Our story

Built on looking after shared buildings properly

Biddenham Estate Portfolio is the trading name of Biddenham Development Ltd, a small firm based in Bedfordshire that looks after residential blocks. We are not a national contractor with a call centre; we are a handful of people who know this kind of building well, from Victorian conversions with awkward communal stairs to 1960s low-rise blocks with flat roofs and shared garages. Our work is almost entirely for leaseholders, freeholders, residents' management companies and managing agents who need someone reliable to keep the fabric of a block in good order.

We started because we kept seeing the same problems: a leak patched and patched again, a hallway repainted without the woodwork being touched, a quote that arrived months late and made no sense to anyone who was not a builder. We wanted to do it differently, with clear scopes of work, honest pricing and a person on the end of the phone who knows the building. Most of our work comes from repeat business and word of mouth, which suits us fine.

The day-to-day is unglamorous and that is the point. We repair roofs, renew rainwater goods, redecorate communal areas, replace windows and doors, look after door entry systems, and keep shared gardens and car parks tidy. We also handle the smaller jobs that managing agents struggle to get anyone out for, like a sticking fire door or a broken handrail. No job is too small if it matters to the people living there.

When we take on a block, we spend time reading the existing plans and any previous reports, and we talk to the caretaker or the residents' committee if there is one. That way we understand what has been tried before and what the building actually needs, rather than simply quoting for the obvious. If something can be repaired rather than replaced, we will say so, even when it means a smaller job for us.

We keep disruption to a minimum by planning access in advance, working in phases and keeping the site tidy at the end of each day. Residents get a written note through their door before we start, with names and numbers for the people on site. We are fully insured and we only use trades we know and trust, many of whom have worked with us for years.

If you are responsible for a residential block in or around Bedfordshire and you would like a second opinion, a condition report or simply a price for something that needs doing, please get in touch. We will come and look, tell you what we think, and leave the decision with you.