Block Management in Wiltshire
Block, estate and leasehold management across Wiltshire, run from our Plymouth office. Compliance is tracked against Wiltshire Council. Roughly 125 miles from our office.
Managing a Block in Wiltshire at a Glance
- Local authority
- Wiltshire Council
- Authority type
- Unitary
- Building control
- Wiltshire Council Building Control
- Fire and rescue service
- Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- Wessex Water across most of the county, with Thames Water in the north
- From our Plymouth office
- Approx. 125 miles by road, a planned journey rather than a casual one
- Setting
- Inland
Who You Deal with in Wiltshire
A block in Wiltshire deals with Wiltshire Council, a unitary authority, so building control, planning and housing enforcement sit with one body. Fire safety in the common parts is enforced by Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service. Communal water and sewerage is Wessex Water across most of the county, with Thames Water in the north.
The Residential Stock in Wiltshire
The thinnest flat stock in this research. At the 2021 Census 19,107 of Wiltshire's 215,081 households, 8.9 per cent, were in a purpose-built block, roughly half the England figure of 17.1, with only 1.2 per cent in a converted or shared house against 3.5 for England. Flat stock is dispersed across a large rural unitary area rather than concentrated in one city.
Flood Risk in Wiltshire
River and groundwater rather than sea, and the two combine. Wiltshire Council is the lead local flood authority for its own area. Five main river systems drain the county: the Thames, the Bristol Avon, the Hampshire Avon, the Dun and the Stour. The council's strategic flood risk assessment identifies river flooding as a risk in Bradford on Avon, Chippenham, Malmesbury, Marlborough, Melksham, Warminster and Salisbury, while surface water is a separate and larger issue concentrated in Salisbury, Trowbridge, Warminster and Calne. Chalk geology means surface runoff, groundwater flooding and main river flooding can all occur at once.
A mapped zone changes what a building costs to insurance and what a buyer's solicitor asks for in the management pack.
Conservation Areas and Listed Buildings in Wiltshire
245, a figure Wiltshire Council publishes in its own heritage topic paper and separately in its dataset on the national planning platform. Most are historic parts of towns and villages, with a few covering special landscapes such as the canal corridor at Wilcot.
Wiltshire Council publishes approximately 12,000 listed buildings, around 1,300 scheduled monuments, 43 historic parks and gardens and three national landscapes. An independent spatial query of the national list returns 12,290 entries, 1,310 scheduled monuments and 43 registered parks and gardens, so all four figures agree. Devizes alone has more than 500 listed buildings.
The county contains the Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site, whose core area covers 5,157 hectares. World Heritage status is a material consideration in planning decisions affecting the site and its setting, which reaches further than the boundary itself.
Consent has to precede the Section 20 specification, not follow it, or leaseholders are consulted on work that cannot lawfully be done as described.
Licensing and Permitted Development in Wiltshire
48 Article 4 directions on Wiltshire Council's own dataset, overwhelmingly conservation area controls named after settlements: Ashley, Avebury, Box, Bromham, Calne, Castle Combe, Chippenham, Corsham, Devizes, Malmesbury, Marlborough, Mere, Salisbury, Stonehenge, Tidworth and villages around Trowbridge among others. The council's stated approach is to consider an Article 4(2) direction where unlisted buildings define the character of a street. On houses in multiple occupation the council's guidance describes only the national mandatory regime.
Two permissions get confused here. The council's requirements are public law and apply whatever the lease says; consent under the lease is private law and applies whatever the council says. A leaseholder letting a flat usually needs both.
Changing Managing Agent in Wiltshire
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 Wiltshire 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.
What Else Changes About Managing a Block in Wiltshire
- Swindon is not Wiltshire Council and has not been since 1 April 1997. The order that made Wiltshire unitary in 2009 does not mention Swindon at all, and a Swindon block's planning, building control and flood liaison all go to Swindon Borough Council.
- One authority handles everything else. Wiltshire Council is the sole principal authority for Wiltshire, so planning, building control, housing standards and flood risk sit with the same body, with no district tier below it.
- A converted block of flats can itself be a licensable HMO under section 257 of the Housing Act 2004 where the conversion did not meet the 1991 Building Regulations and fewer than two thirds of the flats are owner-occupied. A purpose-built block cannot, because the building must have been converted.
- Tree works at a block in any of the 245 conservation areas need six weeks' notice to the planning authority, and demolition where consent is required and has not been obtained is a criminal offence, which catches replacing a structure with a replica.
Going Deeper in Wiltshire
| Area | Local authority |
|---|---|
| Amesbury | Wiltshire Council |
| Bradford-on-Avon | Wiltshire Council |
| Calne | Wiltshire Council |
| Chippenham | Wiltshire Council |
| Corsham | Wiltshire Council |
| Cricklade | Wiltshire Council |
| Devizes | Wiltshire Council |
| Highworth | Swindon Borough Council |
| Malmesbury | Wiltshire Council |
| Marlborough | Wiltshire Council |
| Melksham | Wiltshire Council |
| Mere | Wiltshire Council |
| Pewsey | Wiltshire Council |
| Royal Wootton Bassett | Wiltshire Council |
| Salisbury | Wiltshire Council |
| Swindon | Swindon Borough Council |
| Tidworth | Wiltshire Council |
| Trowbridge | Wiltshire Council |
| Warminster | Wiltshire Council |
| Westbury | Wiltshire Council |
| Wilton | Wiltshire Council |
Service charge or accounts query? Email accounts@plymouthblockmanagement.com and quote your development and flat number, or .
Wiltshire Questions
Which Council Does a Block in Wiltshire Deal With?
Wiltshire Council Building Control. One body, so building control, planning and licensing sit together.
Who Enforces Fire Safety in the Common Parts in Wiltshire?
Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, as the enforcing authority for the Fire Safety Order.
Who Supplies Water to a Development in Wiltshire?
Wessex Water across most of the county, with Thames Water in the north. A communal supply is the building's contract, not a leaseholder's, so report a loss to common parts through us.
Is Wiltshire Too Far from Your Plymouth Office?
It is about 125 miles, a planned journey rather than a casual one. Distance changes how site visits are scheduled, not whether they happen.
Do We Need Consent for External Works in Wiltshire?
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 Wiltshire.
A free, no-obligation proposal, written so it can be circulated to a board.