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Question I'm a flat owner in London and I've been hearing a lot about commonhold recently but don't really understand exactly what it is. How does it affect me as a flat owner? Answer  Commonhold is a form of freehold ownership which usually works best in blocks of flats, although it can also work for houses on estates. The legal structure of commonhold is different from leasehold. There are no leases for example but instead you have one commonhold community statement which sets out the rules and regulati

The UK PropTech Association (“UKPA”), membership has approved its merger with The British Property Federation (“BPF”), following consultation with its members and the 75% approval threshold being reached. The UKPA which represents all parts of the proptech ecosystem, announced in April this year that it had reached agreement to merge with the BPF, subject to membership ratification. The merger brings together the BPF’s membership of close to 400 property owners, investors, developers and advisors with the

Leading property management company Rendall & Rittner has appointed Lesley McGowan as Head of HR Business Partnering, in which she will lead employee relations and learning and development. As part of the senior leadership team, she will support the HR Director in building and developing people strategies for the business. Lesley joins Rendall & Rittner with over twenty years’ experience in the HR industry, having worked in senior positions across the professional services sector as well as running her ow

Birchgrove, the UK’s leading provider of rented retirement homes, has further strengthened its London footprint with the acquisition of its ninth development - a 60 apartment community in Mill Hill, North London built on the site of a historic former medical research institute.  Ayrton House will offer 60 purpose built, self-contained, one, two and three-bed apartments - many with sweeping views over Totteridge Common – exclusively to independently minded people in later life, with communal features inclu

The Retirement Housing Group (RHG), which represents the UK’s leading retirement housing providers, has today welcomed the update by Professor Julienne Meyer on the work of the older people’s housing taskforce, which she chairs. Speaking at the Laing Buisson Retirement Housing Conference, Prof Meyer noted that the task force is likely to recommend to Government that: Older people’s housing is given due consideration and prominence in the forthcoming revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework.

Award-winning housebuilder The Hill Group and leading housing association L&Q recently marked a major milestone at their Kew Bridge Rise development by carrying out a traditional topping out ceremony at one of the project’s landmark residential towers, less than a year after breaking ground and announcing plans to speed up housing delivery on site. Kew Bridge Rise is being developed on the site of the former Citroen garage in Brentford and will deliver over 441 high-quality, sustainable new homes for the

Initiative Property Management (IPM), a company overseeing a vast portfolio of 2,000 flats and apartments across the South, including Southampton, has abruptly ceased trading. This startling development comes as Dorset Police launch an investigation into alleged missing funds connected to property management. The IPM office, situated at Branksome Business Park in Poole, now stands locked, with no employees present. Concerns have surged as numerous residents and property owners report having paid substanti

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s scrapping of legal requirements for residential landlords to meet minimum energy efficiency standards has been welcomed by leading Midlands estate agents DM & Co. Homes. Mr Sunak has announced that no legislation will be introduced requiring property owners to make energy efficiency improvements. But he also pledged that extra money would be made available to those who wanted to replace their gas boilers with heat pumps. Gabrielle Argue, head of lettings at DM & Co. Homes, exp

Avoiding and managing resident debt, especially in relation to energy bills, has been high on the agenda of the property sector for some time. And as the cost of living continues to rise, a growing number of residents are experiencing debt for the first time. A report by the ONS (source, 2023) revealed that almost half of adults (49%) who reported that they were behind on their energy bills also reported high levels of anxiety.  On the other hand, for property managers, it’s never been more important to b

The owners of a collection of 39 premium apartments near to Kensington Gardens in central London have praised Principle Estate Management for its high-quality external refurbishment works. Principle’s project focused on timber repairs to rotten windows, redecoration of all windows, doors and railings, along with replacement finishes to balconies across the six-storey Palace Court on Hereford Road and Moscow Road in Bayswater. The property, which ranges from one-bedroomed to three-bedroomed apartments, als

Leading property management company Rendall & Rittner has been appointed to manage The Dower House, a Grade II listed property containing 14 apartments that represents a major historic landmark in Bristol. The Dower House in Stoke Park has a fascinating history, originally built in 1553 by Sir Richard Berkeley and later rebuilt in the 18th century by Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt. The property’s name is taken from its use as a dower house for the dukes of Beaufort at nearby Badminton House. In mo

A manager with Birmingham-based estate management firm MetroPM has been given a seven-month sabbatical to play cricket in Australia. Henry Arnold, a property manager with Metro PM, has played cricket since the age of seven for Harborne Cricket Club, and even played county cricket for Warwickshire as an 11 and 12-year-old. Mr Arnold specialises as a bowler and has now been contracted to play for East Bentleigh Central Cricket Club in Melbourne, Australia, in a season running from this October to April 2024