Block management in North Wales
Temphis manages residential blocks and estates across North Wales from an office at 3 Connaught House, Riverside Business Park, Conwy LL32 8UB. The North Wales team can be reached on 01492 370090.
Managing here is not the same as managing in England, and not only because of the geography. Wales has its own building safety regime, its own building control arrangements, and six separate principal authorities across the region.
What block management covers
A managing agent runs the parts of a building nobody owns individually: the structure, the common parts, the plant and the shared services. Service charge budgeting and accounting, planned and reactive maintenance, contractor procurement and supervision, the compliance record, and dealing with leaseholders, the freeholder and the insurer. Our block management service sets out the full scope, and what a service charge is explains what you are paying for.
Building safety in Wales is not the English regime
This is the single most misunderstood point on Welsh blocks, because most published guidance is written for England and then assumed to apply.
A higher-risk building in Wales is one at least 18 metres in height or of at least seven storeys that contains at least one residential unit, or is a hospital, care home or children's home. In England the threshold is two or more residential units, so the Welsh definition is wider and catches buildings an English test would not.
In Wales the local authority is the building control authority for higher-risk buildings. In England that role sits with the Building Safety Regulator. If you have been told to deal with the BSR about a building in Conwy or Wrexham, that is the English regime being applied to a Welsh building.
A new dutyholder regime applies to building work in Wales from 1 July 2026, with limited exceptions.
Leasehold law itself — service charges, section 20 consultation, Right to Manage, lease extensions — is largely common to England and Wales, so the statutory points below apply on both sides of the border.
Service charges and section 20
Section 20 consultation is triggered when any single leaseholder's share of qualifying works exceeds £250, or £100 in an accounting period for a qualifying long-term agreement. Those thresholds date from 2003 and have never been uprated, so most meaningful work crosses them. Consult badly and recovery is capped at those figures unless the tribunal grants dispensation — see our guide to section 20 consultation.
Section 20B of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 makes costs incurred more than 18 months before they are demanded generally irrecoverable, unless the leaseholder was notified in writing inside that window. In Wales, leasehold disputes go to a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal, part of the Residential Property Tribunal Wales, rather than to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) — a difference worth knowing before anyone drafts an application. Our guide to challenging a service charge covers the grounds, and our fee schedule is published.
Right to Manage in North Wales
Right to Manage applies in Wales as it does in England, and the non-residential floor area limit rose from 25% to 50% on 3 March 2025. That matters in North Wales town centres, where a great deal of the leasehold stock sits above shops and is exactly the kind of building that failed the old 25% test. Claimant RTM companies are also no longer liable for the freeholder's costs of a claim notice. See how Right to Manage works, RTM compared with an RMC, and what directors are taking on. Where a building will not qualify and management has failed, the alternative is a tribunal-appointed manager.
Where we take instructions
We operate across the six principal areas of North Wales. Each is a separate local authority with its own licensing, planning and building control, and its own fire and rescue service. Knowing which one applies to a building, and having dealt with them before, is most of what local knowledge actually means.
Conwy County Borough
Llandudno, Colwyn Bay, Rhos-on-Sea, Conwy, Deganwy, Abergele and Llanrwst. This is our home patch. A lot of the stock is seaside conversion and purpose-built retirement development, where the recurring problems are ageing communal plant, external decoration cycles that have slipped, and reserve funds that were never set at a level the building needs.
Wrexham County Borough
Wrexham and the surrounding villages. Wrexham has grown quickly, and the leasehold picture reflects it: town-centre flats above commercial premises, newer apartment schemes, and managed estates on the edge of the city where the question is usually what the transfer obliges residents to pay for and who is actually accountable for the roads and open space. If your building sits above a shop and you were told years ago that Right to Manage was unavailable, the 2025 change makes that worth re-checking.
Denbighshire
Rhyl, Prestatyn, Denbigh, Ruthin and St Asaph. Coastal Denbighshire has a high proportion of older converted stock, and conversions are where compliance gaps tend to be inherited rather than created — fire strategy, compartmentation and records that stopped short of the conversion itself.
Flintshire
Mold, Flint, Buckley, Connah's Quay and Holywell. Smaller blocks and estate developments, often within commuting distance of Chester and the Wirral, and often managed until now from a long way away.
Isle of Anglesey
Holyhead, Beaumaris, Menai Bridge, Llangefni and Amlwch.
Gwynedd
Bangor, Caernarfon, Porthmadog and Pwllheli. Bangor's student and rental market sits alongside conventional leasehold blocks, and the two need very different handling.
We also manage across North West England, London and the South East.
Changing managing agent
The handover is where the value is won or lost: the service charge funds and the statutory trust position, the accounts and arrears ledger, the compliance file, the contracts and their notice periods, and the building safety documentation. Our page on transferring your block to Temphis sets out the process, and how to choose a managing agent covers the questions to ask before you appoint anyone.
Frequently asked questions
Do you manage blocks in Wrexham?
Yes. We take instructions across Wrexham County Borough, including town-centre flats above commercial premises, newer apartment schemes and managed estates on the edge of the city.
Is the building safety regime in Wales the same as in England?
No. A higher-risk building in Wales needs only one residential unit, against two or more in England, and the local authority is the building control authority for those buildings rather than the Building Safety Regulator. A new dutyholder regime applies to building work in Wales from 1 July 2026.
Which tribunal hears leasehold disputes in Wales?
A Leasehold Valuation Tribunal, part of the Residential Property Tribunal Wales, rather than the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) which covers England.
Can leaseholders in North Wales use Right to Manage?
Yes. Right to Manage applies in Wales, and since 3 March 2025 a building can have up to 50% non-residential floor area and still qualify, which brought many flats-over-shops buildings into scope.
Do you manage smaller blocks?
Yes, from small conversions upwards. A four-flat conversion still needs a budget that reflects what the building costs to run and a lease that has actually been read.
Do you have people in the region?
Yes. The North Wales office is at 3 Connaught House, Riverside Business Park, Conwy LL32 8UB, on 01492 370090.
Speak to the North Wales team
Tell us where the building is and what is going wrong, and we will give you a view rather than a brochure. Call 01492 370090 or get in touch.