Thinking about moving into block management?
If you already manage landlords, properties and maintenance issues, you might be wondering how much different block management can really be.
The reality might surprise you, as block management introduces a whole new level of operational and compliance responsibility.
It means dealing with service charge accounting, leaseholder statements, compliance tracking, planned maintenance and audit trails that can carry serious legal consequences if they’re not handled correctly.
This increased complexity quickly exposes the limitations of many basic estate agency CRMs.
While there’s no doubt that block management is a clear opportunity for estate and letting agents, taking it on without the right block management software can be a major challenge.
According to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, there are approximately 4.98 million leasehold dwellings in England alone, and demand for professionally managed blocks is growing as compliance obligations increase. For agents with the right systems in place, that represents a significant and scalable revenue opportunity.
This guide explains what block management software for estate agents needs to handle, where many CRMs fall short, and what agents should consider as compliance obligations under the Building Safety Act 2022 and Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 continue to grow.
What is block management for estate agents?
Block management is the day-to-day operational and financial running of shared residential buildings on behalf of a freeholder, developer or Residents’ Management Company (RMC). It typically covers apartment blocks, leasehold developments and mixed-use buildings.
For estate agents, block management means handling things like service charges, leaseholder communication, building compliance records, maintenance work and financial reporting for the block.
The biggest difference is that you’re managing an entire building rather than individual tenancies. That means dealing with shared spaces, communal safety and responsibilities that affect multiple leaseholders at once.
Estate and letting agents are often a good fit for block management because the foundations (landlord relationships and contractor coordination) are already there. With the right systems in place, it can become a valuable and scalable extension of an existing lettings operation.
What are the compliance obligations for block management?
Block management has always involved compliance responsibilities, but recent legislation has made those responsibilities much more serious, especially for agents managing larger residential buildings.
These are the two big compliance changes agents need to understand.
Building Safety Act 2022
The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced new legal duties for higher-risk residential buildings, defined as blocks over 18 metres or seven storeys tall.
Compliance requirements can include:
- Registering buildings with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR)
- Producing safety case reports
- Carrying out quarterly fire door checks in communal areas
- Carrying out annual flat entrance door checks
- Maintaining evacuation information and safety records
The key point is that compliance records need to be accurate, organised and easy to evidence. The legislation includes criminal sanctions for accountable persons who fail to meet their obligations, which represents a significant shift from the previous regulatory environment.
Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 brought major changes to how service charges are managed and reported.
Under the legislation, service charge demands are being standardised, and demands that do not follow the correct format may become legally unenforceable.
Annual reports will also become mandatory for blocks with four or more units, and leaseholders now have easier access to challenge charges through the Tribunal system.
For agents, this means financial reporting and record keeping are essential. Service charge statements, invoices, compliance documents and communication history all need to be properly recorded and easy to access when needed.
Industry context: The Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) estimates that leaseholder disputes and service charge challenges are among the most common sources of complaint for managing agents, making robust record keeping not just a compliance requirement, but a practical protection.
What does block management software need to handle?
Block management depends heavily on structure and record keeping. Without the right systems in place, things can become difficult to manage very quickly.
These are the main things agents considering block management need their managing agent CRM to handle properly.
Service charge management
Service charges are a fundamental part of block management, and your CRM needs to handle them properly.
That means collecting charges, holding funds in management company accounts and producing clear statements for leaseholders and freeholders. As reporting requirements increase under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, agents also need records that are easy to track down if questions come up later.
Learn more about how Alto handles service charge management →
Compliance tracking
Block management comes with a long list of documents to manage and safety checks to stay ahead of.
Your CRM should store compliance records against the building and proactively flag important deadlines like fire safety inspections, insurance renewals, AGM dates and fire door checks. For higher-risk buildings under the Building Safety Act 2022, this audit trail is not optional. It is a legal requirement with criminal liability attached.
Document storage at building level
One of the biggest differences between lettings and block management is the way information needs to be structured.
Instead of storing everything against an individual tenancy, block management needs a head property structure that holds documents, compliance records, financial information and communication history for the whole building.
Maintenance coordination
Maintenance issues in block management are rarely as simple as a single repair job.
Agents need a clear way to manage contractor communication, works orders, planned preventative maintenance and ongoing building issues across communal areas.
Agents must be able to put their hands on the full history of work, just in case problems escalate later.
Financial reporting
Financial reporting in block management needs to be much more detailed than standard lettings reporting.
Leaseholders, freeholders and management companies all need visibility over how money is being collected and spent. Your CRM should make it easy to produce clear income and expenditure reporting without relying on spreadsheets and manual work.
Under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, annual accounts will be mandatory for blocks with four or more units, so a CRM that can produce these as standard, rather than as a workaround, will save agents significant time.
Integrations that fit your existing setup
When expanding into block management, the last thing anyone wants is another platform, another login and even more admin.
Block management software needs to fit into the way your agency already works. That means offering integrations that support maintenance, compliance, accounting and reporting workflows without creating more duplication behind the scenes.
Ready for handover
Block management doesn’t leave time to figure things out as you go.
New developments move towards handover on fixed dates, and agents need systems in place before residents start moving in. Most agents do not have time to rebuild workflows from scratch and need a CRM that’s already set up and ready to go before the building goes live.
A real example of where standard CRMs fall short for block management
When Redwing Living decided to branch out into block management, it expected to use its existing CRM, Reapit, to manage the added operational pressure involved.
However, the team discovered Reapit’s block management functionality was no longer available and had to urgently find an alternative solution.
“We had blocks coming in quickly, including one over 18 metres where compliance reporting is absolutely critical,” says Kayleigh Davenport, Head of Residential Management at Redwing Living, part of Regenda Group.
“It became clear we needed a solution we could implement quickly and rely on from a compliance perspective.”
They chose Alto.
With workflows to support service charge management, compliance reporting and building-level record keeping, Alto is the right CRM for agents adding block management to a lettings operation.
Kayleigh says: “Alto gives us a dedicated solution for block management that integrates with our wider reporting environment without disrupting the rest of the business.”
For Redwing Living, which manages more than 2,000 leasehold and shared ownership properties across the North West, the experience reinforced how important the right CRM becomes once block management starts scaling.
How Alto supports block management
Alto helps estate and letting agents take on block management without having to rebuild their entire operation around a new system.
Here’s why it’s often the go-to CRM for agents adding block management:
- Alto stores information against the building itself, not just individual units, so compliance records, service charges, maintenance history and communication logs are all kept in one place.
- Teams can collect service charges, manage management company accounts and produce leaseholder and freeholder statements from the same system.
- Inspection dates, certificates, fire safety records and renewal reminders can all be tracked with a clear audit trail, meeting the requirements of the Building Safety Act 2022.
- Alto integrates with Fixflo to support repairs, contractor communication and planned preventative maintenance.
- Most agencies are live and onboarded within just four weeks.
Thinking about moving into block management?
Book a chat with the Alto team to see how we can help.
Frequently asked questions about block management software
Can estate agents use their existing CRM for block management?
Most standard estate agency CRMs are built for sales and lettings workflows and do not support block management requirements like service charge accounting, compliance tracking and management company reporting. Some agents only discover this after they have already taken on a block. It is worth checking your CRM’s block management capability before committing to new instructions.
What does a CRM need to do to support block management?
At minimum, it needs to handle service charge collection and statements, store compliance documents and certificates against the building, track inspection and renewal dates, manage works orders and maintenance and produce financial reports for the management company. For blocks over 18 metres, it also needs to support the audit trail required under the Building Safety Act 2022.
What are the compliance requirements for managing a block over 18 metres?
Blocks of 18 metres or above are classified as higher-risk buildings under the Building Safety Act 2022. This includes mandatory registration with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), a safety case report, quarterly fire door checks in communal areas, annual checks of flat entrance doors and mandatory occurrence reporting. Criminal sanctions apply to responsible persons who fail to meet these obligations.
What is a service charge and how should it be managed in a CRM?
A service charge is a contribution collected from leaseholders to cover the costs of running and maintaining a shared building, including insurance, repairs and cleaning. Under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, service charge demands must follow a standardised format or risk being legally unenforceable. A CRM should be able to raise demands, receipt payments, hold funds in a management company account and produce clear statements for leaseholders.
Does Alto do block management?
Yes. Alto supports block management for estate and letting agents adding it to an existing operation. It handles service charge collection, management company accounts, compliance document storage and integrates with Fixflo for maintenance workflows. It is designed for agents expanding into block management rather than specialist managing agents running highly complex portfolios.
Can agents use Reapit for block management?
Redwing Living, part of Regenda Group, was expanding into block management and expected to use its existing CRM provider, Reapit. The team discovered the block management functionality was no longer available. With a high-rise building over 18 metres approaching handover and hard compliance deadlines, Redwing Living switched to Alto for its compliance reporting capability and service charge management.
What is the difference between block management and property management?
Property management typically refers to managing individual tenancies on behalf of a landlord, covering rent collection, maintenance and tenant relationships. Block management refers to the operational and financial management of an entire shared building, including service charges, communal area maintenance, compliance records and leaseholder reporting. The two can overlap but require different systems and workflows.
Do block management agents need to be members of a professional body?
While there is no statutory requirement, membership of the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) or compliance with RICS service charge accounting standards is widely regarded as best practice in the industry. Some freeholders and RMCs require their managing agent to hold professional body membership as a condition of appointment.
