News Review

In a fast developing market, it is important to keep up-to-date with the latest news. Here we provide a useful review of the most important news in the apartment sector.

Recent articles

How to Avoid Being a HMO Oct 10, 2007: New regulations published will mean some older converted blocks of purpose-built flats will suddenly find themselves given the dubious distinction of becoming defined as houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). John Mills of the Association of Retirement Housing Managers explains the implications.

Residents make golden discovery with a little help from CEM Jul 20, 2007: The residents of a block of flats in Bayswater are celebrating the successful recovery of commercial rates amounting to a staggering £86,414.80. County Estate Management (CEM) was appointed as the managing agent of the building in July 2004.

Peverel OM wins major RICS Award Jul 20, 2007: Peverel OM’s interactive customer website, Avenue, has won this year’s RICS Award for Property Management Strategy and Delivery – Private Sector.

Chainbow steers a new course at Britannia Village Jul 20, 2007: Residents of Britannia Village – a development of 850 homes in East London – are keeping a watchful eye on newly appointed management company, Chainbow, as the firm sets about transforming life at the Village.

Read all about it... Mar 27, 2007: We read the newspapers to find the latest news, views and gossip about flats… It's a rich man’s world… flat prices reach unprecedented levels. Where will it end?

London Flats Smash Through The £1million Barrier Dec 29, 2006: By Mira Bar-Hillel The average price of central London flats has passed £1 million for the first time following an increase of 11.9 Percent since October 2005, the latest figures show. The price of an average house in central London has risen to a staggering £2.7 million.

Flat Owners Get A Lease Of Life With New Support Service Dec 29, 2006: A new on-line service www.leaseholder support.co.uk written by surveyors and property managers has been launched by property solution providers, The Ringley Group. This one-stop-shop for self managed blocks contains information on planning budgets and reserves, and legal and valuation procedures to get out of tricky situations, such as defective or short leases or recovery of ground rent/service charge arrears.

Buy-to-let Landlords Could Fall Foul Of New Licensing Rules Dec 29, 2006: With the continuing trend towards investing in property showing no signs of slowing down, a leading Swindon law firm has warned that landlords may be caught out by new rules in the licensing of Houses of Multiple Occupation introduced at the end of last year. And it could cost them dearly.

Leaseholders Win The Battle, But Not The War Nov 23, 2006: The recent decision by the Lands Tribunal (known as the Sportelli Decision) has adjusted the cost for leaseholders of buying a 90-year lease extension or the freehold interest in their property. The Tribunal decided a deferment rate of 4.75% should be applied to houses and 5% to flats irrespective of their location. The background to this was the ‘Arbib Decision’ published by the Lands Tribunal in September 2005, which devalued leasehold properties through the reduction of deferment rates to 4.5% for a prime London house and 4.75% for a flat.

Security Tops Apartment Wish List Nov 23, 2006: Security is the number one priority for homebuyers searching for an apartment, according to new research published by housebuilder, Linden Homes. The added security of apartment living, including measures such as underground parking, gated access and videophone entry systems, ranked higher than a balcony or communal gym on the homebuyer’s wish list.

Government Behind HIPS Nov 23, 2006: Yvette Cooper’s statement in September indicated the Government’s commitment to Home Information Packs (HIPs). The announcement of the introduction of crucial measures, underlines its dedication to introducing HIPs, mandatory from next June.

Managing Agents Now Accountable For Fire Safety Nov 23, 2006: Managing agents and commercial property owners could find themselves in breach of the law following new fire rules, which came into force on October 1st. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) is the biggest shake-up of the legislation in 30 years. It signals the end of traditional fire certificates, with managing agents and owners now directly accountable for fire risk.

Housing Standards questioned in Thames Gateway Nov 23, 2006: The award - winning Thames Gateway Forum returns to the ExCel Centre on the 22nd and 23rd November. The Forum, now in its third year, is the only event of its kind to bring together all organisations involved in the regeneration of the Thames Gateway, Europe’s largest regeneration initiative.

Message from Conference: Better be ARMA-ED Nov 23, 2006: You rent for some years, save for a deposit and then make the all-important decision: the location and price of the flat you can afford. So far so good, but if you consider the buying process to be the most important decision of all, you’d be wrong. This was the message from the recent Annual Conference of the Association of Residential Managing Agents.

Lessees to be left with no management or suffer fines Nov 7, 2006: In a complex piece of government regulation, thousands of homes converted into self-contained flats could become unmanageable and open up lessees to fines of up to £20,000 from October 2006.

AHIPP announces voluntary roll out in six locations across the UK. Nov 1, 2006: The Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) has announced the first stage of its regional roll out of the Home Information Pack (HIP) and the Home Condition Report (HCR).

HIPs: One year to go Jul 1, 2006: As from 1 June 2007, homeowners will be required to provide a Home Information Pack when marketing their homes for sale throughout England and Wales.

The changing face of London New Build Apartments Jul 1, 2006: DTZ Residential's Spring Central London Prime Report shows that prices have risen for new build apartments over the year.

The sums add up on student apartments Jul 1, 2006: As the university year draws to a close, the next generation of students - and their parents - can benefit from investing in student property.

Asset skills roadshows Jul 1, 2006: In today’s competitive market property companies can no longer compete on price alone and an organisation’s best assets are the staff it employs and their individual skills, knowledge and expertise.

Recent Articles

Recent articles