Friendly Block & Estate Management Leeds

Our service is tailored to be completely bespoke to the specific needs of your budget, your block and its residents. No two developments are the same, so we do not hand you a standard package and hope it fits.

Whether you are a director of a residents' management company, a freeholder with obligations to meet, or a leaseholder who simply wants the building run properly, the first step is the same. Tell us about the place and we will tell you honestly what we would do with it.

Our services

What we manage

Two service lines, both done properly.

Oggle Blox does two things: block management and estate management. Keeping the list short is deliberate. It means the people working on your development do this work every day, and it means we can be clear about what we take on rather than stretching ourselves thin.

Most clients need both. A block of apartments usually sits in grounds that need looking after, and an estate usually contains buildings with their own budgets, schedules and residents. We can take on either on its own, or run the two together under one budget and one point of contact.

Block Management

Following guidelines set out by RICS & ARMA, we offer comprehensive block management services, with the key focus on:

Efficient budget management. We ensure precise and effective management of service charge budgets, ensuring financial transparency and cost control for all stakeholders. You see what was budgeted, what was spent, what it bought, and what is coming next year. Arrears are chased consistently, because the residents who pay on time should not be carrying the ones who do not.

Expert maintenance coordination. Our team coordinates all aspects of building maintenance, from scheduled inspections to reactive repairs, ensuring the property is always in optimal condition. Communal areas, roofs, gutters, drainage, lighting, plant and lifts where there are any all sit on a schedule, rather than waiting for somebody to complain. When major works are needed, we manage the consultation that has to happen before the work starts.

Clear communication with residents. We maintain open lines of communication with residents, addressing concerns promptly and keeping everyone informed about updates or issues affecting the building. If something has gone wrong, or a contractor has let us down, we would rather tell you early than leave you guessing.

Compliance and safety, kept current. Risk assessments, insurance, contractor paperwork and statutory inspections are tracked and evidenced, so that when a lender, a buyer or an insurer asks, the file answers the question.

Estate Management

We offer comprehensive estate management services with particular focus on:

Managing estates and green spaces. We look after estates, public open spaces, and green spaces, ensuring they are well maintained and enhance the environment for everyone who uses them. That takes in unadopted roads and footpaths, lighting columns, play areas, bin stores, planting and the boundaries between all of it.

Expert landscape management. We have significant expertise in reviewing and managing landscape management plans, making sure the specification is the right one for the site and that what appears on the invoice matches what has actually happened on the ground.

Biodiversity mitigation and enhancement plans. Our team is skilled in implementing and managing biodiversity plans to ensure that all environmental requirements are met and that green spaces contribute positively to biodiversity.

Estate charges residents can follow. Estate budgets are often the least understood charge people pay. We set them out clearly, explain what each line funds and keep the records straight for everyone who contributes.

See our services in full

Who we work for

One development, three sets of interests

Our service caters for those whose home it is; those that use property as an investment; and also, the obligations the freeholder is bound by.

A block is rarely owned by one kind of person. Somebody is raising a family in flat three. Flat seven has been let out for years and the owner lives elsewhere. Behind both sits a freeholder with duties that do not go away because the post gets forwarded.

Those three groups want different things from the same service charge, and an agent who only ever speaks to one of them creates problems for the other two. We work for all three at once, and we say the same thing to each of them.

If it is your home

You want the lights working, the doors closing, the grounds tidy and the repairs done. You want a demand you can understand and a person you can contact who already knows the building. We keep residents informed about what is happening and why, including the parts that are not good news.

If it is an investment

The condition of the building, the state of its reserve fund and its reputation all sit behind your return. We keep budgets realistic, maintenance planned and records in order, so that sale and remortgage enquiries can be answered from the file rather than reconstructed from memory.

If you are the freeholder

The lease and the law place obligations on you, and they have to be met whoever is doing the day to day work. We make sure what is required is actually being done, properly documented and ready to evidence: insurance, inspections, consultation before major works, accounts and the duties that sit alongside them.

Our process

How we work

Three steps, in plain terms.

Taking on a development is more than an administrative transfer. We want to understand the place and the people before we start spending anyone's money.

This is what it looks like from your side.

Initial consultation and planning

First, we'll meet with you to thoroughly understand your specific requirements and goals. We'll assess your property's needs and clearly outline a customised management strategy tailored to your budget and objectives. That means looking at the building itself, the lease, the current accounts and whatever has been going wrong, not just taking a brief over the phone.

Collaborative design and feedback

Next, our dedicated team works closely with you, keeping communication transparent and proactive. We'll provide detailed proposals and seek your feedback at every key stage, ensuring the project evolves exactly as you envision. Directors see the thinking behind a recommendation, not just the recommendation, so decisions are made with the full picture in front of you.

Efficient implementation and management

Finally, our experienced management professionals implement your tailored strategy with meticulous attention to detail. We handle all aspects of the estate and block management seamlessly, keeping you regularly informed and involved, ensuring complete peace of mind and satisfaction. Once we are running the development, you should hear from us because there is something to say, not because you chased.

Illustration of the Oggle Blox team gathered around a table

Why Oggle Blox

The Oggle Blox difference

What it is actually like having us as your managing agent.

We began as a planned and reactive maintenance business. Residents and leaseholders kept coming back to us for more than repairs, and eventually for the management of their buildings altogether. That history still shapes the way we work, because we learned this job from the sharp end, where the lift is out and somebody has to fix it.

It is flattering to hear ourselves described as 'the residents' choice'. We take that with a smile and get on with the work.

It's all about our customers

We cater to the needs of homeowners, property investors, and freeholders, providing a rounded approach to property and estate management. Balancing those three interests is the job, and we do not pretend one of them does not exist.

You are our business

We make it our business to really get to know you, so that we can deliver the best possible service. That means knowing your development, its quirks, its history and the people in it, rather than treating it as another entry on a schedule.

A truly tailored service

Our service is tailored to be completely bespoke to the specific needs of your budget, your block and its residents. A twelve flat conversion and a large estate with communal grounds need different things, and the budget should reflect that.

Changing agent

Thinking of changing managing agent?

For RMC directors, right to manage companies and freeholders who have had enough.

Most people who call us have been putting it off. The accounts do not add up, the same repair keeps coming back, emails go unanswered, and changing agent feels like a bigger job than living with the problem. It is usually the other way round.

A handover is a known process. Your lease or management agreement sets out the notice the outgoing agent is entitled to, and once notice has been given, the rest is largely a transfer of information and money. Service charge funds are held on trust for the building. They belong to the development, not to the agent, so they come across with it.

We do the chasing from our end and keep directors updated while it happens, rather than going quiet and leaving you to wonder. If the paperwork turns up incomplete, which is common, we tell you what is missing and pursue it.

We are glad to look at your current accounts and management agreement and tell you honestly what is involved. If the answer is that you would be better off staying where you are, we will say that too.

A conversation, then a written proposal

We look at the development, the lease, the latest accounts and whatever has prompted the enquiry. You get a written proposal setting out what we would manage, how we would approach the budget and what our fee would be. Nothing moves until the directors are happy with it.

Notice to your current agent

The notice period and the way notice must be given are set out in your management agreement or lease, so that is the first document to check. Directors normally serve the notice themselves, and we will tell you what to look for and what to say so it is done cleanly.

The handover pack

We request the full record: service charge funds and the accounts behind them, the arrears ledger, current and previous budgets, contracts and contractor details, insurance policy and claims history, risk assessments and safety documentation, warranties, keys and fobs, correspondence and leaseholder contact details.

Settling in

We write to leaseholders and residents to introduce ourselves and explain how to reach us, visit the site and walk it properly, review the risk assessments and planned maintenance, and work with the directors on the next budget. Where the handover pack has gaps, we keep pressing for them and tell you where things stand.

Start the conversation Call 0113 859 9000

Our environmental commitment

Looking after the environment is part of the job

Valuing and protecting our environment is one of our core values, not a paragraph at the back of a brochure.

Green space is usually the first thing people see when they come home, and the first thing cut when a budget is tight. We would rather plan it properly and keep it.

The environmental side of estate management is real work with real obligations attached, and it is an area we have deliberately built expertise in. Done well, it protects the value of the development and makes the place better to live in. Done badly, it leaves residents paying for grounds maintenance that nobody is checking.

Biodiversity mitigation and enhancement

Where planning conditions or a management plan place biodiversity obligations on a development, we implement and manage those plans, so the requirements are met and the green space genuinely does something for wildlife rather than existing on paper.

Landscape management plans

We review and manage landscape management plans, checking that the specification suits the site, that the work scheduled is the work carried out, and that what you are invoiced for matches what has happened on the ground.

Paperless, efficient, less waste

We are eco friendly through paperless communication, commitments to energy efficiency, waste management and green space maintenance. When communal lighting or plant comes up for replacement, efficiency goes into the decision alongside the price.

Testimonials

What our clients say

These are clients' own words, published as they gave them to us.

Oggle Blox provides excellent budget management and maintenance coordination services that are tailored to meet the unique needs of each client. Their expert team ensures that all financial aspects are meticulously planned and monitored, leading to optimal resource allocation and efficiency in project execution.

Mrs Bryant Oggle Blox client

Oggle Blox is truly leaseholder-focused. It's refreshing to have regular site meetings with our property manager, who keeps us informed and addresses our concerns promptly. Their transparent approach is greatly appreciated.

Mr Johnson Oggle Blox client

Oggle Blox turned around our building's finances in just 12 months, after the previous management company had run the accounts into a massive deficit. Their transparent approach and efficient coordination have been a game-changer.

Martin Rogers Oggle Blox client

Get in touch

Would you like help managing your block or estate?

Just complete the contact form and we'll get straight back to you.

Tell us where the development is, roughly how many units it has and what has prompted the enquiry. The more you give us, the more useful our reply will be.

You can also call 0113 859 9000 or email [email protected]. Our office is at F4 Lotherton Business Park, Lotherton Way, Leeds, LS25 2HP.

There is no obligation in getting in touch, and we would rather have an honest conversation about whether we are the right fit than win work we cannot do justice to.

Phone 0113 859 9000
Email [email protected]
Office
F4 Lotherton Business Park
Lotherton Way
Leeds
LS25 2HP