Block Management in Somerset
One council since April 2023, still running four district local plans
Our block, estate and leasehold management reaches RMCs, RTM companies and freeholders across Somerset, 74 miles from our Plymouth head office. Since 1 April 2023 Somerset Council has been the sole principal authority, yet four district local plans stay in force until the Somerset Local Plan for 2025 to 2045 is adopted. Only 9.3 per cent of households live in a purpose-built block.
What We Would Put First for a Block in Somerset
Check Which Legacy Plan Applies
Four district local plans remain in force until the Somerset Local Plan for 2025 to 2045 is adopted. Before external works we would confirm which legacy plan and which conservation area mapping system covers the block, then obtain consents.
ConsentsGive Six Weeks' Notice for Tree Work
Tree work in any Somerset conservation area needs six weeks' notice, with fines up to 20,000 pounds for unlawful works. We would build that notice into the grounds programme rather than treat tree work as a same-week contractor instruction.
Maintenance and repairsScreen Small Blocks for HMO Licensing
A purpose-built flat with five occupants needs an HMO licence if the building has fewer than three flats, and failure exposes the landlord to a penalty of up to 30,000 pounds. When handling subletting consents we would check occupation against that test.
Leasehold managementConfirm Who Holds the Building Control File
Somerset Building Control is absorbing reversions from the collapse of a private approved inspector. For a block with works in progress at handover we would confirm who now holds the building control file and keep the compliance record complete.
ComplianceManaging a Block in Somerset at a Glance
- Local authority
- Somerset Council
- Authority type
- Unitary
- Building control
- Somerset Building Control, the council's own service covering the four former district areas
- Fire and rescue service
- Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- Wessex Water
- Setting
- Coastal
What It Costs to Move a Block in Somerset 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.
One Council, but Four District Local Plans in Force
Somerset has already been through what Devon and Gloucestershire are heading into. On 1 April 2023 Somerset Council became the sole principal authority for the county, replacing the county council and four districts. Three years on, four separate district local plans are still in force. They will stay in force until the Somerset Local Plan for 2025 to 2045 is adopted. In practice a block deals with one council but four rulebooks, so the right legacy plan has to be identified before consents are sought.
The obligations in the lease and in statute do not change. What changes is the body an application goes to and the authority that enforces housing standards, so compliance records and planning history need to be in order before the transfer rather than after it.
Purpose-Built Blocks House 9.3 Per Cent of Somerset
At the 2021 Census 23,185 of Somerset's 250,123 households, 9.3 per cent, were in a purpose-built block, against 17.1 per cent for England. A further 1.8 per cent were in a converted or shared house including bedsits, half the England rate. Blocks here are a minority stock concentrated in the towns. Even a small block carries the full set of compliance duties, from fire risk assessment to buildings insurance.
A Severn Estuary Coast with the Second Largest Tidal Range
Somerset's coast faces the Severn Estuary, which has the second largest tidal range in the world after the Bay of Fundy. The Environment Agency runs a single flood alert area along it, from Minehead through Burnham-on-Sea to Kingston Seymour. Blocks on this coast need external metalwork and fixings inspected more often, and insurers told of the tidal exposure.
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 Somerset block, so we survey them on a shorter interval and fund the reserve fund from what the surveys find.
The Levels and Moors Are a National Flood Risk Area
The Somerset Levels and Moors are a nationally significant flood risk area. The winter 2013 to 2014 floods cost the county up to 147.5 million pounds and produced a twenty year action plan. They also led, in January 2015, to the Somerset Rivers Authority. It is a partnership of the council, two internal drainage boards, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the regional flood committee and Wessex Water. Five main catchments drain the county: the Parrett, the Tone, the Axe and Brue, the Somerset Frome and the West Somerset streams. Flood exposure differs by catchment, so it should be checked for each block's own location when insurance is placed.
No County Total, and Four Legacy Mapping Systems
Somerset publishes no single county-wide total of conservation areas. Three years after the districts merged, conservation area maps and appraisals are still delivered through four separate legacy systems. The council's own page routes an enquirer to a different mapping tool depending on where the building is. For a block, the right legacy system has to be identified first, so that consents for external works are checked against the correct appraisal.
Radon Varies Sharply Within Somerset, So Check Locally
Somerset Council states that some of the largest radon emissions in the country originate in the South West geology and that parts of Somerset are at risk of levels requiring action. The action level for a home is 200 becquerels per cubic metre. Potential varies sharply within the county, so each block should be checked at its own address and measured where advised.
Yeovil Holds Somerset's Only HMO Article 4 Direction
Somerset Council publishes one register of Article 4 directions inherited from the four former districts, running from 1959 onwards. Exactly one of them concerns houses in multiple occupation, in Yeovil, confirmed in 2021. Everywhere else in the county, HMO control is mandatory licensing under the Housing Act 2004 alone.
What Else Changes About Managing a Block in Somerset
- North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset are not part of Somerset Council. They were constituted as separate unitary authorities out of Avon in 1996 and have their own planning, building control and fire service.
- An HMO licence can bite on a flat in a very small block: a purpose-built flat with five occupants needs one if there are fewer than three flats in the building. Failing to licence exposes the landlord to a penalty of up to 30,000 pounds, rent repayment orders and a banning order.
- Tree work in any Somerset conservation area needs six weeks' notice through the planning process, with fines up to 20,000 pounds for unlawful works, so routine grounds maintenance cannot be a same-week contractor instruction.
- Somerset council tax bills carry a Somerset Rivers Authority charge, which raised 3.133 million pounds in 2025 to 2026 and has been held at its original level since the precept power passed to the new council in April 2023.
- Building control is one in-house service for the whole county, which the council describes as the largest local authority partnership in the South West, and it is currently absorbing reversions from the collapse of a private approved inspector.
Tribunal Decisions on Blocks in Somerset
Published First-tier Tribunal decisions on named developments here, each read in full. They show what the tribunal expects of whoever runs a block in this area.
| Development | Issue | Decided |
|---|---|---|
| Doveton House, 53 Long Street, Williton | Right to manage | 27 July 2026 |
| The Old Courthouse, Waterloo Road | Appointment of a manager | 31 March 2025 |
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Somerset Questions
Is North Somerset Part of Somerset Council?
No. North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset were constituted as separate unitary authorities out of Avon in 1996 and have their own planning, building control and fire service. Somerset Council became the sole principal authority on 1 April 2023, replacing the county council and four districts.
What Is the Somerset Rivers Authority Charge on Our Council Tax?
Somerset council tax bills carry a Somerset Rivers Authority charge, which raised 3.133 million pounds in 2025 to 2026. It has been held at its original level since the precept power passed to the new council in April 2023. The authority was formed in January 2015 after the winter 2013 to 2014 floods.
Where in Somerset Is There an HMO Article 4 Direction?
Only in Yeovil, confirmed in 2021. Somerset Council publishes one register of Article 4 directions inherited from the four former districts, running from 1959 onwards, and exactly one concerns houses in multiple occupation. Everywhere else in the county, HMO control is mandatory licensing under the Housing Act 2004 alone.
Is the Council for Somerset Changing?
Yes. Reorganisation was decided in July 2026 and takes effect by April 2028. The lease obligations do not change; the authority you file with does.
Nearby Areas
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