Builders for Landlords & Agents

Five kinds of customer, five different priorities

We work for homeowners, landlords, letting and managing agents, businesses and freeholders of blocks. The trades are the same in each case, and what those customers actually want from us is quite different.

A homeowner mainly wants to trust us in their house, understand the price and not be left with a mess. A landlord wants a fast response, tenants kept happy and compliance paperwork on file. A managing agent wants insurance documents, method statements, itemised costings that stand up to leaseholder scrutiny and residents who do not complain. A business wants the work done without disrupting trading.

Recognising that difference is most of what makes a job run smoothly. It changes how we quote, how we report back and when we work.

We are based in Eastbourne and work across the whole of East Sussex, on single repairs and on whole building programmes.

What tends to go wrong

For homeowners it is usually communication: not knowing when someone is coming, or finding out about extra cost after the event.

For landlords and agents it is response times and paperwork. A repair that drags on means an unhappy tenant, and a missing certificate means a compliance problem. Many contractors are also slow to supply insurance details and risk assessments, which delays the job before it even starts.

For managing agents and freeholders it is cost transparency. Work recovered through service charges has to be explained to leaseholders, and a single lump sum quote makes that impossible.

For businesses it is disruption. Work in trading hours, dust in a shop or an office nobody can use costs far more than the building work.

How we work around it

Everyone gets an itemised written quote and a named point of contact, and we tell you when we are coming.

For landlords and agents we can deal directly with tenants where you would rather we did, report back with photographs for the property file, carry out compliance work including electrical testing and fire safety measures, and supply insurance documents, method statements and risk assessments without being chased.

For freeholders and managing agents we itemise action by action so costs can be circulated and questioned, and we phase work so the building stays usable.

For businesses we work evenings and weekends where that suits, seal off working areas and keep escape routes clear throughout.

Homeowners

The largest part of what we do: dripping taps, full refurbishments and extensions alike. One team for a list of jobs, an itemised price, and a house left clean at the end of each day. Most come to us by recommendation.

Landlords

Reactive repairs, planned maintenance and turnarounds between tenancies against a fixed date. We can hold keys, deal with tenants directly, and handle compliance work including EICR testing and remedial work.

Letting and managing agents

We are used to your systems: job numbers, spend limits, photographic reports for the property file, and insurance and risk paperwork provided up front. One contractor covering several trades means fewer instructions to raise.

Freeholders and blocks

Communal hallways, staircases and external works, plus fire safety remedial work. Itemised action by action so costs can be explained to leaseholders, and phased so the building stays usable throughout.

Businesses and commercial property

Offices, shops, meeting rooms and corridors refurbished and maintained, with work timed outside trading hours where that suits, areas sealed off and escape routes kept clear.

Estate agents and vendors

Getting a property ready to market or dealing with what a buyer’s survey has flagged. Damp reports, wall tie inspections and structural certificates, plus the repairs needed to unstick a sale.

Compliance work we handle for landlords and agents

A large share of what we do for landlords, agents and freeholders is regulatory rather than optional. These are the items that come up most.

Electrical Installation Condition Reports. Required for privately rented property in England, renewed at least every five years, with remedial work completed within the timescale on the report. See electrical repairs and testing.
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Working alarms on every storey and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance.
Fire risk assessment actions. Fire doors, compartmentation, detection and escape routes in communal areas of blocks. See fire assessments.
Gas work. Carried out under Gas Safe registration, with certificates issued.
Damp and mould. Investigated and dealt with at the cause rather than painted over, which matters increasingly for social and private landlords. See damp proofing.
Records. Photographic evidence and certificates supplied for the property or building safety file, because being able to prove the work was done matters nearly as much as doing it.

Ring us on 01323 671001 if you want to talk through a portfolio or a block.

Working in occupied and tenanted buildings

Very little of our work happens in an empty building. There are usually tenants next door, residents using the only staircase, a family staying in the house or a business that has to keep trading, and that shapes how the job is planned rather than what gets done.

We work in sections so the rest of the building stays usable, seal off working areas to stop dust travelling, keep escape routes clear at all times, run the noisy stages within agreed hours, and give residents or staff notice before we need access.

In commercial buildings we frequently work evenings and weekends so the company can carry on. In blocks we work to the managing agent’s notification requirements and protect and clear the communal areas daily.

You can see examples of commercial and communal work in the gallery below, and more on our case studies page.

Questions we get asked

Do you work for letting and managing agents?

Yes, and it is a substantial part of what we do. We are used to job numbers, spend limits, photographic reporting for the property file, and supplying insurance documents, method statements and risk assessments up front. Because we cover several trades, one instruction can cover a mixed list of repairs.

Can you deal with tenants directly?

Yes, if you would rather we did. We can arrange access with the tenant, keep them informed and report back to you with photographs afterwards. We can also hold keys where that is easier, and we are used to being the point of contact for repairs.

Can you provide insurance and risk paperwork?

Yes. Public liability insurance details, method statements and risk assessments are available as a matter of course, and we would rather send them with the quote than hold the job up waiting to be asked.

Do you carry out landlord compliance work?

Yes. Electrical Installation Condition Reports and the remedial work they require, smoke and carbon monoxide detection, Gas Safe work, and fire safety measures in communal areas. Certificates and photographic records are supplied for the file.

Can you work around a business that has to stay open?

Yes. We work evenings, early mornings and weekends where that suits the business better, seal off working areas, keep dust down and keep escape routes and access clear throughout. Tell us your trading hours and we will build the programme around them.

How do you price work for a block of flats?

Action by action and itemised, because costs recovered through service charges have to be explained to leaseholders and stand up to being questioned. We can also phase the work across a programme so it is not all recovered in one year.

Do you offer regular maintenance contracts?

We can work to a regular cycle rather than only reacting, which for most buildings means visiting on an agreed schedule to clear gutters, check the roof after winter, look at external timber and decoration, and report anything that needs attention with photographs so you can decide what to spend on.

Can you help get a property ready to sell or after a survey?

Yes. We deal with a lot of survey findings: damp, wall tie failure, structural cracking, roof and pointing defects. We can inspect, tell you what is actually happening, and provide written reports and costed schedules for a buyer, a seller or a lender.

Where we work

We are based on Hyde Gardens in Eastbourne, so the town and the villages around it are home ground for us. We are out working here most days and we know the housing well, including the older seafront terraces, the Victorian and Edwardian houses in Upperton and Meads, and the newer estates and blocks of flats nearer the edge of town.

From Eastbourne we cover the whole of East Sussex. Along the coast that takes in Bexhill, Hastings, Seaford, Newhaven, Brighton, where salt air and driving rain are hard on any building. Inland we work regularly in Polegate, Hailsham, Pevensey, Willingdon, Lewes, Uckfield, Heathfield, Crowborough, Battle and the smaller villages between them, where period cottages and country properties often need a gentler approach and older materials matched carefully.

Being local matters for all of our customers. We can get to you quickly to take a look, we know the buildings and the ground conditions, and we are never far away if you need us again. If your village is not on the list there is a good chance we still reach you, so give us a call on 01323 671001 and we will tell you either way.

Backed by recognised standards

We are Gas Safe registered and members of the Federation of Master Builders, NAPIT and the FSB. Those memberships mean our gas, electrical and building work is measured against recognised standards, and that an outside body has looked at how we work rather than us simply saying we are good at it. For a family business our reputation matters more than anything, and we have built it one customer at a time.

Builders for landlords, agents and businesses in East Sussex