Featured Articles

Principle Estate Management has continued to grow its presence in London with the start of a major recruitment campaign after moving to larger offices. Rachael Hornby has joined Principle as associate director to lead the London office and look after some of the company’s prime central London developments. Ms Hornby has joined from D&G Block Management, where she spent more than seven years looking after very similar types of properties to those managed by Principle’s London office. Before that, she worke

Affordable housing provider Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) has ventured into the rent to buy sector for the first time, with the launch of its dedicated ‘SO Flexi’ brand, operating as an offshoot of MTVH’s existing shared ownership arm, SO Resi. The very first scheme, SO Flexi Slough, will launch in August 2023, offering a selection of 55 one and two-bedroom apartments, all available to purchase with rent to buy. All brand-new apartments at SO Flexi Slough will be available to rent on a two-yea

Most economists think the Bank of England will raise the base rate for the fourteenth consecutive time on Thursday, by 0.25 percentage points. Fingers crossed that a less aggressive rate rise will fuel better mortgage rates being made available to homeowners needing to remortgage. This trend has already started following better-than-expected inflation figures for June which led to some lenders reducing their fixed rate mortgages. We'd like to see more follow suit in offering homeowners better options for

The Block Recruit team is delighted to introduce you all to our newest team member, Posy Spencer! Since joining us in June, Posy has already proven to be an exceptional asset, making a remarkable start in her role. With her previous experience in recruitment within block management and a successful track record as a top Lettings Negotiator, we are excited to see her excel and achieve new heights with us! A Background in Recruitment and Property Posy comes to us with a strong background in the recruitm

Applying for this funding can be complex, stressful and time-consuming, however, SAY Property Consulting offer a professional service to help take away this headache, plus where applications are successful, it's at NO ADDITIONAL COST.   To date, SAY has helped to secure over £83m for clients and in doing so have ensured the safety of over 3,600 residents.  Find out more about their service: https://sayproperty.co.uk/cladding-safety-scheme   With a high volume of applications expected, we’re urging propert

A credit controller at Principle Estate Management has fulfilled what were her original artistic ambitions by painting a total of five pictures for the company’s headquarters in Birmingham. Jodie Johnson’s works are based on nearby waterside scenes of the Gas Street basin, picturing bridges, barges and neighbouring buildings along the canals that meet in the city centre. Principle founder and joint managing director Brett Williams commissioned the acrylic paint on canvas pictures, which each measure 1m x

Fraser Allen Estate Management, a leading innovator in Block Management, is thrilled to announce the launch of their brand-new website, designed to enhance user experience, and provide valuable resources for their valued customers. Jodie Fraser, CEO & Founder said “After months of hard work and dedication, our team is excited to unveil the new and improved website - www.fraserallenem.co.uk.  This significant update reflects our commitment to staying at the forefront of legislation and ensuring our custome

This week the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) published its report “Living in and looking after shared buildings: the perspective of leaseholders and prospective flat buyers” which sets out DLUHC’s research into the views of leasehold flat owners and prospective purchasers. As the report admits, the research is based on a small number of focus groups and, therefore, we must be careful in extrapolating too much from the feedback of these participants. However, it does give a plat

The recently revealed estimate in the Renters (Reform) Bill Impact Assessment, published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, represents “costs to letting agents of reduced use by landlords” due to changes from assured shorthold tenancies to periodic tenancies and the removal of Section 21 resulting in fewer tenants moving. The costs, estimated over 10 years, do not take into account the time agents will have to spend familiarising themselves with the new measures contained within th

Spike has announced a strategic collaboration with Pantree, a self-serve community market for residential buildings, bringing both artisan food and high-street grocery brands to residents. Pantree installs modular retail units in a buildings’ unused foyer space and operates on an honesty basis where residents pay for goods at a self-service checkout. Integrating Pantree into Spike’s resident engagement portal, Spike Living, provides an easy way for residents to suggest products they would like to see stoc

The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) has said a government report into homeowners' attitudes to commonhold clearly shows the intended direction of travel for leasehold reform.  The report - ‘Living in and looking after shared buildings: the perspective of leaseholders and prospective flat buyers’ - was published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on 20 July 2023. It explores consumer attitudes towards leasehold, commonhold, enfranchisement, and th

"We support action to build more homes, making use of inner-cities and brownfield sites to build more homes. While making it easier to convert empty retail premises into flats and houses is welcome in principle, these conversions are often of lower quality with poor ventilation. They certainly haven't always been beautiful! Government must learn from its mistakes by creating a wild west of office to resi conversions. Developers must be required to meet all building and space standards; these developments