Block Management in Cirencester
Roman Corinium covers 6.07 per cent of the town, so groundworks meet a separate consent regime.
In Cirencester, our service covers block, estate and leasehold management for residents' management companies, RTM companies and freeholders. Six scheduled monuments lie inside the town, which matters for any drainage run, underpinning or lift pit. The council's flood assessment puts 253 properties, grouped with Siddington, at significant risk, and the Daglingworth Stream runs in culvert beneath Spital Gate Lane, Hereward Road and the Abbey grounds.
What We Would Put First for a Block in Cirencester
Clear Scheduled Monument Consent Before Groundworks
Six scheduled monuments lie inside Cirencester and the Corinium designation covers 6.07 per cent of the town, a regime with no equivalent of permitted development. For drainage runs, underpinning or a lift pit we would establish the consent position before specifying and tendering the work.
ConsentsCheck Drainage Where the Sewers Surcharge
The council records that the surface water sewer network is prone to surcharging when river levels are high, which affected the Spitalgate and Trafalgar Road area. For a block there we would include gullies and drains in the inspection schedule and set the insurance and reserve position accordingly.
InspectionsRecord the Cirencester Park Lake Route
The flood assessment identifies a breach risk from the 1736 lake at Cirencester Park, with water following Sheep Street, Querns Lane, Trinity Road and Watermoor Road. For a block on that route we would record it in the risk file and raise it at insurance placement.
InsuranceArrange Radon Measurement at Ground Level
Class 3 covers 63.5 per cent of the town at 3 to 5 per cent of homes at or above the action level, and measurement is advised across almost all of Cirencester. We would arrange measurement in ground-floor communal areas and log the result.
ComplianceManaging a Block in Cirencester at a Glance
- Local authority
- Cotswold District Council
- Authority type
- District, under the county council
- Building control
- Cotswold District Council Building Control
- County
- Gloucestershire
- Fire and rescue service
- Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- Thames Water
- Setting
- Inland
What It Costs to Move a Block in Cirencester 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.
Six Scheduled Monuments Make Groundworks a Separate Consent Question
Four conservation areas, all designated on the same day, 25 November 2008: Cirencester South, Cirencester Town Centre, Gloucester Street and River Walk, and Cirencester Park. All four have appraisals, though none carries a printed adoption date. They replaced an older and messier arrangement of four separate designations, and the appraisal records that the first conservation area in the town was designated in January 1968, less than a year after the Civic Amenities Act introduced the mechanism, which makes Cirencester one of the earliest designations anywhere. One practical warning for anyone using the national register: its map links are cross-wired against the area names, so the record for the Town Centre points at the map for Cirencester South. The council's own page is correct and the register's document links are not.
326 entries on the National Heritage List fall inside the built-up area, three Grade I, 27 Grade II* and 296 Grade II, computed from Historic England's open data since the council publishes no count. What sets Cirencester apart is not the listing but the scheduling: six scheduled monuments lie inside the built-up area, and the Corinium Roman town designation alone covers 6.07 per cent of the entire town. Archaeology of that extent is a live constraint on anything involving groundworks, drainage runs, underpinning or a new lift pit, and it is a separate consent regime from listed building consent with no equivalent of permitted development.
Watermoor and St Michael's Hold Most of the Flats
The town holds 8,266 households with 2,096 in flats, 25.4 per cent, made up of 1,748 in purpose-built blocks, 150 in a converted or shared house, 113 in another converted building and 85 over commercial premises. That figure is computed across the 64 census output areas covering the built-up area, because no single ward describes the town: nine wards contribute to it. Two are genuine town wards and hold most of the flats, Watermoor with 44.2 per cent of its households in flats and St Michael's with 40.9 per cent. Two others should not be used at all: Siddington and Cerney Rural has just 1.2 per cent of its area in the town and Stratton 0.1 per cent. Abbey ward is the trap in the middle, delivering more than a fifth of the town while only 9.2 per cent of the ward lies inside it.
A Culverted Stream and a 1736 Lake Shape the Flood Picture
Fluvial on the River Churn, with the Daglingworth Stream and the Gumstool Brook. Two Environment Agency areas cover the town and they are almost coextensive: the Churn catchment alert at 9.41 per cent of the built-up area and the warning area for the Churn from Baunton to Siddington, which explicitly includes the Daglingworth Stream and the Gumstool Brook in Cirencester only, at 9.40 per cent. Thirty-six other candidate areas were near the town without covering it and are not coverage. The council's own strategic assessment puts 253 Cirencester properties at significant risk, the highest figure in the district, though it footnotes that this is grouped with Siddington. Three schemes are recorded without costs: rehabilitation of the damaged Kingsmeadow culvert in 2012, local improvements from the River Churn flood risk management strategy in 2013, and, at Watermoor specifically, construction of a flood wall, kerbs and embankments to protect properties from the Daglingworth Stream, also 2013. Two features matter more here than in most towns. The first is culverting: the Daglingworth Stream runs 354 metres in culvert at Spital Gate Lane and Hereward Road and 575 metres under the Abbey grounds, and the council records that the surface water sewer network is prone to surcharging when river levels are high, which affected the Spitalgate and Trafalgar Road area. The second is the reservoir: the assessment identifies a risk to the town from breach or failure of the lake at Cirencester Park, built in 1736 and holding 38,326 cubic metres, with flood water flowing south east through the town affecting the A419 and roughly following Sheep Street, Querns Lane, Trinity Road and Watermoor Road. In the summer of 2007 the Churn flooded parts of the town.
Moderate Radon on the Dip Slope, Measurement Still Advised
Moderate, and the lowest of the Cotswold limestone towns covered here because Cirencester sits on the dip slope. Across the sixteen one-kilometre squares over the built-up area, class 3 covers 63.5 per cent of the town at 3 to 5 per cent of homes at or above the action level and class 2 covers 36.4 per cent at 1 to 3 per cent, with a sliver of lowest-band ground. The published advice across almost the whole town is that radon measurement is advised, but no square reaches the higher bands found a few miles west around Stroud and Minchinhampton.
No Article 4 and No Made Neighbourhood Plan Yet
Decided under the Cotswold District Local Plan 2011 to 2031, adopted 3 August 2018, with a new plan for 2026 to 2043 in preparation. There is no made neighbourhood plan: the draft reached its publication consultation stage between 16 April and 29 May 2026 and no referendum has been held, so there is no result to report. There is no Article 4 direction, checked twice, once against the designated areas and once against the council's own list, which names eighteen places from Avening and Bibury through to Tetbury and Weston Subedge but not Cirencester. Only 11.13 per cent of the built-up area lies inside the Cotswolds National Landscape and the town centre falls outside it, so despite sitting in the middle of the Cotswolds, Cirencester is largely excluded from the designation itself.
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Cirencester Questions
Is Cirencester Covered by Any Article 4 Direction?
No. There is no Article 4 direction in Cirencester, checked against the designated areas and against Cotswold District Council's own list, which names eighteen places from Avening and Bibury to Tetbury and Weston Subedge. Only 11.13 per cent of the built-up area lies inside the Cotswolds National Landscape, and the town centre falls outside it.
Which Conservation Area Appraisal Applies to Our Block?
Cirencester has four conservation areas, all designated on 25 November 2008: Cirencester South, Cirencester Town Centre, Gloucester Street and River Walk, and Cirencester Park. Each has an appraisal. Use the council's own page to identify the right one, because the national register's map links are cross-wired, with the Town Centre record pointing at the map for Cirencester South.
Has the Churn Flooded the Town Before?
Yes. In the summer of 2007 the Churn flooded parts of the town. Recorded works since include rehabilitation of the damaged Kingsmeadow culvert in 2012 and, at Watermoor, a flood wall, kerbs and embankments against the Daglingworth Stream in 2013. The Environment Agency warning area for the Churn from Baunton to Siddington covers 9.40 per cent of the built-up area.
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