Block Management in Portland
Land slip, quarried ground and class 6 radon at Easton, on an open-coast island
On Portland we offer RMCs, RTM companies and freeholders block, estate and leasehold management, with ground conditions treated as a first question. Maidenwell, Fortuneswell and Castletown sit below or on the lower slopes of the northern cliffs, on land slip, and quarrying was permitted over some 324 hectares. Radon runs from the lowest band to class 6 at Easton, so the address decides it.
What We Would Put First for a Block in Portland
Investigate Ground Before Structural Work
The council records Maidenwell, Fortuneswell and Castletown on land slip below the northern cliffs, and underground mining of Portland stone began in 2002. We would include ground investigation in the specification for any structural, drainage or foundation work.
Major works and Section 20Choose Fixings for Open-Coast Exposure
Portland is open coast on every side and its exposure is genuinely marine rather than estuarine. When repairing or replacing railings, balconies and other external metalwork we would specify materials and fixings to resist corrosion.
Maintenance and repairsMeasure Radon Address by Address
Two squares on the island are class 6, the top band, and Easton is class 6 while Fortuneswell is class 3. We would recommend radon measurement in communal areas, based on the block's own square.
CompliancePlan Insurance Around Chiswell
The local plan names Chiswell as particularly vulnerable to flooding, and Chesil Beach had lost 150,000 cubic metres of shingle by the 2014 repairs. For blocks at Chiswell or Osprey Quay we would reflect the warning areas in insurance placement and claims handling.
InsuranceManaging a Block in Portland at a Glance
- Local authority
- Dorset Council
- Authority type
- Unitary
- Building control
- Dorset Council Building Control
- County
- Dorset
- Fire and rescue service
- Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- Wessex Water
- Setting
- Coastal
What It Costs to Move a Block in Portland 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.
Land Slip and Quarrying Make Ground Investigation Essential
Open coast on every side, and at the heart of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. The adopted local plan states that much of Portland is covered by national and international environmental designations and that it is at the heart of the World Heritage Site. Historic England's mapping confirms the parish intersects the Dorset and East Devon Coast designation. Exposure here is genuinely marine rather than estuarine, and specification for external metalwork, fixings, coatings and glazing should assume that. Two ground conditions here bear directly on building work. The first is land instability. The council's own appraisal records that the island is girded by cliffs with undercliffs. In the Underhill area, Maidenwell, Fortuneswell and Castletown, including Portland Port, are situated either below or on the lower slopes of the northern cliffs, on land slip, while Chiswell lies mainly on Chesil Beach. The appraisal notes that St Andrew's church at Wakeham was threatened by landslip. The adopted local plan carries a dedicated coastal erosion and land instability policy and identifies areas subject to land instability at Portland Port. The second is quarrying. Planning permission was granted on appeal in 1951 for the quarrying of stone over some 324 hectares of Portland, with a further nine hectares permitted in 1955, and underground mining of Portland stone began in 2002. For anyone commissioning structural work, drainage or foundations on this island, the ground investigation is not a formality.
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 Portland block, so we survey them on a shorter interval and fund the reserve fund from what the surveys find.
Most Portland Flats Are in Purpose-Built Blocks
The Portland ward held 5,723 households at the 2021 Census with 1,134 in flats, 19.8 per cent. Of these, 831 were in purpose-built blocks, 132 in a converted or shared house, 107 in another converted building and 64 over commercial premises. The ward corresponds exactly to the civil parish of Portland, so these are the island's own figures. Most flats are in purpose-built blocks, while conversions and flats over commercial premises need clear lease boundaries for repairs and insurance.
Chiswell and the Harbour Side Carry the Flood Risk
Portland's flood risk is coastal and tidal, with no river component at all, and it divides sharply between the two ends of the island. At Chiswell the warning area covers the A354, Brandy Row, Pebble Lane, Victoria Square up to the Queens Road junction, the car parks along the A354 and the yard along Lerret Road. It is classified against the English Channel under the west coast of Dorset alert. On the harbour side, two further warning areas cover Osprey Quay, naming Hamm Beach Road, Portland Beach Road, Coode Way, Castletown and Portland Port, and Ferry Bridge, naming Chesil Bank, the Fleet Nature Reserve and Portland Beach Road. The adopted local plan states that Weymouth town centre, the Park District and the Chiswell area of Portland are particularly vulnerable to flooding. In October 2014 the Environment Agency completed flood defence repair work on Chesil Beach, rebuilding the gabion castle and crest mattresses and repairing the Monsoon Drain. It recorded that 150,000 cubic metres of shingle had been lost from the beach that protects Chiswell. The Chiswell flood protection scheme includes a siren network, modernised in 2010 with a fifth siren added in 2015. Shoreline policy round the island is mixed. It is hold the line from Small Mouth to Osprey Quay and on to Kings Pier, and at Chiswell and along Chesil Beach to the Hamm roundabout. It is no active intervention from Kings Pier to Portland Bill, and managed realignment from the Hamm roundabout to Wyke Narrows. For blocks at Chiswell or Osprey Quay, the warning areas should be reflected in insurance placement and claims handling.
Four Conservation Areas Spread Across the Island
Portland has four conservation areas, split between them into 23 separate parcels. The council's appraisal names and dates them. Underhill, taking in Chiswell, Maidenwell, Fortuneswell and Castletown, was designated in 1976 with boundary extensions in 1997, 2000, 2014 and 2017. Grove was designated in 1981 and extended in 2017. Portland, covering Easton, Wakeham and Reforne, was designated before 1974 and extended in 2017. Weston was designated in 1994 and extended in 2014. The appraisal was adopted in November 2014 and amended in March 2017. Weymouth and Portland as a whole holds 15 conservation areas. With boundaries this fragmented, whether a block falls inside one needs checking address by address before external works are specified.
The made neighbourhood plan states that Portland has around 200 listed buildings and structures, many of them in one of the island's four conservation areas. Historic England's current data gives 195 in the parish, with three Grade I and ten Grade II*. The council publishes counts for three of the four areas. Underhill has 64 listed building entries covering in the order of 74 buildings, structures or features, Easton, Reforne, the Straits and Wakeham have 60 entries, and Weston only some five listed buildings. The Grade I buildings are the Church of St George Reforne, described in the listing as by Thomas Gilbert and built between 1754 and 1766, Portland Castle, and Rufus Castle with its bridge. The ten Grade II* entries are dominated by the Citadel, which contributes four of them. In Underhill and Easton especially, a block's listing status should be confirmed before repairs are specified.
Class 6 at Easton, Class 3 at Fortuneswell
Radon varies enormously across this small island. Of the 31 one-kilometre squares intersecting the parish, nine are in the lowest band and fourteen are class 3 at 3 to 5 per cent. Three are class 4 and two are class 6, the top band on the scale. For class 6 the published wording is that maximum radon potential is greater than 30 per cent of homes at or above the action level. Easton is class 6 while Fortuneswell is class 3. The difference between one end of the island and the other spans five bands, so the address decides the answer and a single island-wide figure would be misleading. Radon measurement should follow the block's own square, with ground-floor flats and communal areas measured where the band is elevated.
A Made Neighbourhood Plan, Now Under Review
Applications are decided under the West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland Local Plan 2011 to 2031. It was adopted by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council on 15 October 2015 and by West Dorset District Council on 22 October 2015. Its review was stopped in April 2019 and folded into the emerging Dorset Council plan. The Portland Neighbourhood Plan 2017 to 2031 was made on 22 June 2021. At the referendum on 6 May 2021, 1,653 voted yes and 346 no, with 38 rejected papers, on a turnout of 21.5 per cent from an electorate of 9,494. The plan is now listed as under review. No Article 4 direction is named for Portland on the council's register of 57 directions. Eleven former Weymouth and Portland directions are published by number and date only, so it is not clear whether any of them reaches the island. It is worth asking the council directly before external works to a block.
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Portland Questions
Does Our Portland Block Need a Ground Investigation Before Works?
For structural, drainage or foundation work, the facts point that way. The council's appraisal records that Maidenwell, Fortuneswell and Castletown sit below or on the lower slopes of the northern cliffs, on land slip, and the local plan has a dedicated coastal erosion and land instability policy. Quarrying was permitted over some 324 hectares in 1951 and underground mining began in 2002.
Is There an Article 4 Direction on Portland?
None is named for Portland on Dorset Council's register of 57 directions. Eleven former Weymouth and Portland directions are published by number and date only, so it is not clear whether any of them reaches the island. That makes it worth asking the council directly before external works.
What Is the Shoreline Policy Around the Island?
It is mixed. Hold the line applies from Small Mouth to Osprey Quay and on to Kings Pier, and at Chiswell and along Chesil Beach to the Hamm roundabout. From Kings Pier to Portland Bill the policy is no active intervention, and from the Hamm roundabout to Wyke Narrows it is managed realignment.
Nearby Areas
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