Areas we cover
Running a block of flats in Wimbledon, Merton, Wandsworth, Kingston upon Thames, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton or Croydon brings the same legal duties as anywhere in England. Service charge demands need the right wording, major works need Section 20 notices and the shared hallway needs a fire risk assessment. Most residents’ company directors do all of this unpaid, around a day job.
ROCA Wimbledon has worked from Wimbledon since 2014. Our office is at 45 Quicks Road, London SW19 1EY, and we are part of the Rentals and Sales family, established in Wimbledon in 1990. We work for residents’ management companies, right to manage companies and freeholders. We already look after blocks in Wimbledon and the neighbouring boroughs.
South west London has far more flats than England as a whole. In the 2021 Census, 17.1% of households in England lived in a purpose-built block of flats and 3.5% in a converted or shared house. In Wandsworth the figures were 48.1% and 17.7%. In Merton they were 28.4% and 9.2%, in Richmond 28.2% and 8.8%, in Croydon 29.0% and 8.5%, in Kingston 29.8% and 6.5%, and in Sutton 31.3% and 3.9%.
Merton’s own character study lists mansion blocks as part of the borough’s housing story, and describes the streets west of Worple Road as a mix of villas, terraced cottages and mansion blocks.
That mix matters. A Victorian house split into three or four flats is often owned through a small share of freehold company. The jobs are smaller, but the company still files at Companies House, verifies its directors’ identities and gives leaseholders a Section 21 summary of costs when asked. A mansion block or a 1930s purpose-built block often has more flats, sometimes a lift or a communal boiler, and major works often enough that Section 20 consultation becomes routine.
The London Fire Brigade enforces the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which covers the shared parts of blocks of flats such as stairs, corridors and landings. The responsible person is usually the freeholder, the residents’ or right to manage company, or the managing agent acting for them.
Since 1 October 2023 every finding of a fire risk assessment has to be recorded, and residents must be told how to report a fire, the evacuation strategy and the responsible person’s name and UK address.
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 add duties by building size. Every building with two or more flats must give residents fire safety instructions and information about fire doors. Buildings over 11 metres need quarterly checks of communal fire doors and annual checks of flat entrance doors, with further duties at 18 metres or seven storeys. From 6 April 2026, buildings of 18 metres or seven storeys, and buildings over 11 metres with a simultaneous evacuation strategy, also come under the residential evacuation plan rules.
Each borough runs its own building control and planning. If your block is listed or in a conservation area, speak to the council before altering the outside. Building work on a block of at least 18 metres or seven storeys goes to the Building Safety Regulator instead.
Service charge disputes and Section 20 dispensation applications for London buildings go to the London region of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) at 10 Alfred Place, which covers all the London boroughs. We prepare and file applications such as Section 20 dispensation. Court claims stay with a solicitor.
All prices include VAT and are on our fees page.
Our annual block management starts at £300 a flat a year including VAT, with a minimum of £2,400. So eight flats start at £2,400 a year and 12 flats at £3,600. We agree the figure in writing before we start.
If the flats share a hallway, stairs or landing, the Fire Safety Order applies to those shared parts whatever the size of the building, so someone has to be the responsible person and carry out a fire risk assessment. We arrange it with an independent assessor for the assessor’s fee plus £120 including VAT.
Yes. Notices, management packs, service charge demand packs and the other fixed-price services can be ordered for any building in England by phone or email.
Call 020 8944 7408 or email tara@rocawimbledon.com, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. ROCA Wimbledon is a member of the Property Redress Scheme, membership number PRS031833.
Call 020 8944 7408 or email tara@rocawimbledon.com, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Contact usWe would like to use Google Analytics cookies to count visits and see which pages are useful, so we can improve the site. They are only set if you accept. You can change your mind at any time from "Cookie settings" at the bottom of every page. Read more