Looking forward to 2024
It’s that time of year again. Summer is over, kids are back to school, and for anyone on a 1st January service charge schedule, it’s time to start looking towards your 2024 budget! In 2018 the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors published a professional statement in relation to commercial service charges and it became effective on the 1st of April 2019. Under this Professional Statement there are a number of mandatory requirements that must be met such as the requirement to provide tenants with budgetary information annually. The RICS Professional Statement also contains a lot of commentary on ‘best practice’ standards around each category of charges that can potentially fall under a service charge process.
One area in which the statement provides ‘best practice’ guidance is on the topic of ‘communication.’ As anyone who has spent time in the commercial property sector knows, communication is of the utmost importance, particularly where charges are being put forward. The earlier the communication around a 2024 budget starts, the smoother the administration and budgeting process should be for all parties. According to the professional statement ‘It is the manager’s duty to keep expenditure under constant review in order to identify any unforeseen variances and to notify occupiers accordingly.’ LJ Property Consultancy is expertly placed to assist in the management of your annual budgeting process as well providing support throughout the budget year should there be any changes. We engage early with managing agents to ensure that our clients have maximum visibility of any potential uplifts in their costs going into the new budget year. We provide analysis and ensure that all budgetary items are in line with lease agreements. As we all know, mistakes can happen but with early and transparent communication, issues can be avoided!
If you feel that you could benefit from a consultation on the budgeting process, or would like some more in-depth assistance in managing this process, reach out to info@ljpropertyconsultancy.co.uk and lets see how we can help!
