Principle appointed to collect customer’s 375 ground rents

Principle Estate Management has been appointed to collect the ground rents and look after the leases of around 375 houses for an established Birmingham-based family property firm.

The contract includes dealing with any consents for alterations and overseeing valuation enquiries when any of the leaseholders wish to purchase their freehold.

The new work, mainly based in the West Midlands but with some properties also in Sheffield, involves many of the houses that were originally built by the family firm.

It comes just months after Principle successfully won a tendering exercise for separate contracts to manage the same company’s residential and commercial property portfolios.

Brett Williams, managing director of Principle, said: “There’s been a lot to get to grips with as we’ve quickly built up our knowledge on the overall portfolio for this client.

“This has involved dealing with all the details of the properties and tenants on the residential and commercial management portfolios taken in earlier in the year, including the renewal of the insurance for the entire portfolio.

“It was therefore great to now be dealing with the easier part of this great portfolio.”

Mr Williams first met the second-generation owner of the business in the early 1990s when he was a graduate surveyor.

The identity of the company is not being disclosed, but its owner said: “We’ve been impressed with the high-quality work Principle has already put into both our residential and commercial portfolios, and we’re now pleased to hand over the remaining ground rents and lease details to their care.”

Mr Williams, a chartered surveyor and past chairman of the Association of Residential Managing Agents who has nearly 30 years of experience in the sector, launched Principle in 2018.

The firm has since grown and now employs more than 35 staff looking after well over 7,500 units in more than 300 developments across the UK.