Take a walk around a modern housing scheme or garden village, and you’ll come across spaces that benefit the whole community. Those spaces may be a park, woodland, sports field or allotments, where people can gather, exercise, play and grow. Or they may be footpaths, roadways, attenuation basins or water courses, improving how a community works and flows, along with the biodiversity and environmental impact of the estate.
Today, many of us expect to see these spaces as standard in new developments. If we’re a prospective homebuyer, we’re looking for more than just a quality home on its own plot. We want the same level of quality outside of our property’s boundary - with community amenities that will give us, and our families, the space to thrive.
Previously, local authorities would have adopted limited open spaces, roadways and footpaths. But stretched council budgets wouldn’t cover the level of maintenance required to ensure the enhanced spaces are kept to a standard where they can be enjoyed by all, not just today but in the long term too.
That’s why many developers are now taking on this responsibility and they are setting up resident management companies (RMCs) or Residents Associations (RAs) to have the responsibility to maintain the spaces shared by a whole community.
The advantage of this approach? For an annual estate charge, homeowners ultimately have control over their community assets and the open spaces in which they live. Putting this control in the hands of residents often results in higher standards of maintenance and a development with a better aesthetic.
To ensure residents see value from their maintenance charge from day one, at Encore we work closely with our housing developer partners to look at the strategic delivery of assets, whilst making sure we’re always transparent with residents about costs and maintenance.
Where possible, we work with developers from the very beginning to ensure open spaces and community amenities are being delivered on time and are well looked after. We help advise on the phased completion of assets, communicating with residents, and ensuring that value for money is always a priority - whether that’s in making sure assets are handed over to RMC ownership in good condition, or tendering for contracts with professionals to deliver the required maintenance.
All in all, we develop a strong partnership with developers and residents. Together, we can ensure that community amenities enhance the aesthetics of a community, add value to properties, and, for years to come, create places that people are proud to call ‘home’.
