- Every unit owner has their own personal logon to the system with a user Id and password
- The home page provides you with a easy to view snapshot of key information and items you need to action
- ‘Priority Action Items’ helps guide you to the actions that you need to take, for example raising invoices or paying suppliers, thereby saving you time remembering what actions need to be taken
- ‘Report a Problem’ allows everyone to quickly register a problem with a supplier or the block’s management team, so everyone can quickly get a response to a problem without having to rely on, say, a single resident in the block
- ‘Notice Board’ provides all residents with a facility to communicate important notices to other block members
- ‘Urban Owners Message Board’ allows the Urban Owners support team communicating with all users of the system
- This area provides information about the block and contact details for each owner within the block so that everyone can easily contact every other block resident
- It is also used to specify access to the system, management team members and whether owners receive communication via paper or electronically
- Managing the financial aspects of a block can be complex and requires the adherence to numerous legal requirements. This area of the system manages all of these financial matters with the legal compliance built in.
- Step-by-step screens make it easy to do a task and a permanent record is kept of everything that is done on the system
- Invoices can be raised (e.g. to collect service charge fees and ground rents) and the payments received from tenants can be recorded
- Supplier invoices can be recorded along with the payments made to suppliers
- Bank account statements can be produced and financial reconciliations can be performed
- Expense accounts can be set-up and managed for owners who directly pay suppliers
- Annual budgets and accountant submissions can be processed easily step-by-step
- Finding reliable suppliers is often a challenge for many blocks. This area allows you to find information about suppliers, quickly access contact information and to record the terms of their engagement with the block
- ‘Current Suppliers’ provides contact information for each supplier to a block. If any of the residents wish to contact the supplier they have all of the details readily available
- ‘Find a Supplier’ allows you to search the Urban Owners database of qualified suppliers i.e. to identify suppliers who have signed-up to the Urban Owners Service Levels and who are able to communicate efficiently and electronically
- This area of the system allows you to quickly and easily report a problem, either to a supplier, the block management team or to Urban Owners
- As problems are identified and recorded the relevant individuals are able to respond either on the system or via email to the person who raised the issue
- This approach provides for a quick resolution of issues identified by any resident in the block
- This area provides blocks with all of the facilities required to undertake electronic voting, for example to take a vote on what colour to paint the walls or whether to replace a common parts fixture
- This speeds-up the decision making process and ensures that all residents are involved in the running of the block
- You can set-up a vote, on any subject you wish, and invite all other residents to vote on the subject
- The result of the vote is published to everyone so giving full transparency to the decision making process
- ‘Companies House’ and the ‘Companies Act 2006’ place many responsibilities and obligations on companies and their directors. This area of the system is used to support you undertaking these legal responsibilities and assisting you with satisfying the reporting requirements
- This area holds details of the management company, the freehold company and / or the right-to-manage company
- ‘Officers and Shareholders’ allows you to keep all formal records up-to-date, in line with the Companies Act, ensuring you do not violate the legal requirements
- You are able to record details about Companies House submissions and also upload all relevant documentation
- Significant legislation exists (for example the ‘Landlord and Tenant Act 1987’ and the ‘Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002’) placing responsibilities on landlords when undertaking major works. There are a series of pre-defined, legal steps that must be undertaken and this area of the system supports this process and ensures that the correct steps are followed, making sure you do not violate the regulations
- You are able to store key information and documents (e.g. 151 notices) as well as maintain an audit of what has been done
- All residents can review the details and be assured that due process is being followed
- This area of the system provides all of the details relating to your personal financial account with regards to service charges, ground rents, etc
- You can view the invoices that you have received, the payments that you have made and the balance on your account
- The knowledge base provides everyone with an extensive range of support and information about managing a block
- There are step-by-step guides to support you through major activities, screen help to support you with using all of system’s screen and discussion documents providing broader information about a range of topics relevant to block management
- If the information here is not sufficient you can always call the helpdesk.
- There is frequently a lot of documentation associated with managing a block. Urban Owners provides the facilities for you to upload any documents into the system. These could be supplier invoices, notices, minutes of meetings, accounts, etc
- Documents generated by the system (e.g. ground rent invoices) are also automatically stored in the system
- All documents are accessible by all residents
