The new resident’s welcome pack: the document that saves a hundred questions

A newcomer asks the same twelve questions as the last one. Answering once, in writing, saves ten years of doorbells.

A flat changes hands, a tenant moves in: the person arriving knows nothing about the building. Where the bins go and on which day, how to get a fob, who calls the lift engineer on a Sunday, until what time drilling is acceptable, where a bike is parked.

None of that is written anywhere. It is not in the by-laws, too legal, nor in the minutes, unreadable for a newcomer. It passes on by word of mouth, badly, through whoever is unlucky enough to be visible: a board member.

It is not an official document, and that is its strength

The welcome pack replaces neither the by-laws nor meeting decisions: it translates them into daily use. It therefore has no binding force of its own — it reminds, it does not invent.

Which is exactly why the board can keep it with no particular procedure, and update it as reality changes. See reading and amending the by-laws.

What it should contain

• Waste: bin store locations, collection days, bulky items, sorting.
• Access: fobs, keys, entryphone, who to ask and at what cost.
• Emergencies: stuck lift, leak, power cut, with current numbers.
• Hours: noisy works, use of common areas, deliveries.
• Parking: spaces, visitors, bikes, motorbikes.
• Contacts: manager, caretaker, board, and what each one handles.
• How to report a problem, and where to follow what happens next.

The last two lines save the most time: a resident who knows where to report will not ring their board-member neighbour’s bell at 10 p.m. See the incident register.

What it must never contain

Board members’ personal names and contact details, the owners’ list, information on arrears or proceedings. A welcome pack travels: it ends up with an estate agent, in a listing, in a shared letterbox.

Give roles and a contact channel, not people. See data protection on the board.

A welcome pack pays for itself by the third move-in. In a thirty-lot building, that takes a year.

Keep it current, or do not bother

A pack listing a contractor replaced two years ago is worse than none: it sends people to the wrong place and undermines the board.

The practical rule: one review a year, at the same time as preparing the general meeting, when contracts and suppliers are on the table anyway. See the annual walk-through.

Hand it over at the right moment

A pack given six months after the move-in is useless: habits are set, often the wrong ones. The useful moment is arrival — which means knowing there is one.

• The manager knows about sales: they are notified of transfers.
• The board sees removals before anyone else.
• A landlord can hand it over with the keys to their tenant.

The third line is the forgotten one, though in many buildings most arrivals are tenants — who never receive anything from the association. See rechargeable charges for what concerns them.

A useful side effect

Writing the pack forces the board to notice what it does not know itself: which lift contract is in force, who attends at night, where the plans are, who holds the spare key to the plant room. Many boards discover their building by writing two pages.

Share it with CoproHarmony

CoproHarmony puts practical information, useful documents and a single reporting channel at residents’ disposal: the pack stops being a PDF lost in an inbox. Create your free space.