Block Management in Bournemouth
Over half of households live in flats, and surface water, not tide, causes the flooding.
Bournemouth RMCs, RTM companies and freeholders can appoint us as managing agent for block, estate and leasehold management, covering budgets, insurance, compliance and lease consents. Half of households in the built-up area, 50.7 per cent, live in flats, many in subdivided Victorian and Edwardian villas, and a borough-wide HMO Article 4 applies. BCP has taken 10 Housing Act enforcement actions against buildings of 11 metres and over.
Proposals are for developments of 50 or more units. Smaller building? Talk to our team.
Small HMO Changes Face a 10 Per Cent Test
An Article 4 direction covering the whole of the former Borough of Bournemouth has removed the permitted development right to change a dwellinghouse to a small house in multiple occupation since 16 December 2011. Policy CS24 of the Bournemouth Core Strategy then permits such a change only where no more than 10 per cent of dwellings within 100 metres are already in that use. Mandatory licensing applies; there is no additional or selective scheme. For a block, that test applies whenever a leaseholder asks to let a flat as a small HMO.
HMO Tests and Tall-Building Records in Bournemouth
Apply HMO Controls to Subletting Consents
A borough-wide Article 4 and Policy CS24 permit a small HMO change only where no more than 10 per cent of dwellings within 100 metres are already in that use. We would apply that test when handling subletting consents in converted villas.
Leasehold managementKeep Tall-Building Safety Records Inspection Ready
BCP took 10 Housing Act enforcement actions against buildings of 11 metres and over, and six of ten inspections found a Category 1 hazard. We would commission fire risk assessments and keep the compliance record current.
Fire risk assessmentsAccount for Surface Water Flooding in Cover
On 18 August 2011, 40.6mm of rain in an hour flooded at least 157 properties internally, with hotspots including Winton High Street and Castlepoint. We would include drainage in inspections and disclose the exposure to insurers.
InsuranceMeasure Radon in Kinson Blocks
Sixteen squares in the 3 to 5 per cent band lie along the northern fringe of the conurbation, in Kinson and, across the Poole boundary, Bearwood and Merley, where measurement is advised. We would recommend communal area testing for a block there.
ComplianceBCP Council, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire, Bournemouth Water
- Local authority
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council
- Authority type
- Unitary
- Building control
- BCP Council Building Control
- County
- Dorset
- Fire and rescue service
- Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- Bournemouth Water for supply and Wessex Water for sewerage
- From our Plymouth office
- Approx. 126 miles by road
- Setting
- Coastal
Page last updated . Sources: ONS Census 2021, accommodation type (TS044); Environment Agency long term flood risk; Environment Agency flood map for planning; Historic England, National Heritage List for England; UKHSA UK radon map; GOV.UK, register a high-rise residential building.
Half of All Households Live in a Flat
At the 2021 Census 46,695 households in the Bournemouth built-up area, 50.7 per cent, were in a flat, maisonette or apartment, against 22.2 per cent across England. Across BCP as a whole 7.6 per cent of households are in flats formed from converted or shared houses, more than double the England figure. Purpose-built blocks are still the larger share, at 26.8 per cent of BCP households, but subdivided Victorian and Edwardian villas form an unusually large second stock. In a converted villa, the demise, shared roofs and fire separation need establishing at handover.
Fixed Fees for Bournemouth's Flatted Streets
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 changing your managing agent.
ACE Awards 2022 Managing Agent of the Year. ISO 9001 certified. Google reviews.
Service charge or accounts query? Email accounts@
BCP Council Runs the Seafront, Piers and Cliff Lifts
BCP Council operates the Bournemouth seafront, including both piers, the cliff lifts and the cliff-top beaches. For a block on the seafront, salt-laden air is a reason to inspect railings, balconies, fixings and other external metalwork more often.
Surface Water, Not Tide, Is Bournemouth's Flood Exposure
Bournemouth's exposure is surface water, not tide. BCP Council states plainly that no Level 2 flood risk assessment is needed for Bournemouth because it does not have the same level of tidal and fluvial risk as Christchurch and Poole. What it does have is a drainage record.
On 18 August 2011, 40.6mm of rain in an hour produced 270 reported flooding incidents, with at least 157 properties flooded internally and residents unable to return for at least six months. Named hotspots include Winton High Street, Castlepoint, Cooper Dean Roundabout and St Catherine's Hill. For a block, drainage belongs on every inspection, and the surface water history should be disclosed to insurers.
Two Flatted Conservation Areas Are at Risk
Bournemouth's conservation areas are part of BCP's 48. They include East Cliff, West Cliff and Poole Hill, Westbourne, Dean Park, Boscombe Spa, Boscombe Manor, Meyrick Park and Talbot Woods, Southbourne Grove and Churchill Gardens, several of which are dense flatted or converted-villa areas. For a block in one, external works need checking against conservation controls before they are specified.
There are 757 listed building entries across the whole BCP area, of which 18 are Grade I and 39 Grade II*. Two Bournemouth conservation areas, West Cliff and Poole Hill and Churchill Gardens in Boscombe, are on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register for 2025. For a block in either, external works attract closer scrutiny, so consents should be settled before works are tendered.
Ten Enforcement Actions on Buildings over 11 Metres
Government remediation data for July 2026 records BCP with 11 to 50 buildings monitored across the national programmes and 43 per cent of remediation complete. The council has taken 10 enforcement actions against buildings of 11 metres and over under the Housing Act 2004. Of ten inspections, six found a Category 1 hazard, producing four improvement notices and four hazard awareness notices. For a block of 11 metres or more, the fire risk assessment and building safety record should be kept ready for inspection.
Radon Rises on the Northern Fringe, Not the Centre
Most of the built-up area is below the Affected Area threshold, but not all of it. The town centre, Boscombe and Sandbanks are in the lowest band, under one per cent, and 197 of 215 squares over the conurbation sit in that band. The exceptions are 16 squares in the 3 to 5 per cent band along the northern fringe, in the Kinson and Bearwood and Merley wards.
Two more, in the 1 to 3 per cent band, are in East Southbourne and Tuckton. A block in those wards is in an Affected Area where measurement in ground-floor and below-ground spaces is advised; in the town centre it is not advised.
That is national advice about the ground, not about the building. The same map excludes basements, cellars and underground spaces at every band, so an enclosed plant room, undercroft or lower-ground flat is still worth a look even here, and whatever is found belongs with the compliance record.
Bournemouth Tribunal Decisions on Named Blocks
| Development | Issue | Decided |
|---|---|---|
| Flat 1, Rockstead, 18 West Overcliff Drive | Service charge | 19 August 2026 |
| Pine Grange, Bath Road | Section 20 consultation | 10 December 2025 |
| Keverstone Court, Manor Road | Service charge | 12 November 2025 |
| Blocks A and B, Purbeck House, 3 Oxford Road | Building safety | 8 May 2025 |
| Viewpoint, 7 to 9 Sandbourne Road | Service charge | 11 April 2025 |
| Tiverton Court, 24 Marlborough Road, Westbourne | Service charge | 2 April 2025 |
| Lansdowne Manor, 55 Lansdowne Road | Right to manage | 9 June 2023 |
| San Remo Towers, Sea Road, Boscombe | Service charge | 27 April 2023 |
Bournemouth's Distance from the Developments We Run
Bournemouth Questions on Flats, HMOs and Surface Water
What Controls Apply to Small HMOs in Bournemouth?
An Article 4 direction covering the whole former Borough of Bournemouth has removed the permitted development right to change a dwellinghouse to a small house in multiple occupation since 16 December 2011. Policy CS24 of the Core Strategy permits such a change only where no more than 10 per cent of dwellings within 100 metres are already in that use. Mandatory licensing applies, with no additional or selective scheme.
Is Bournemouth at Risk of Tidal Flooding?
BCP Council states that Bournemouth does not have the same level of tidal and fluvial risk as Christchurch and Poole, so no Level 2 assessment is needed. The exposure is surface water: on 18 August 2011, 40.6mm of rain in an hour produced 270 reported incidents. Named hotspots include Winton High Street, Castlepoint, Cooper Dean Roundabout and St Catherine's Hill.
Are Any Bournemouth Conservation Areas at Risk?
Two are on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register for 2025: West Cliff and Poole Hill, and Churchill Gardens in Boscombe, both densely flatted areas where external works attract closer scrutiny. Other Bournemouth designations include East Cliff, Westbourne, Dean Park and Boscombe Spa, within the 48 conservation areas across BCP.
Along the BCP Coast
Send Us Your Bournemouth Block's Details.
A free, no-obligation proposal, written so it can be circulated to a board.