buildings

We have been managing resident controlled buildings from our inception. With an understanding that this is a personal, often voluntary role you play, our responsibility is to ensure you are fully briefed and able to make informed decisions, allowing us to act and manage proactively for the good of all customers at your development.

Allowing our property managers to manage with sensible portfolios gives us the ability to provide an exceptional service, retaining our staff and ensuring consistency throughout our contract with you.

Many of our clients over the years have changed their managing agent to KFH due to continuous rotation of the prior agent’s property managers, or simply not having time to manage. As London’s leading managing agent, we pride ourselves in going against the grain and maintaining the ability to provide a high service that can be maintained, with happy clients and staff.

With a directorship of a RMC or RTM comes responsibilities, we are here to protect your investment, promote enhancement where possible and ensure your fiduciary duties are upheld.

Investor or developer

Having a wealth of experience in both existing and new build developments, we are engaged by many developers at the planning stage to provide advice and recommendations on site facilities, leases and service charge levels. Both investor landlords and house builders rely upon us to ensure we are able to adjust and fit in with their reporting and brand requirements, with a customer experience that meets with our and your requirements, enhancing our and your customer experience.

With KFH being a leading property services provider, other group disciplines are able to work with us and provide support and advice when required, whether market updates, tenant barometers, building design to communication engagement.

New build advice, management and post build consultancy

Unsurprisingly, our experience of the last 45 years means we often play an instrumental role in the planning of new-build blocks as well as their ongoing management. This may take place as many as three years in advance of completion.

We advise clients on matters such as staffing and billing, mechanical and electrical installations (from window cleaning systems to in-house cinemas), and strategies for matters such as waste management and pest control.

Our advice to clients will encompass everything from the effective design of common parts and services to how they might structure a service charge. These areas can often be overlooked by the developer when designing a scheme as they understandably focus on making the common parts visually appealing to potential buyers. This can mean longer-term management considerations that can bring practical problems and unnecessary running costs are neglected. Keeping things as simple as possible is usually at the heart of our advice.

Find out more

You can find out more about our additional areas of experience by reading our case studies below.