Block Management in Sherborne
Eleven Grade I buildings for a town this size, and class 5 radon in the centre.
Plymouth Block Management would act for Sherborne's residents' management companies, RTM companies and freeholders, handling block, estate and leasehold management. The council's appraisal records over 360 listed entries, eleven of them Grade I, which shapes how any external work is specified. The town centre returns radon class 5, the highest inland reading of the Dorset towns covered here, while river exposure is light, with one warning area naming only New Road.
What We Would Put First for a Block in Sherborne
Obtain Listed Building Consent Before Specifying
The appraisal records over 360 listed entries in Sherborne, with ten Grade I in the town centre alone. For a listed block we would obtain listed building consent before specifying repairs, then run Section 20 consultation on a scheme that already has approval.
Major works and Section 20Establish the Scope of the Article 4 Directions
Two Article 4 directions sit inside the town, spelt Sherbourne in the council's register, with no start date or withdrawn rights published. Before external or boundary work we would establish their scope with Dorset Council rather than assume it.
ConsentsMeasure Radon in the Town Centre
The town centre returns class 5, 10 to 30 per cent of homes at or above the action level, where measurement is advised. We would arrange measurement in ground-floor communal areas of a central block and record the results on the compliance file.
ComplianceSurvey Subdivided Houses in Sherborne East
Sherborne East carries 72 of the town's 90 converted and shared house flats. For a converted building there we would start with a full inspection and set the reserve fund plan from what it finds.
Reserve fundsManaging a Block in Sherborne 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
- Inland
What It Costs to Move a Block in Sherborne 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.
Over 360 Listed Entries, Eleven of Them Grade I
One conservation area mapped in ten separate parts, the most fragmented arrangement of any town covered here apart from Bridport. The principal part dates from 29 April 1970, six further parts from 22 June 1989 and three more from 11 November 2008. The council's appraisal describes extensions in 1989, 1993 and 2008, so the appraisal and the mapping describe different numbers of events, the 1993 extension having no separate polygon in the dataset.
Sherborne has the richest published heritage breakdown of any town covered on this site, and it is the council's own. The appraisal records over 360 listed building entries including three scheduled monuments, eleven Grade I entries and fourteen Grade II* structures, taking in the Abbey and its conventual and school buildings, a number of medieval domestic buildings, gentry houses of quality, vernacular cottages and specialised civic and industrial buildings, together with over 60 unlisted buildings or groups of quality and character. It breaks that down by sub-area: 125 entries in the town centre of which ten are Grade I and seven Grade II*; 119 in the Newland, Long and Hound Streets area, all Grade II apart from the Grade I Sherborne House and five Grade II*; 100 on the northern and western entry routes, all Grade II apart from two Grade II*; and 16 around Castleton and Oborne Road, all Grade II. Historic England's current data for the parish runs a little higher at 379 entries with twelve Grade I and sixteen Grade II*, which is the direction you would expect as listings accumulate. Eleven Grade I buildings is an extraordinary number for a town of this size.
Converted Flats East, Purpose-Built Blocks West
Sherborne is the one Dorset town covered here that splits across wards of a normal size rather than sitting inside one oversized one, which makes its figures the most representative of the set. Sherborne West held 2,478 households with 356 in flats, 14.4 per cent; Sherborne East held 2,218 households with 361 in flats, 16.3 per cent; and the surrounding Sherborne Rural ward held 2,185 households with just 43 in flats, 2.0 per cent. Taking the two town wards together gives 4,696 households and 717 flats, 15.3 per cent. The concentration is worth knowing: Sherborne East carries 72 of the town's 90 converted and shared house flats, so the subdivided historic stock sits on one side of the town and the purpose-built blocks on the other.
Light River Exposure, Reaching Only New Road
The lightest river exposure of the inland Dorset towns covered here, and the detail matters. Only one Environment Agency flood warning area touches Sherborne, covering the River Yeo from Sherborne to Yeovil, and reading its description shows where it begins: it runs from New Road in Sherborne downstream to the Old Mill Farm area near Yeovil, taking in Smiths Bridge near Bradford Abbas, Yeovil Junction station and Newton Surmaville. It names exactly one Sherborne street and no town-centre streets at all, so the honest description is edge of town containment rather than town centre risk. Above it sits the south east Somerset rivers upper reaches alert. No named, dated or costed defence scheme exists, and no Sherborne-specific surface water statement is published. One trap for anyone searching the records: the Environment Agency also publishes a groundwater flooding area for the Sherborne St John area, which is in Hampshire and is a different place entirely.
Class 5 Radon in the Town Centre
Joint highest of the Dorset towns covered here alongside Lyme Regis, and the highest inland reading. The town centre returns class 5, a maximum radon potential of 10 to 30 per cent of homes at or above the action level, with the published advice that radon measurement is advised. Across the surrounding squares the classes that appear are the lowest band, class 2, class 4 and class 5, with class 3 skipped. Set that against the flood finding and Sherborne is the low-flood, high-radon town, which is close to the exact inverse of Gillingham twenty miles north.
The Only Dorset Town Here with Article 4 Inside It
Decided under the joint West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland Local Plan, adopted by West Dorset District Council on 22 October 2015, running to 2031. There is no made neighbourhood plan; Sherborne does not appear anywhere on Dorset Council's register of made plans. Two Article 4 directions do sit inside the town, which makes Sherborne the only Dorset town covered here with Article 4 coverage in the town itself rather than on its fringes. The council spells them Sherbourne in its register, but their mapped positions place both unambiguously in Sherborne. Neither a start date nor the rights withdrawn are published for either, so the existence of the directions can be stated but their scope has to be established with the council rather than assumed.
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Sherborne Questions
Is Sherborne at Much Risk of River Flooding?
River exposure is light. The one Environment Agency warning area touching the town covers the River Yeo from Sherborne to Yeovil, starting at New Road, and names no town-centre streets. No named defence scheme exists. Note that the groundwater area for Sherborne St John is in Hampshire and has nothing to do with this town.
Does Sherborne Have a Neighbourhood Plan?
No. Sherborne does not appear on Dorset Council's register of made neighbourhood plans. Applications are decided under the joint West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland Local Plan, adopted by West Dorset District Council on 22 October 2015 and running to 2031, together with the two Article 4 directions inside the town where they apply.
How Is the Sherborne Conservation Area Arranged?
One conservation area is mapped in ten separate parts. The principal part dates from 29 April 1970, six parts from 22 June 1989 and three from 11 November 2008. The appraisal also describes a 1993 extension that has no separate polygon in the dataset, so checking a block's status against the map alone may not be enough.
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