Block Management in Bradford-on-Avon
No flood scheme is coming, so resilience at each building is the plan
Plymouth Block Management provides block, estate and leasehold management in Bradford-on-Avon for residents' management companies, right to manage companies and freeholders. In July 2025 the Environment Agency judged a permanent flood scheme for the town currently unviable, after costs rose from 4.5 million to over 11 million pounds. Property level resilience is now the plan. The town also has 319 listed entries and 133 flats in other converted buildings.
What We Would Put First for a Block in Bradford-on-Avon
Build Property Level Flood Resilience
The Environment Agency's forward position is property level resilience rather than a town defence, and its warning area names Bridge Street, Silver Street, St Margarets Street and Church Street. For a block there we would plan resilience works through the reserve fund and Section 20.
Major works and Section 20Brief Insurers with the Flood Record
Eleven accepted flood outlines intersect the town from 1925 to December 2013, and the scheme as designed would still have been overtopped in Storm Bert in November 2024. We would place insurance with that history disclosed and handle any claim.
InsuranceMeasure Radon, Including the Class 5 Corner
Six squares are class 2, one class 3 and one class 5 at 10 to 30 per cent. No square is in the lowest band, so we would arrange radon measurement in communal areas rather than rely on a town-centre reading.
ComplianceSurvey Mill Conversions Before Setting Reserves
The town has 133 flats in other converted buildings, including former mills, schools and churches. For a converted block we would commission a survey and a fire risk assessment, then set the reserve fund from what they find.
Reserve fundsManaging a Block in Bradford-on-Avon at a Glance
- Local authority
- Wiltshire Council
- Authority type
- Unitary
- Building control
- Wiltshire Council Building Control
- County
- Wiltshire
- Fire and rescue service
- Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- Wessex Water
- From our Plymouth office
- About 106 miles in a straight line
- Setting
- Inland
What It Costs to Move a Block in Bradford-on-Avon to Us
Management is a fixed annual fee, quoted for the building and agreed before we start. We take no commission and no third-party incentives, so the fee is the whole of what we earn from the building. Taking a block on carries a one-off start-up fee, set by size:
| Block size | Fee |
|---|---|
| Start-up fee, up to 10 units | £420.00 |
| Start-up fee, up to 25 units | £540.00 |
| Start-up fee, 50 units and above | £660.00 |
Taken from our published Additional Services price list, PBM Form #01-27 rev.6, effective 23 June 2025. All fees quoted are inclusive of VAT. See the full price list and how a handover works.
No Flood Scheme Is Coming, So Resilience Is the Plan
The town's flood position is fully documented. The mid Bristol Avon alert covers 5.47 per cent of the built-up area. The Bristol Avon at Bradford on Avon warning area covers 3.97 per cent. It names Greenland Mills, Norden, Grist Court, Kingston Square, Bridge Yard, Lamb Yard, Bridge Street, Silver Street, Bull Pit, St Margarets Street, Church Street and Pound Lane. Eleven accepted flood outlines intersect the town, running from 1925 to December 2013; the largest covered 12.3 hectares in December 1960. The Environment Agency's asset data records no walls, no embankments and no demountable defences here, only engineered high ground to a two year standard. In July 2025 the agency, with the county council, the town council and the water company, concluded that a permanent flood scheme for the town is currently unviable. The 2017 proposal of low walls and pumping stations has risen in cost from 4.5 million pounds to over 11 million, which current central government funding cannot cover. Even a cheaper version using temporary pumps would need around 1.7 million pounds in additional partnership funding. The agency added that the scheme as designed would still have been overtopped during Storm Bert in November 2024. Dredging, upstream and underground storage, automated barriers, a bypass channel, natural flood management and temporary barriers were all examined and rejected. The forward position is property level resilience rather than a town defence. The earlier catchment plan put 75 properties inside the 1 per cent annual probability extent and expected that to rise to around 190. It listed three scheduled monuments, an electricity substation, a fire station, a police station, the A363 and the railway as at risk. For a block here, no scheme is coming, so resilience measures at the building, planned through the reserve fund, are the plan.
133 Flats in Former Mills, Schools and Churches
Both wards fit the town closely, with 94 and 95 per cent inside the built-up area. The output areas inside the town hold 4,539 households, with 702 in flats, 15.5 per cent. Of these, 456 are in purpose-built blocks, 82 in a converted or shared house, 133 in another converted building and 31 over commercial premises. The 133 are flats in former schools, churches and warehouses, which in this town means the mills. Mill conversions bring their own management questions, so a survey and a fire risk assessment should come before reserves are set.
A Historic Core Dense with Listed Buildings
Two conservation areas, numbered No 1 and No 2 by the council. No 1 is recorded as designated in 1969, though only the year is published. It covers 89.4 hectares, and the part inside the built-up area accounts for 25.90 per cent of the entire town. That compares with 14.4 per cent at Corsham and 3.8 per cent for the largest area at Trowbridge. The character assessment is dated 2008 and comes from the town's own neighbourhood plan rather than from the district council's website. For a block in No 1, external works should be checked against the character assessment before they are specified.
319 entries on the National Heritage List fall inside the built-up area: eight Grade I, 29 Grade II* and 282 Grade II. 299 of them sit inside the No 1 conservation area. That is about 114 listed entries per square kilometre, against 33 at Trowbridge and 28 at Chippenham. The second conservation area contains no listed buildings at all. For a block in the historic core, listed status should be confirmed and any consent obtained before works are specified.
Nowhere in Town Falls in the Lowest Radon Band
The whole town sits in bands where measurement is advised, and one corner reads much higher. Of the eight one-kilometre squares over the built-up area, six are class 2, covering 87.2 per cent of the town. One is class 3, covering 8.6 per cent, and one is class 5, covering 4.2 per cent, at 10 to 30 per cent of homes at or above the action level. No square in the built-up area falls in the lowest band. A town-centre reading would therefore understate the class 5 corner considerably. For a block, radon measurement in communal and ground-floor areas is worth arranging rather than relying on a general reading.
Green Belt, a 2015 Core Strategy and a Withdrawn Plan
Planning decisions are made under the Wiltshire Core Strategy, adopted 20 January 2015. The emerging Wiltshire Local Plan reached examination in November 2024 but was withdrawn on 22 May 2026, and its replacement is not expected before 30 April 2029. The council states that the 2015 Core Strategy's policies are not automatically out of date, although its plan period ran to 2026, and will continue to guide development. The Bradford on Avon Neighbourhood Plan 2013 to 2026 was made in 2017; its referendum date, vote counts and turnout are not published. A second edition is in preparation through a steering group and five topic groups, and the town council expects it to take around a year from May 2026. The town lies inside the Bristol and Bath Green Belt, and its neighbourhood plan has a dedicated Green Belt chapter. None of the 48 Article 4 directions in the county covers the town. For a block, any proposal to extend or add flats faces Green Belt policy as well as the Core Strategy.
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Bradford-on-Avon Questions
Is a Flood Defence Scheme Planned for Bradford-on-Avon?
No. In July 2025 the Environment Agency concluded, with the county council, town council and water company, that a permanent scheme is currently unviable. The 2017 proposal of low walls and pumping stations rose from 4.5 million pounds to over 11 million. Dredging, storage, barriers and a bypass channel were examined and rejected, and the forward position is property level resilience.
Which Streets Does the Bradford-on-Avon Flood Warning Area Name?
The Bristol Avon at Bradford on Avon warning area covers 3.97 per cent of the built-up area. It names Greenland Mills, Norden, Grist Court, Kingston Square, Bridge Yard, Lamb Yard, Bridge Street, Silver Street, Bull Pit, St Margarets Street, Church Street and Pound Lane. The wider mid Bristol Avon alert covers 5.47 per cent of the town.
Which Plan Decides Applications Now the Wiltshire Local Plan Was Withdrawn?
The Wiltshire Core Strategy, adopted 20 January 2015, which the council says is not automatically out of date. The emerging Local Plan was withdrawn on 22 May 2026 and its replacement is not expected before 30 April 2029. The town also sits in the Bristol and Bath Green Belt, and a second edition of its 2017 neighbourhood plan is in preparation.
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