What we do
A new standard of block management
Our Block Management department opened in 2012 due to demand from vendors and landlords who were looking for a higher standard of service than they could find elsewhere.
We listened to their concerns and realised that many resulted from their previous experiences of poor communication and lack of transparency. So from day one we set out to provide a service to our clients and leaseholders that offered a new standard in block management.
We understand that we are managing homes and investments that really matter to people. We also know that a ‘one size fits all’ approach doesn’t work because each block requires an individual approach, so we tailor a bespoke strategy for each and every client.
Our directors Chris Sawyer & Adam Farrell know that specialisation is the real key to successful block management. As an example of our belief in this our dedicated team have all undergone thorough training to ensure they have the key skills and knowledge needed to surpass our clients’ expectations.
The Brighton & Hove property experts
Sawyer & Co are market leaders in the city with a strong reputation for integrity and local knowledge.
Standing out from the crowd with a clear and constant focus on providing the highest levels of customer experience, our aim is clear – to be better than our competitors in every way.
We pride ourselves on doing things differently
Having a dedicated block management team ensures a good level of communication and correspondence at all times. Block management demands careful planning and you need a professional agent who will look after your interests, and at the same time make your status as a leaseholder or freeholder as stress-free as possible. We make it a priority to ensure our clients are up to date with and adhering to the many complex areas of compliance and health and safety legislation.
It pays to talk to the right people; you’re in safe hands with us
Whether it’s AllAgents, Facebook or Google, our customer satisfaction reviews give a clear indication that we deliver on our promises.
98 % of our clients would recommend us* and more than 700 have done so on allAgents.co.uk
Every agent will tell you that they are the best in your area. However, to be completely confident you have chosen an exceptional agent you need to discover what their previous customers and clients think of them.
*Correct at the time of writing
Outstanding Customer Service
The consistency and professionalism in our lettings team combined with the creative and dynamic innovation and proven endorsed quality customer service, ensures that our philosophy of “going the extra mile” underpins everything we do.
We are well known within the local community for our professionalism and integrity and are established as a progressive company who achieve results for our customers. Our staff are perfectly placed to advise, both in the technicalities of the lettings market as well as possessing extensive local knowledge of the areas we cover throughout Brighton, Hove and Sussex.
By developing a multi-departmental, broad-based service, our knowledge across the board in sales, lettings and block management enables us to offer a more comprehensive proposition to our customers.
Protection & peace of mind for our landlords and tenants is of the utmost importance to us. Our Awards & Professional Associations, gained as a result of our client centered approach, offer this.
As a regulated member of the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), our clients can be confident that their funds are safe and secure and that they are using an agent that complies with the latest industry regulations. Our recognition as the ‘Best Independent Estate Agent’ in our area by the Guild of Property Professionals reflects our conformity to their rigorous standards, granting us exclusivity in our region. Additionally, our membership with the Property Ombudsman for lettings, sales, and block management, and the Brighton and Hove Estate Agents Association, assures our customers of our commitment to the highest professional standards and strict adherence to the codes of conduct of these respected bodies.
Brand Awareness
Our offices are situated in prime high street locations throughout Brighton and Hove, affording our clients maximum exposure for their properties. We offer properties for sale and to rent and property management across the whole of the Brighton and Hove area from Shoreham-by-sea to Peacehaven, with our Block/Estate Management department covering most of Sussex. We enjoy excellent footfall, with many clients visiting in person to undertake initial discussions and then to place their properties with us.
Our multi-departmental expertise in sales, lettings, and block management allows us to offer a more comprehensive service. ‘Buy to Let’ investors trust us due to our ability to advise on all aspects of their investments. Our Block Management knowledge also helps us to progress sales because we fully understand leasehold/freehold issues. This cross-departmental expertise enhances sales overall.
Marketing
Presentation of our rental properties is crucial to their marketability so to present each property in the best possible way both on the national portals and web-based media, we produce professionally designed details to promote the most attractive features and provide valuable information to buyers. To ensure that our properties stand out from the crowd, our attention to detail includes striking photography, concise text highlighting your property’s most salient points and high-quality floor plans. Instantly marketed by text and email in addition to being placed on our Sawyer & Co. website and the national sites, each property is given the best chance of efficient rental at the best possible price.
Our high-profile office locations in Brighton and Hove heightens our brand awareness, attracting many tenants to us both in person and via our fully responsive website and the national property portals. This together with our innovative marketing campaigns and proactive approach ensures that our rental properties are never on the market for long.
Flexible
By listening to our clients, we have developed a comprehensive service within our lettings department that expedites the rental process and achieves maximum rental values.
Let only
We would generally advise that our ‘Let Only’ service would be most suitable for experienced or corporate landlords with a deep understanding of relevant legislation or those with their own management departments. This service requires a solid grasp of property law and management practices to navigate independently. For most landlords, especially those without extensive experience, opting for a part or fully managed service is safer and more beneficial, ensuring compliance with legal obligations and reducing the burden of day-to-day property management.
Fee: 3 weeks’ rent plus VAT subject to a minimum of £1170 inc. VAT (£975 plus VAT)
This service includes the following:
- Production and distribution of promotional materials, to include photographs and a floorplan
- Arranging, where appropriate, an initial Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), Gas Safety Certificate and other legal required certification
- Provision of a To Let board
- Promotion of your property on Rightmove, Zoopla, Primelocation and OnTheMarket as well as our own website, sawyerandco.co.uk
- Accompanied viewing service
- Negotiate the terms of a tenancy
- Carry out the initial Right to Rent checks
- Completion of comprehensive credit and income
- checks on prospective tenants, for which we employ a third-party specialist
- Production of an appropriate tenancy agreement and associated documentation
- Collection of an appropriate deposit, which is lodged in our client account and registered with a Client Money Protection Scheme*
- Collection of the first month’s rent. We arrange for subsequent payments to be made directly to you
- Arrange an Inventory & Schedule of Condition (signed by the tenant) for you to use as the basis for comparison when the tenant vacates*
*Subject to additional fee
Part Managed
Fee: 12% including VAT (10% plus VAT)
Our Part Managed service includes all the benefits of our Let Only Service and in addition, Sawyer & Co Property Management will:
- Collect rent in accordance with the terms of the tenancy agreement
- Prepare and submit a regular Statement of Account to the landlord and/or the landlord’s accountant
- Transfer the net monies to the landlord
- Chase rent arrears
- At the end of the tenancy, we will arrange for the inventory to be checked by the inventory clerk and for a schedule of dilapidation (if any) to be prepared. Before the tenant’s deposit can be returned, a copy of the schedule of dilapidation is sent to the landlord for subsequent approval
- We will remind you when the Gas Safety Certificate EICR, EPC and end of tenancy renewals are due, and send you updates about major changes to legislation.
Full Managed
Fee: 14.4% including VAT (12% plus VAT)
In addition to the Letting and Part Managed Service as detailed above, this includes:
- Management of maintenance and repairs
- Collection of rent, chasing arrears and paying any agreed outgoings
- 6 monthly visits to the property to ensure the tenant is taking care of the property and when appropriate, providing you with a written report about issues arising from our visit
- Arranging Landlord Gas Safety Inspections to be carried out annually during the tenancy, and for a certificate to be provided
- Prior to the expiry of any fixed term contract, contact the Tenant to enquire whether they would like you to consider an extension of their tenancy
- Arrange tenancy renewals for further fixed term*
- Before we organise the release of the tenant’s security deposit an end of tenancy inventory check out will be arranged and we will negotiate any dilapidations.
- Arranging Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) and Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), as an when required
- Service of a Legal Notice for Possession
*Subject to additional fee
Additional fees
A full list of our fees is available on request or alternatively can be accessed via our website
Where we have stated that we will ‘arrange’ a specific service the Landlord should be aware that they are liable for the cost of the contractor invoice Our Part and Fully Managed Services are subject to a tenancy set up fee of 1.5 weeks’ rent + VAT (Min £690 inc. VAT / £575 plus VAT) this includes the marketing of your property, referencing, drafting AST and arranging the inventory.
It's easy to switch
If you like the sound of what we can do for you but you already have a managing agent, changing over to us is actually very easy and straightforward.
In fact, once you have made the decision we do all the work for you
Once you have served notice to your current managing agent we can arrange for all the relevant documents to be sent over to us, along with a closing statement and outstanding funds.
It’s all part of our honest and transparent approach
We offer a streamlined contract for your own block requirements and we pride ourselves on having jargon-free agreements written in easy to understand language.
We will then arrange for a separate bank account to be opened for your block’s funds and all statements will be made available to you.
Offering complete transparency, our cloud based platform enables directors and leaseholders to log in and view information on their block at any time from their phone, desktop or iPad.
Our office is open Monday to Friday 8.45am to 6pm and we also offer 24-hour contact to a team of experienced property coordinators who can assist you with any out of hours needs.
Other Benefits
- A team of dedicated block management specialists
- An In-house bookkeeper specialising in service charge accounts
- Annual sourcing of the best insurance premiums and cover
- Preparation and review of annual service charge budgets
- Circulation of annual accounts to the lessees after review
- Regular inspections of blocks
- Dealing with lessees enquiries
- Responding to solicitor enquiries
- Overseeing major works
- Reviewing contractor performance and value
- Full debt management and recovery service
- Health, safety and fire risk assessments
- 24-hour online access to view your account
New Builds
Working closely with our established Land and New Homes division, we can make the transition from new build to completion as easy for you as possible. We will liaise with you throughout the building process to ensure a smooth transition takes place when our management phase commences.
By making sure that future property owners fully understand the services that are available to them on your development, as well as being clear about any service charges they will be contributing and what they cover, we take the pressure away from you.
Whether its large purpose built blocks or Grade Listed buildings, we have the experience, contractors and specialists to assist you in all aspects of Block Management.
Right to Manage
The Commonhold and Leasehold reform act 2002 gave leaseholders the right to form and operate resident management companies. This means that leaseholders can appoint their own managing agents to act and report to them.
*To be eligible to take advantage of this Right to Manage (RTM) you must meet the following criteria:
*At least 50% of the flat owners within the physical block of flats must want to go through the process.
*At least two thirds of the flat owners within the physical block must have long leases (more than 21 years at the time of issue).
*No more than 25% of the block may be used for non-residential use.
Having assisted many clients now in this regard, we would be happy to offer you our RTM service or a confidential consultation.
We can also assist you by recommending specialist solicitors who will be able to confirm if you are eligible and who will then guide you through the process.
Once the RTM process has been completed we can offer you our full range of block management services.
Award Winners
As a company Sawyer & Co has been commended by the Guild of Property Professionals for our “consistently high levels of customer service” and our standards are endorsed at both local and national levels with many high profile industry awards. We’re proud that these awards recognise our ongoing commitment to delivering outstanding levels of customer service.
Another reason that we continue to win awards is that we pride ourselves on ‘going the extra mile’. This means give each block our full commitment and that comes with an added assurance of full accountability and transparency.
Customer Service
We aim to provide an exceptional level of customer service and that means getting things right first time. The whole ethos of Sawyer & Co is based on being honest and transparent and that means we never make promises that we know we can’t keep.
By making sure that all of your details are held correctly and securely we can keep you up to date at all times and that means you are always in control.
WHAT CAN WE DO FOR YOU
Services we offer
We offer a comprehensive range of property solutions tailored to meet your needs. Our dedicated team of professionals is committed to delivering outstanding services, ensuring a seamless and successful experience every step of the way.
Find out how much your home is worth
Curious about the value of your property? At Sawyer & Co Estate Agents, we offer a free and no-obligation property valuation service. Our experienced valuers will assess your property’s market value based on factors such as its location, size, condition, and recent sales in the area.
