Asset Property Management Ltd is a Bournemouth-based property management company with over 30 years’ experience, specialising in the management of residential blocks in Dorset and Hampshire, including Southampton, Bournemouth, Poole, Weymouth and Dorchester.

We pride ourselves in providing a personable, professional, competitive and comprehensive service, with long-serving property managers who remain familiar with your property.

We provide a full property service for residents, leaseholders, freeholders, developers and management companies:

• Complete property maintenance service including cleaning, gardening and property repairs;
• Dedicated supplier database and quotation service for repair works;
• Competitively priced;
• Regular property inspections;
• Insurance and claims administration;
• Secure clients’ designated bank account in which funds are held in trust for your added protection, and to meet anticipated legal requirements;
• 24 hour emergency assistance;
• Organisation of and attendance at residents' meetings;
• Year-end or regular accounts, annual budgeting including accountant’s independent review and report;
• Block Management Company administration including statutory accounts, Companies House filing and Company Secretarial issues.

Leave your maintenance and administration to APM. We have over 30 years’ residential property management experience, so you are in capable hands.

• We deal with the collection of all service charges, avoiding sensitive issues when leaseholders are slow to pay;
• As a third party we can leave you to live in peace, away from dealing directly with tradesmen and other leaseholders;
• Our fees are competitive, fixed for the year ahead, and are set at a sensible level to enable us properly to deliver our services;
• For your added protection we carry full professional indemnity insurance cover in accordance with the RICS minimum recommended levels of cover;
• Our supplier database is regularly monitored for adherence to quality standards;
• We listen to you, gather feedback, and respond to your needs;
• We provide regular accounts, and budget annually for regular and specific maintenance.

A good managing agent will have systems in place to ensure compliance with the regulatory requirements, in particular:

• Fire risk assessments, regular inspection of fire safety equipment and systems
• Asbestos surveys and awareness of its findings when engaging contractors
• Periodic testing of electrical wiring and equipment in communal areas
• Lift maintenance and safety
• Adequate buildings insurance including confirmation of reinstatement values
• Health & safety assessments with regard to communal areas
• Keeping updated on increasing regulatory requirements affecting leaseholds.

We act in an impartial way as the link between freeholder and leaseholder, and in particular between individual leaseholders, where disputes are common.

We will help to add value to your block over the longer term, maintain the common parts of the building, and ensure that a healthy reserve fund is maintained and that service charges are competitive.

On engagement, we set out the standard fees charged for property management. Additional fees are reviewed annually and may be levied in the following situations:

• Where final demands for ground rents and service charges have been issued and payment is not forthcoming;
• Interest on outstanding amounts where payment for ground rent and service charges is received after the due dates set out in the service charge notice;
• Where collection of outstanding amounts is referred to a solicitor;
• Land registry searches to identify leaseholders where we are not kept updated on changes;
• Administering and dealing with solicitors to collect outstanding debts;
• Solicitors’ and legal charges including court summons;
• Cheques returned unpaid or referred;
• Key cutting/replacement for communal access doors, security doors or gate entry systems;
• Sale enquiries for solicitors/sellers;
• Issue of share certificates and company filing requirements;
• Dealing with Notices to Landlords;
• Preparing statutory notices and dealing with consultations where Landlord and Tenant Act expenditure limits are to be exceeded;
• Copy documents such as insurance policies, fire risks assessments, asbestos surveys and other statutory requirements;
• Dealing with insurance administration and claims.

1. Buildings insurance
   • insuring the building;
   • collecting and the paying of insurance premiums;
2. Maintenance of Property (the costs chargeable to lessees)
   • inspecting the property and administering the general repair and maintenance of the property;
   • arranging garden and grounds maintenance, cleaning and window cleaning (where required);
   • arranging electrical maintenance/lighting/door and gate entry systems;
   • arranging maintenance of fire alarm and fire precaution systems;
3. Management of Accounts
   • collecting ground rents and remitting to the freeholder;
   • payment of establishment bills, etc. from service charge funds collected;
   • invoicing and collecting service charges from leaseholders;
   • producing annual service charge statement of income and expenditure and estimated accounts for the forthcoming year, and liaising with Accountants where applicable;
   • general correspondence and dealing reasonably with enquiries but limited to an amount of time that can be expected to be spent on assembling and giving information.

Whilst we have scheduled visits to properties we are also reliant on residents and contractors bringing matters to our attention. Contractors we use work with us on other blocks so that we have a nucleus of tradesmen we can rely on. However, problems do occur from time to time. If contractors' work is not up to standard, we will take this up directly with the contractor concerned.

We aim to give the best possible standard of service, and with your co-operation we can work together to maintain properties to an acceptable standard. Any concerns you have should be reported to us as soon as possible.

Whilst we strive to deliver the best possible service, we are only human. If we do not meet our normal high level of service please let us know. In the first instance, please make your property manager aware of any complaint and aim to deal directly with them to resolve the matter for which they are trained and experienced. If this fails to answer your complaint, please write to our Director, Mrs Lynn Kearney, at our office address, setting out the nature of the complaint, and she will aim to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion.

Not all out-of-hours situations give rise to an emergency call-out, and leaseholders/residents must apply common-sense to each situation. Until such time as the cause of the emergency is determined, the leaseholder/resident making the call is liable for emergency call-out charges:

Non-emergency situations are those where there is not an immediate threat to further property damage, and the repairs can reasonably be carried out during normal working hours.

Examples of emergency situations are power failure to the block, water leakage or roof damage giving rise to water penetration.

Liability for call-out charges will not be met from service charge funds where the fault is caused by a breakdown or malfunction of equipment within a flat/apartment, such as a washing machine or central heating system within an individual unit.

IF THERE IS AN IMMEDIATE THREAT TO LIFE SUCH AS SMOKE OR FIRE, YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY CALL THE EMERGENCY SERVICES ON 999, AND NOT A CONTRACTOR

In the event of an insurance claim, this will be processed by Asset Property Management having regard to the extent to which the claim is covered by the building insurance policy (the responsibility of the Managing Agent), and the extent to which it is normally covered by your own contents insurance policy (the responsibility of the leaseholder/resident).

Asset Property Management can supply contractor details to make good any insured damage to property. It is important that no contractor is engaged to carry out works unless you have received feedback from us or the Insurer. Contractors are checked to ensure they maintain current professional indemnity insurance. It is however the responsibility of the leaseholder to be satisfied that the contractors can carry out the works required to an acceptable standard. If you are dissatisfied with the workmanship the leaseholder/resident will be required to deal with the contractor to rectify any problems. Asset Property Management do not accept responsibility, financial or otherwise, for works carried out inside flats/apartments, but will do their best to mediate if a dispute arises.

Normally insurance companies will require three quotations before processing an insurance claim.