Block Management: Signs Your Managing Agent Isn't Doing Their Job

Most leaseholders never chose their managing agent, and most directors inherited theirs. That is how underperformance survives: nobody benchmarked the service, so nobody notices it slipping — until the accounts are a year late or the roof fails with an empty reserve fund behind it. Having taken over the management of many London blocks, we see the same warning signs again and again. Here they are, roughly in the order they tend to appear.

1. The money is opaque

Service charge money is leaseholders' money, held on trust — and the clearest sign of a struggling agent is that you cannot see what is happening to it. Warning signs: annual accounts issued late or not at all; budgets that arrive as a single line with no breakdown; no evidence of a separate client account for your block; and demands that do not match the budget you were shown. A competent agent produces a clear annual budget, timely year-end accounts, and can show you invoices for any line item on request. If getting a simple breakdown feels like a freedom of information request, the money management is failing — whatever else looks fine.

2. Nobody visits the building

Buildings tell you when nobody is inspecting them: lightbulbs out for weeks in common parts, post piling up, cleaning standards drifting, small leaks staining ceilings for months. A managing agent should carry out regular documented site inspections — and leaseholders should be able to see the reports. Ask a simple question: when was the agent last physically in the building, and what did they record? If the answer is vague, the inspections are not happening. Well-run blocks pair scheduled inspections with responsive housekeeping and cleaning so drift is caught in days, not quarters.

3. Repairs limp along — and always with the same contractor

Watch the repair lifecycle. Reported faults that take weeks to acknowledge; jobs marked complete that were not; and every invoice, large or small, going to the same contractor with no competitive quotes. Leaseholders have a statutory right to be consulted on major works above set cost thresholds (the Section 20 process), and an agent who treats consultation as a formality to be rushed — or skipped — is exposing the block to challenge and leaseholders to bills they never agreed. Good agents run maintenance planning on a cycle: a plan for the big items, competitive tendering, and transparent reporting on progress.

4. Compliance is a filing cabinet nobody opens

Blocks carry a serious compliance load: fire risk assessments and the actions arising from them, asbestos surveys where relevant, lift inspections, communal electrical and water safety, and — for taller buildings since the Building Safety Act — additional safety case duties. The test is not whether documents exist but whether they are current and their actions closed out. Directors should ask for the fire risk assessment and the action log this month. An agent who cannot produce both quickly is not managing safety; they are storing paperwork. In buildings with staff, the same discipline applies to security and concierge arrangements: clear rotas, supervision and accountability, not just a body at a desk.

5. The reserve fund is a rumour

Every building has a roof, lifts, and decoration cycles that will fall due; the only question is whether the money is ready. A healthy block has a reserve fund built through planned contributions, informed by some assessment of what major works are coming. A failing one lurches from crisis to crisis with special demands landing on leaseholders at the worst possible moment. If your agent cannot tell you what the reserve holds, what it is earmarked for and how it was calculated, long-term planning is not happening.

6. Communication has broken down

Leaseholders forgive bad news. What they do not forgive is silence — and silence is the most common service failure in block management.

Unanswered emails, a phone line that loops, AGMs that never happen, decisions announced after the fact. Communication failure is usually the first symptom leaseholders notice and the last one agents fix, because fixing it means resourcing it. A professionally managed block has a named property manager, published response standards, and directors who hear about problems from their agent before they hear about them from residents. If your board's meetings have quietly become annual, and the agenda is an apology, communication has already failed — the only question is what it is concealing.

What good actually looks like

It helps to know what you are entitled to expect, because boards that have only ever known poor service tend to negotiate against the wrong baseline. A professionally managed block should have: a named manager who knows the building and attends board meetings; a published budget agreed with directors before the year starts, and accounts issued promptly after it ends; documented site inspections on a regular cycle with actions tracked to completion; competitive quotes on non-trivial works and a proper Section 20 consultation on major ones; a compliance register — fire, water, lifts, electrical — that a director can see on request; a reserve fund plan tied to the building's actual maintenance cycle; and response standards for leaseholder queries that are written down and measured. None of that is premium service. It is the baseline the service charge is already supposed to be buying — which is precisely why paying it to an agent who delivers half of the list feels so corrosive to residents.

What directors can do about it

1. Put it in writing: list the failures with dates and ask for a remediation plan — a good agent will respond seriously
2. Check the management agreement for the notice period and any tie-ins before you act
3. Benchmark: invite proposals from two or three other agents so you know what current service standards look like
4. Remember leaseholder rights: RTM (right to manage) exists precisely for buildings where the freeholder's agent will not improve
5. When switching, insist on a proper handover: funds, accounts, contracts, compliance records and keys, with dates attached

Switching agent is easier than most boards fear — the incoming agent should do the heavy lifting of the handover. If several of the signs above feel familiar, our block and estate management team will review your current arrangements and give you a straight assessment, whether or not you appoint us. Get in touch — and take a director's-eye look at your building this week: it will tell you most of what you need to know. This article is general information, not legal advice; leasehold rights depend on your lease and current law, so take advice on your specific position.