Block Management in South Molton
Block, estate and leasehold management for South Molton. Compliance is tracked against North Devon Council and the county above it.
Managing a Block in South Molton at a Glance
- Local authority
- North Devon Council
- Authority type
- District, under the county council
- Building control
- North Devon Council Building Control
- County
- Devon
- Fire and rescue service
- Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- South West Water
- Setting
- Inland
Who You Deal with in South Molton
A block in South Molton deals with North Devon Council for building control and planning, with the county council above it. Fire safety in the common parts is enforced by Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service. Communal water and sewerage is South West Water.
The Residential Stock in South Molton
At the 2021 Census 337 of the 2,851 households in the South Molton ward were flats, 11.8 per cent, of which 199 were purpose-built. The distinctive figure is the commercial one: 66 of the ward's flats are in commercial buildings, close to a fifth of all of them, which is the highest such proportion in this research and reflects flats over the shops on Broad Street and East Street.
Flood Risk in South Molton
Fluvial, on the River Mole at the eastern edge of the town, and the historic core sits above it. The Environment Agency's warning area for the Mole at North Molton and South Molton names riverside locations including the Mill on the Mole residential park, Riverside Caravan Park and Mole Bridge Garage, and a second area at Alswear names the sewage works and the same caravan park. Both sit inside the Exmoor Rivers alert area. The council's appraisal explains why the town centre is not on those lists: the land slopes up from the river before levelling out near the junction of Station Road and East Street.
The cost lands on the insurance schedule and on the reserve fund long before any water does.
Conservation Areas and Listed Buildings in South Molton
One area. The council's appraisal records that land within the present boundary was first designated by the county council in 1978, that the boundary was reviewed during 2008 and extensions formally adopted in December 2008, and that the enlarged area covers 17 hectares, up by nine tenths of a hectare on the 1978 area. It is one of 41 conservation areas in the district.
78 listed buildings inside the conservation area, and the council publishes the breakdown: two grade I, one grade II star and 75 grade II, with no scheduled monuments inside the boundary. The two grade I are the mirrored pair of cemetery chapels, listed at that grade in recognition of their national architectural and historical significance, and the grade II star is the Public Market and Assembly Rooms on Broad Street, built in 1863.
The sequencing is what catches boards out: consent first, then the Section 20 specification. Specify and consult before consent is in hand and the consultation has to be run again.
Radon in South Molton
Class 4 of 6 across the town, where the maximum radon potential is 5 to 10 per cent of homes above the action level and measurement is advised. Every kilometre square in a two kilometre box around the centre returns the same class, so unlike Newton Abbot or Seaton there is no meaningful variation to check within the town.
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.
Planning Policy That Affects Flats in South Molton
Decided under the joint North Devon and Torridge Local Plan 2011 to 2031, which the council publishes as adopted in 2018 without giving a day. There is no made neighbourhood plan: the parish was designated a neighbourhood area on 18 January 2017 but no referendum has been held, and only Georgeham and Braunton have made plans in the district. South Molton does not appear in the council's published list of 17 Article 4 directions.
This is development plan policy, so it binds the council when it decides an application and it binds a leaseholder's alteration just as it binds a developer's scheme. It sits alongside, not instead of, the consent the lease requires.
Changing Managing Agent in South Molton
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 South Molton 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 .
South Molton Questions
Which Council Does a Block in South Molton Deal With?
North Devon Council Building Control. A district council, with the county council above it for county functions.
Who Enforces Fire Safety in the Common Parts in South Molton?
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, as the enforcing authority for the Fire Safety Order.
Who Supplies Water to a Development in South Molton?
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 South Molton?
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 South Molton.
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