Finding out from the complaint
You run a block management firm with several property managers and a large number of blocks. Each property manager says their blocks are fine. Then a director of an RMC emails you directly: works have been waiting for months, the arrears are high, and nobody has replied to their last three emails.
You start digging. The arrears are in the accounts, the works are in the job tracker, the unanswered emails are in the property manager's inbox, and the overdue checks are in a spreadsheet. By the time you have the picture, the director has already approached another agent.
Why there is no single view
Block management runs on several tools: a block management system for accounts and leaseholders, a repair tool or job log, email, document storage, and spreadsheets for everything that does not fit anywhere else. Each has its own reports, but nothing combines them per block.
Property managers are also, reasonably, optimistic about their own blocks. Without numbers to look at, the firm relies on self-reporting until something breaks.
What that blind spot costs
Management contracts are lost to service problems that were visible in the data long before the client complained. Workload is unevenly spread between property managers without anyone noticing until someone burns out or leaves. And when you want to price a new instruction, you have no real view of how much work blocks of a similar size and type actually create.
The portfolio dashboard we build
We build a dashboard that pulls from the systems you already use and shows a small number of useful signals per block. It flags; your managers decide.
- Data connections: we read arrears, fund balances and budget spend from your block management system, open works from your job tracker or repair tool, overdue checks from your compliance records, open claims, and correspondence volume from your mailboxes.
- Per block signals: each block gets a short set of measures such as arrears age, oldest open job, overdue checks, unanswered correspondence and days since the last inspection.
- Attention list: blocks where signals cross the thresholds you set are listed at the top with the reason, rather than a colour for everything.
- Per property manager view: workload and open items by property manager, so imbalances show early.
- Trends: signals over time, so you can see whether a block is getting better or worse.
- Weekly summary: a short email to senior managers each week with the blocks that need attention and why.
| Signal | Comes from | Tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Arrears age and total | Block management system | Funds at risk for the block |
| Oldest open job | Job tracker or repair tool | Where works are stuck |
| Overdue checks | Checks records | Compliance evidence gaps |
| Unanswered correspondence | Mailboxes | Where residents are waiting |
| Last inspection date | Inspection records | Blocks not being visited |
What you see on Monday morning
A short list of blocks that need a conversation, with reasons, instead of a surprise email from a director. One-to-ones with property managers are based on the same facts. When you consider a new instruction, you can compare it with similar blocks you already manage.
Is this your view of the portfolio?
- You find out about problem blocks when a director complains.
- Each system has its own reports and none combine them.
- Workload between property managers is uneven and hard to measure.
- You have lost instructions over service issues that built up slowly.
- Pricing new blocks is based on feel rather than your own history.