Block Management in Fowey

Block, estate and leasehold management for Fowey. Compliance is tracked against Cornwall Council. Marine-exposed stock is surveyed on a shorter interval and funded from what the surveys find.

Elm Court, a residential block managed by Plymouth Block Management

Managing a Block in Fowey at a Glance

Local authority
Cornwall Council
Authority type
Unitary
Building control
Cornwall Council Building Control
County
Cornwall
Fire and rescue service
Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service
Water and sewerage
South West Water
Setting
Coastal

Who You Deal with in Fowey

A block in Fowey deals with Cornwall Council, a unitary authority, so building control, planning and housing enforcement sit with one body. Fire safety in the common parts is enforced by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service. Communal water and sewerage is South West Water.

The Residential Stock in Fowey

At the 2021 Census the division covering the town held 2,603 households with 85 flats in purpose-built blocks and 64 in a converted or shared house, plus 22 in other converted buildings and 26 over commercial premises. Conversions running at three quarters of the purpose-built count is the highest such ratio in this batch, and the division is substantially larger than the town itself.

Coastal Exposure in Fowey

A tidal harbour at an open-coast mouth. The shoreline management plan holds the line at Fowey in all three epochs, with undefended cliffs and undefended intertidal areas immediately adjoining, and the town sits in the policy development zone running from Pencarrow Head to Gribbin Head. The conservation area appraisal also places it on the Heritage Coast.

Standards classify a high-salinity coastal atmosphere as C5-M, very high marine, in which unprotected steel loses more than 80 micrometres of thickness in its first year against as little as 1.3 inland. Balustrades, railings, fixings and walkway structures are what that costs a Fowey block, so we survey them on a shorter interval and fund the reserve fund from what the surveys find.

Ocean Crescent, a waterfront residential block in Plymouth
Ocean Crescent, a waterfront residential block in Plymouth

Flood Risk in Fowey

Tidal and coastal, and the council's own section 19 flood investigations record what that means in practice. In December 2012 the Town Quay was overtopped and, as the tide rose, drains began to surcharge on Town Quay, Webb Street and Fore Street, flooding four properties. In February 2014 defences were overtopped along South Street, Webb Street and Fore Street and at Caffamill car park, and 26 properties flooded. Flood zone 3 covers 4.9 per cent of the built-up area. Fowey is not a priority community in the council's strategy and no defence scheme is published.

For a block that reaches leaseholders through the insurance premium and excess, and through the management pack when someone sells.

Conservation Areas and Listed Buildings in Fowey

One area. The council's dataset gives a designation date of 31 May 1969 amended on 24 April 2010, while its own appraisal says the area was first designated in 1967 and extended in 1981. Both are council sources and they disagree; the appraisal itself is dated March 2010 with boundary changes in effect from 24 April 2010.

The council publishes its own figure for the conservation area: 103 listed building designations, of which two are grade I, Place House and St Fimbarrus church, and seven are grade II star, including the walls at Place House, St Catherine's Castle, the fifteenth century Blockhouse and The Ship Inn. There are also two scheduled monuments and four tree preservation orders inside the area.

Consent has to precede the Section 20 specification, not follow it, or leaseholders are consulted on work that cannot lawfully be done as described.

Radon in Fowey

Class 6 of 6 in four of the five kilometre squares over the town, where the maximum radon potential is greater than 30 per cent of homes above the action level, with the fifth at class 5.

In a block the part worth attention is the enclosed communal space at or below ground level: plant rooms, undercrofts, basements and bin stores. Measuring is inexpensive, takes three months, and the result belongs with the compliance record.

A timber-clad residential block under management
A timber-clad residential block under management

Planning Policy That Affects Flats in Fowey

Decided under the Cornwall Local Plan, with the Fowey Neighbourhood Development Plan made on 11 March 2020. The referendum result is not published, the plan pre-dating the council's published results. There is no Article 4 direction; the 2010 appraisal recommends the council consider one, which means none was in place.

Policy in an adopted plan is not guidance. It is what the application is decided against, and a consent granted under the lease does not substitute for it or vice versa.

Changing Managing Agent in Fowey

Changing agent is the company's decision, taken the way its articles require. The only part with a deadline is the notice the outgoing agent is contractually owed. On Fowey heritage stock the consents history is what most often turns out to be incomplete, and its absence resurfaces later as a planning problem.

See the handover sequence in full, and our fees, which are a fixed annual amount with no commission on contractor work.

Service charge or accounts query? Email accounts@plymouthblockmanagement.com and quote your development and flat number, or .

Fowey Questions

Which Council Does a Block in Fowey Deal With?

Cornwall Council Building Control. One body, so building control, planning and licensing sit together.

Who Enforces Fire Safety in the Common Parts in Fowey?

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, as the enforcing authority for the Fire Safety Order.

Who Supplies Water to a Development in Fowey?

South West Water. A communal supply is the building's contract, not a leaseholder's, so report a loss to common parts through us.

Do We Need Consent for External Works in Fowey?

On a listed building or in a conservation area, yes, for much that would be permitted elsewhere. Get it before the Section 20 specification, not after.

Nearby Areas

Talk to Us About Your Building in Fowey.

A free, no-obligation proposal, written so it can be circulated to a board.