Block Management in Cornwall
A 200 per cent council tax bill for second-home flats, inherited by the buyer.
Across Cornwall we provide block, estate and leasehold management for residents' management companies, RTM companies and freeholders. Live radon queries in Truro, Falmouth, St Austell, Penzance and St Ives all return band 6, the highest on the national map. Since 1 April 2025 a second homes premium takes a furnished but unoccupied flat to 200 per cent of the standard bill, and a buyer inherits it.
What We Would Put First for a Block in Cornwall
Include Plant Rooms in Radon Measurement
UKHSA advises measurement where band 6 applies, and the map excludes basements and cellars, which should be treated as having an increased chance regardless of location. In a block we would include the plant room and undercroft in communal radon measurement.
ComplianceFlag the Second Homes Premium Early
The 100 per cent premium attaches to the flat, not the owner, so a buyer inherits it on completion. When responding to a leaseholder's sale enquiries we would draw attention to the premium position before exchange rather than after.
Leasehold managementCheck Article 4 by Address
Cornwall Council publishes no register of its Article 4 directions and confirms HMO directions exist without naming where. We would use the council's constraint checker or a written enquiry before handling any lease consent or alteration request.
ConsentsRegister Higher-Risk Buildings with the Regulator
For a higher-risk building in Cornwall the Building Safety Regulator, not the council, is the building control authority. We would handle registration and keep the block's building safety record current.
Building safetySecure Listed Consent Before Section 20
Cornwall Council records 12,664 listed buildings and states that altering one without listed building consent is a criminal offence. For a listed block we would obtain consent before issuing the Section 20 specification.
Major works and Section 20Managing a Block in Cornwall at a Glance
- Local authority
- Cornwall Council
- Authority type
- Unitary
- Building control
- Cornwall Council Building Control
- Fire and rescue service
- Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- South West Water
- From our Plymouth office
- Approx. 7 miles by road, a short drive
- Setting
- Coastal
What It Costs to Move a Block in Cornwall 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.
Band 6 Radon in Five of the Main Towns
Cornwall is the reason radon has a section on these pages at all. Live queries at postcode centroids in Truro, Falmouth, St Austell, Penzance and St Ives all return band 6 of 6, the highest on the national map, where more than 30 per cent of homes are estimated to reach the action level of 200 becquerels per cubic metre and UKHSA advises measurement. Newquay is the exception at band 5. Bands come from the UKHSA and British Geological Survey radon potential map, queried at a named postcode centroid; each kilometre square is classed by the highest potential found anywhere inside it, so a band is indicative rather than definitive. The map also excludes basements, cellars and underground sites at every band, which UKHSA says should be treated as having an increased chance regardless of location, and in a block that means the plant room and the undercroft.
Only 12.8 Per Cent of Households in Flats
Cornwall is not a flatted county. At the 2021 Census 12.8 per cent of its 250,535 households were in flats or converted buildings, against 22.2 per cent across England. Blocks here are concentrated in the coastal towns rather than spread across the county.
Exposure Ranges from Tidal-Head Truro to Atlantic Newquay
Cornwall is a peninsula, and almost every town in it is within a few miles of open water. How exposed a particular block is varies sharply between the tidal-head towns such as Truro and the open Atlantic frontage at Newquay.
The measurable part of marine exposure is corrosion. A high-salinity coastal atmosphere is category C5-M in the standards, where unprotected steel can lose 200 micrometres in a year. In practice that means the metalwork on a Cornwall block sets the inspection interval, and the reserve fund follows the inspections rather than a standard cycle.
Cornwall Council Leads on Local Flood Risk
Cornwall Council is the Lead Local Flood Authority for the county and publishes the local flood risk management strategy, along with completed community flood risk profiles for Bude, Bodmin, Hayle, Helston, Launceston and Liskeard.
12,664 Listed Buildings, Most Densely in the North East
145 conservation areas are recorded for Cornwall Council in the government's national planning data, the earliest being Charlestown in October 1967.
Cornwall Council records 12,664 listed buildings in the county, with the greatest concentration in the north east. It states plainly that it is a criminal offence to demolish, alter or extend a listed building without listed building consent.
No Public Article 4 Register to Check
Cornwall Council publishes no register of its Article 4 directions. Its own page routes an enquirer to an interactive constraint checker, and it has filed none of its directions to the national planning dataset, so the only reliable answer for a given address is the checker or a written enquiry to the council. The council does confirm that HMO directions exist somewhere in Cornwall without naming where. There is no Article 4 direction anywhere in the county covering holiday lets, and the council cannot make one until Government creates the promised short-term lets use class, which as at April 2026 still had no firm timetable.
An Adopted Local Plan Partly Treated as Out of Date
The adopted Cornwall Local Plan runs to 2030 and has a currency problem worth knowing before any scheme is designed. The December 2024 framework raised Cornwall's annual housing need from 2,707 to 4,421, the council concluded it cannot meet that, and it has said in terms that some local plan policies will be treated as out of date for decision making. An interim policy position was adopted in March 2025, a further national framework came into force in August 2026, and the replacement plan for 2050 has no draft policies yet. The practical effect is that neighbourhood plan policies carry more of the weight here than they would in a district with a current local plan.
Second Home Premiums Pass to the Buyer
Cornwall charges a 100 per cent second homes premium from 1 April 2025, taking a furnished but unoccupied flat to 200 per cent of the standard bill, and unlike the empty homes premium there is no minimum period before it applies. The empty escalator is 100 per cent past twelve months, brought forward from two years on 1 April 2024, 200 per cent past five years and 300 per cent past ten. Two points matter to a block: the premium attaches to the property rather than the owner, so a buyer inherits it, and a flat cannot be charged both premiums at once. Twelve month exceptions cover property actively marketed for sale or for letting as a main residence, and recently granted probate.
What Else Changes About Managing a Block in Cornwall
- Cornwall Council is a single unitary authority, so building control, planning, housing enforcement and the fire and rescue service all sit with one body.
- Cornwall Council is itself the fire and rescue authority. Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service is a council service rather than a separate combined authority.
- Council building control site inspection teams work out of Camborne, Bodmin and Liskeard.
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Cornwall Questions
Can Cornwall Restrict Holiday Lets Through Article 4?
Not yet. There is no Article 4 direction anywhere in Cornwall covering holiday lets, and the council cannot make one until Government creates the promised short-term lets use class, which as at April 2026 still had no firm timetable. The council confirms that HMO directions exist somewhere in Cornwall without naming where.
How Do Empty Home Premiums Work on a Flat in Cornwall?
The empty homes premium is 100 per cent after twelve months, brought forward from two years on 1 April 2024, rising to 200 per cent after five years and 300 per cent after ten. A flat cannot be charged the empty and second homes premiums at once. Twelve month exceptions cover property actively marketed for sale or for letting as a main residence, and recently granted probate.
Is the Cornwall Local Plan Still Current?
Partly. It runs to 2030, but after the December 2024 framework raised Cornwall's annual housing need from 2,707 to 4,421, the council said some local plan policies will be treated as out of date. An interim policy position was adopted in March 2025 and the replacement plan for 2050 has no draft policies yet, so neighbourhood plan policies carry more weight here.
Nearby Areas
Talk to Us About Your Building in Cornwall.
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