Artium Property Management are responsible for all aspects of managing your residential building management block or estate, including;

• Collect and account for the service charge and ground rent.
• Setting and reviewing service charge budgets.
• Testing and maintaining critical safety systems such as the fire alarm.
• Servicing other communal infrastructure such as the lifts.
• Keeping communal areas clean.
• Building maintenance.
• Arranging suitable insurance.
• Organising and carrying out risk assessments.
• Managing any staff that may be employed in the building.
• Ensuring general waste is collected.
• Dealing with any emergencies.
• Communicating with residents and arranging meetings with all stakeholders.
• Managing any qualifying and major repair work.
• Company secretarial duties.

We appreciate that every building is different, which is why we tailor our services to each building. This will be outlined in your management agreement, detailing what’s included, and what additional services can be provided for an extra fee.

We will coordinate and manage all of the services outlined in your residential building management agreement. Some of those services will be done by our team, and some will be outsourced to trusted partners.

It depends on the terms of your lease and who is responsible for managing the block. It could be the landlord (freeholder), a Resident Management Company, or a Right to Manage Company. If your block has a recognised Tenants Association, then they must be consulted on any change in managing agent. The governance structure can sometimes be difficult to understand so please contact us if you require further information. We can advise you on the best course of action if you wish to change managing agent. Most management contracts are 12 months or less, so should be regularly up for review.

As one of Yorkshire’s leading residential block management companies, we assess every building in our portfolio, and set a fee based on the scope of works required. This will be reviewed annually. Some services are not included in our management fee, and will be charged in addition, either to the individual leaseholder or the service charge depending on the service.

Our head office is in the centre of Harrogate. However, we operate across Yorkshire and the North East. Artium Property Management is part of Artium Group.

Service charge is a contribution that each leaseholder makes to a fund to allow the management company or freeholder (or the managing agent on their behalf) to fulfil the services required to make the building safe, secure and a pleasant place to live. Every year it will be reported to all leaseholders as to what the service charge contributions have been spent on. If there is an overspend, then you could be asked to contribute to make up the shortfall, and contributions may then be revised as a result. Through our residential block management services, we will always strive to get the best value for our clients, and will ensure all services are delivered in accordance with the lease and the management agreement.  

Ground rent is an amount of money that is paid to the landlord/ freeholder on an annual basis for the land on which the property is built and right of access to the communal areas. Not all leases will have ground rent, or it could be a “peppercorn.”

We are members of the RICS Client Money Protection Scheme and therefore all our client money for landlords, leaseholder’s service charge or sinking fund is held in a secured bank account.

This is a fund that is held separately from the service charge funds that cover the day-to-day expenses, which is used to cover major one off expenses such as roof repairs or other large capital expenditure projects. It will normally be collected alongside the service charge but held in trust for when it is needed. It will normally be advised by the production of a planned, maintenance program that will factor in life spans of the property infrastructure and their expected cost for replacement. This will then form the basis of the level of contributions of each leaseholder.

If you cannot afford your service charge or ground rent, then you should contact us to discuss your options. We have an obligation to collect the service charge on behalf of the management company or landlord, but we can discuss all options with you if you contact us to advise us that you are struggling to make the payment. This may avoid additional costs such as legal and debt recovery costs, but we do not have the authority to reduce individual payments. Non-payment of service charges or ground rent will normally constitute a breach of your lease; therefore, it is ultimately the leaseholder’s responsibility to make the payment as per the terms of the lease.

The detail will be in your lease agreement but generally it is everything behind your front door within your flat. Front doors, if they are fire doors, form part of the safety fabric of the building and depending on what sort of building you live in, may require additional annual checks by the landlord or management company. If you are unsure of the terms of your lease and what is your responsibility then please contact us.

Your solicitor should have given you a copy when you purchased the property. Alternatively your landlord will hold a copy, your mortgage lender if you have a mortgage on the property or the Land Registry. When we onboard a property we will hold copies of all leases as well as any new leases that are granted.

The law requires that leaseholders paying variable service charges must be consulted before a landlord carries out qualifying works or enters into a long-term agreement for the provision of services. Qualifying works are repairs, maintenance or improvements that will cost any contributing leaseholder more than £250, including VAT

Qualifying Long Term Agreements are any agreement entered into by the Landlord that last more than 21 months and will cost an individual leaseholder more than £100, including VAT.

It depends. In some of our residential building management properties, we have our own staff, and in others, they are employed through the management company. In some smaller properties, it is not necessary to have a regular staff presence, but we will conduct regular visits and meetings with the directors of the management company and other stakeholders as requested.

If there’s staff on-site then please contact them. Alternatively, during office hours, you can call our office on 01423 611110. For out of office hours, we have an emergency call number, which will be in your resident’s handbook, and displayed internally in the building.

We are an Associate of the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA).

Please contact our office and we will do what we can to listen to your issue and make it right. If you are still not happy with our service or response then please follow our Complaints Policy.

We are members of The Property Ombudsman Scheme for Residential Leasehold Management. If you wish to escalate a complaint to them then you must have followed our Complaints Policy which details how to escalate a complaint to them.