Block Management in Totnes
Block, estate and leasehold management for Totnes. Compliance is tracked against South Hams District Council and the county above it.
Managing a Block in Totnes at a Glance
- Local authority
- South Hams District Council
- Authority type
- District, under the county council
- Building control
- South Hams District 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 Totnes
A block in Totnes deals with South Hams District 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 Totnes
Unusually little of it purpose-built. At the 2021 Census 605 of the 4,337 households in the Totnes ward were in purpose-built blocks, but a further 381 flats were not: 146 in a converted or shared house, 145 in another converted building such as a former school, church or warehouse, and 90 over commercial premises. That is the highest share of non-purpose-built flats of any Devon town in this research, and in a town of 412 listed buildings it usually means shared demises and non-standard compartmentation.
Flood Risk in Totnes
Tidal and fluvial together on the Dart, and the Environment Agency's warning area is named for it: the tidal River Dart at Totnes, covering Broad Marsh industrial estate, Coronation Road, New Walk, Warland, Ticklemore Street, The Plains and Steamer Quay. Unlike most towns in this research there is a completed and costed defence: the agency puts the estimated cost of the works at 3.8 million pounds, protecting more than 400 homes and businesses across Broadmarsh, the historic centre, Steamer Quay and Queensmarsh. The original scheme dates from 1980, planning permission for the upgrade was granted in 2017, and by October 2018 only snagging and individual property protection remained. Before the upgrade the agency put the annual chance of flooding at those locations at 10 per cent.
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 Totnes
One area, and it has grown repeatedly. First designated on 11 July 1969 by the county council, extended on 3 October 1985, twice in 1992, and again on 8 February 2007. The appraisal is published in five parts covering the general area, Fore Street, High Street, Rotherfold and Bridgetown, with a separate management plan.
This is the fact that changes how a block here is managed. The council's own appraisal records 438 listed buildings in the parish, of which 412 are inside the conservation area, and says that exactly half of them, 206, front the continuous thoroughfare of Bridgetown, Fore Street, High Street and Cistern Street. It describes these as one of the most, if not the most, impressive concentrations of listed buildings in any English country town. Six are grade I, being St Mary's Church, the Castle, the Guildhall, the Eastgate, the Museum at 70 Fore Street and Bogan House at 43 High Street; 28 more are grade II star and 378 grade II. There are four scheduled monuments inside the area as well.
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 Totnes
Modest. UKHSA's 2016 data report records 1,000 homes measured in the Totnes ward with 26 at or above the action level, an arithmetic mean of 51 becquerels per cubic metre and a highest single result of 580. The wider TQ9 postcode district runs higher at 170 exceedances from 2,800 results, so the town reads better than its district.
Nobody's flat includes the plant room or the undercroft, which is why those get overlooked. A three-month test is cheap and the result sits with the compliance record.
Planning Policy That Affects Flats in Totnes
Decided under the Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan 2014 to 2034, adopted by South Hams on 21 March 2019. The Totnes Neighbourhood Plan was adopted on 30 November 2023 following a successful referendum on 16 November 2023; the council publishes the outcome but not the vote counts. No Article 4 direction is recorded for the district.
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 Totnes
A board does not need a reason to change agent and does not need the outgoing agent's agreement. It needs to follow its own articles and serve whatever notice the management agreement requires. On Totnes 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 .
Totnes Questions
Which Council Does a Block in Totnes Deal With?
South Hams District Council Building Control. A district council, with the county council above it for county functions.
Who Enforces Fire Safety in the Common Parts in Totnes?
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, as the enforcing authority for the Fire Safety Order.
Who Supplies Water to a Development in Totnes?
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 Totnes?
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 Totnes.
A free, no-obligation proposal, written so it can be circulated to a board.