The Cost-of-Living and Block Management

Darren Bagnall from Flat Living Insurance looks at how the cost of living crisis will affect block management.

Taking an eco-friendly approach has been necessary and largely popular for quite some time. Many blocks are preparing for the future by creating the infrastructure for EV charging, making their building’s more energy-efficient and even going as far as fitting ground source heat pumps and solar panels.

But now, with the cost-of-living crisis looming large, everyone’s aware that, financially, we need to up the ante in preparation for winter. From individuals all the way up to big business, many of us are feeling the pinch as energy costs soar and inflation creeps up and up. It’s also been confirmed that the domestic energy price cap does not apply to shared supplies and so, residential blocks will continue to be treated as commercial supplies with commercial tariffs.

Block managers need to do what they can to lower costs and here we hope to provide some pointers for how to go about that without too much disruption to ‘business as usual’.

Appoint a Leader and Develop a Plan

The task of reducing energy consumption should be a project headed by an individual. You need someone at the helm who takes ownership of the issue and works with rigor to get things moving in the right direction.

Hand the reigns to someone in your team who’d like a new challenge to sink their teeth into and ask them to make a detailed plan re the measures they suggest you take. They should have a good understanding of the building’s current usage and costs as well as a good grasp on the lifestyles of your residents.

Optimise What You Have

Take a good look at your current systems. If you have heating or lighting timers that aren’t in use, dig out the handbooks and start setting reasonable timings.

On the subject of lights, archaic schemes can be a huge drain on your bills. Consider bringing forward that distant plan to overhaul your communal lighting and invest now for potentially massive savings. LED lights with timers and controls that switch off or dim the lights when the area isn’t in use can save immense amounts of energy and money, and the return on your investment is usually a matter of months.

A basic, quick fix is to check all the communal doors are closing properly and that any self-closing mechanisms are working. You can also supply draft excluders to make sure the heat isn’t slipping away unnecessarily.

Awareness and Encouragement

Communication with residents is paramount for their engagement. The plan you have devised should be shared with them along with small-scale tips for how they can reduce their personal usage (turning lights off when they leave a room, leaving the oven door open after use to heat the room etc).

Your team and your residents need to be aware of your efforts and how those efforts are translating into savings. Smart meter or basic meter readings should be noted regularly and consistently for comparisons to be drawn.

A visual of these comparisons on a communal notice board can really raise people’s awareness and encourage them to continue their efforts. You could even consider setting targets with some kind of reward in place for when they’re reached.

Conclusion

We’re all bracing for a fairly costly winter, but with some plans put into place now, you can set yourself up for some significant savings and your residents will be in the right frame of mind before the temperature drops. No singular change will be the immediate quick-fix we’d all love, but lots of small changes can add up very quickly.

Flat Living Insurance provides specialist insurance policies for blocks of flats and apartments. For more information or a quote, please contact a member of the Flat Living Insurance team on 0333 577 2044.