1: Why have you reviewed the estates and stewardship services?
We have been providing estates and stewardship services for over 50 years. We want to make sure the services remain fit for purpose, meet residents’ needs and deliver good value for money. To do this we carried out a full review of the services and spoke to you about what’s important and what’s not important in delivering these.
2: What is a service review?
Reviews are an opportunity to look very closely at the services that we provide and ask ourselves important questions, such as are they what our customers still want and need and are they delivering the best value for money. A key part of any review is to consult with residents and agree what we will deliver. This is how we deliver great BVT services.
3: What services do you provide to me at the moment?
We provide estates and stewardship services across more than a dozen diverse and distinctive communities in Birmingham and Telford. Our services are focused on creating and maintaining distinctive, environmentally sustainable places and include;
- Guiding residents through the process of making alterations to their homes, including how to use our design guides.
- Managing and responding to alterations that don’t have approval or meet our design guides.
- Making sure the public areas we own are maintained to a high standard. This can include roads, paths, open spaces, parks and more.
- Carrying out inspections of estates to spot issues and addressing these or raising them with organisations who are responsible for fixing them.
- Looking for and putting into place ways to make estates more environmentally sustainable, such as increasing bio-diversity.
You can read a detailed breakdown of the service standard for our estate management in Birmingham on our publications page.
This review will also help to develop a clear set of service standards across our Telford estates that will meet the needs and expectations of the communities we serve there.
4: What is the Bournville Scheme of Management and how do I know if I live in it?
The Bournville Scheme of Management was introduced under Section 19 of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967. It places responsibilities on freehold occupiers who live within the Scheme of Management that are designed to help retain the original character of the individual homes, the estate, and the amenities in it. One of these responsibilities includes paying an annual management charge, which represents a proportion of the cost of maintaining and repairing the Bournville estate. In return for the charge paid, we provide a range of quality services which help in creating and sustaining communities where people can thrive. You can see if you live within the Scheme of Management, by viewing a map on our website on our Bournville Estate Scheme of Management page.