Plant rooms
Communal heating, pumps, lifts and smoke ventilation, each with its own contractor, contract and emergency number, kept on one register.
Managed today in Putney
Large block management · London
Large blocks, with
every complication.
Plant rooms, car parks, gyms, shops below the flats, external walls under review and a building safety regulator taking an interest. The two largest blocks in our care have all of them between them, and we run both — the accounts, the contracts, the compliance and the residents — on software we built for the job.
284
Units across our two largest blocks
14
Commercial units among them
6
Service charge schedules on one estate
15
Building systems on contract at one estate
Our largest blocks
Two buildings, in our care today.
We don’t name client blocks publicly, so each is described by area and size only.
Putney, SW15 · since January 2023
155 units: 147 flats and 8 commercial
Several buildings on one estate, sharing a plant room, underground parking, a gym and a concierge, with shops and offices at street level. It is a higher-risk building under the Building Safety Act, and its external walls are the subject of a Building Safety Fund application.
Read the case study
Brentford, TW8 · since March 2025
129 units: 123 flats and 6 commercial
A modern riverside block with commercial units on the ground floor and a service charge split across schedules. We took it over from another agent in March 2025, including the records and the questions about its external walls.
Read the case studyWhat a large block brings
The complications, and how we handle them.
Car parks
Underground parking with its own schedule, so the spaces are paid for by the people who hold them, and the gates, barriers and ventilation are maintained on contract.
Managed today in Putney
Gyms and concierge
Shared facilities budgeted, maintained and reported on separately, so directors can see what they cost and residents can see what they pay for.
Managed today in Putney
Mixed use
Shops and offices below flats, with the costs split so commercial and residential occupiers each pay what their leases say.
Cladding and external walls
Fire risk appraisals of the external walls and EWS1 forms on file, and ready answers for buyers’ solicitors and lenders.
The Building Safety Regulator
Higher-risk buildings over 18 metres, with fire safety records kept current and information gathered from residents who need it.
Managed today in Putney
The Building Safety Fund
The leaseholder side of a fund application: keeping residents informed and making sure a sale is not held up by the paperwork.
Managed today in Putney
The technology
Software built for buildings this size.
A spreadsheet and a shared inbox will run a small block. They do not run 155 units across six schedules. We run the whole portfolio on two systems of our own.
BalanceBuddy — how we run the building
The system our team works in every day: accounts, contracts, compliance and correspondence in one place.
- Service charges split schedule by schedule — six at the Putney estate, two in Brentford — with every leaseholder’s share worked from their lease.
- Budgets, budget-versus-actual reports and year-end accounts from one ledger, so the figures directors see during the year are the ones in the accounts.
- A register of who maintains each system on each building, with the emergency number to ring out of hours.
- Fire safety checks recorded on site, with failed checks raised as defects and followed up until they are closed.
- Each leaseholder’s documents in their own secure vault rather than sent as attachments.
- Reports for directors on what residents have raised and how quickly it was answered.
Gena Go — how residents reach us
The app every resident and director gets, whichever service level the block is on.
- Residents report a problem with a photo, at a time that suits them, and it reaches the right person immediately.
- Progress can be followed in the app rather than chased by email.
- Block-wide alerts reach everybody at once when water is off or a lift is out.
- Directors see the building’s full history — every report and every answer — in one place.
What it costs
Priced per unit, however large the block.
Our fees are per unit, per year, plus VAT, with a one-off set-up fee of £125 + VAT per unit. Most large blocks choose Gena Elite at £450 + VAT per unit: for larger or more complex buildings: adds WhatsApp and twelve board meetings a year.
Worked example
A 100-unit block on Gena Elite: £45,000 + VAT a year, and £12,500 + VAT once, at the start. No Section 20 fees, no exit fees, two months’ notice either way.
Questions
Large block management — your questions
What is the largest block Gena manages?
A 155-unit estate in Putney, SW15 — 147 flats and 8 commercial units across several buildings, with a shared plant room, underground parking, a gym and a concierge. We have managed it since January 2023. The next largest is a 129-unit riverside block in Brentford: 123 flats and 6 commercial units, which we took over in March 2025.
Do you manage higher-risk buildings under the Building Safety Act?
Yes. Our Putney estate is over 18 metres and a higher-risk building within the Building Safety Regulator’s regime. We keep its fire safety records current, log the periodic checks, and gather information from residents who may need help to leave in an emergency.
Can you manage a block with shops or offices on the ground floor?
Yes — both of our largest blocks are mixed use, with 14 commercial units between them. The service charge is split across schedules so commercial and residential occupiers each pay what their leases say, and budgets, accounts and statements all follow the same split.
Do you project-manage cladding remediation?
No. Remediation works are commissioned by the building owner and, where one applies, overseen under the Building Safety Fund. What we do is the managing agent’s side: hold the external wall appraisals and EWS1 information, keep leaseholders informed, and answer buyers’ solicitors and lenders so sales are not held up by missing paperwork.
Do you charge for Section 20 consultations on a large block?
Not on Gena Advantage or Gena Elite, whatever the size of the building. Preparing and serving the notices, gathering estimates and dealing with leaseholders’ observations is part of those service levels — never a percentage of the contract value. You pay for the works themselves, and for any surveyor or project manager the job needs.
How much does it cost to manage a large block?
Our fees are per unit, per year, plus VAT, whatever the size of the building. Gena Elite, the level built for larger or more complex blocks, is £450 + VAT per unit: for a 100-unit block that is £45,000 + VAT a year, with a one-off set-up fee of £12,500 + VAT (£125 per unit). There are no exit fees and two months’ notice either way.
How do you take over a large block from another agent?
We ask the outgoing agent for everything on a written schedule — funds, arrears, contracts, compliance certificates and fire safety records — chase it item by item, and tell the directors what has arrived and what has not. Opening balances are checked against the previous agent’s figures before the first demand goes out. Our Brentford block, 129 units, came to us this way in March 2025.
Let’s talk
Running a large or complex block?
Tell us about the building — the plant, the schedules, the safety questions — and we’ll show you how we would run it, with no obligation.