Featured Articles

The winners of the ACE Awards were revealed at a glittering ceremony at Old Billingsgate in the heart of London on Friday 16th June 2023.  Attended by over 550 property professionals, a record number for the event, the Awards celebrated excellence and exceptional achievement by the UK’s leading residential managing agents, suppliers and the work of their people in improving the lives of over a million leaseholders across the country. The 18 category winners were announced following a rigorous adjudicating

Michael Gove’s sudden U-turn on leasehold system reforms and Labour’s subsequent outcry to abolish leaseholds altogether has brought longstanding issues with the leasehold system into the limelight. Leaseholds have been mired in controversies with stories of spiralling ground rents and extortionate service charges alongside tenants often finding that extending their leases is prohibitively expensive. There are also issues with lease assets depreciating and leaseholders lacking true ownership of their prop

Issue 125 of News on the Block has now been published and is available for subscribers to read online now.  This issue includes our special Health and Safety feature, with an emphasis on Building Safety and includes some of the following articles.  The Property Institute exec chair steps down Properties with cladding can now access mortgage deals Rare joined-up thinking of fire risk assessments What is RICS guidance on health and safety? The importance of compliance The road to reducing energy cost

Industry leaders have welcomed moves to ‘professionalise’ the Private Rented Sector through measures like the Renters (Reform) Bill but some have warned the government not to over-burden small landlords with ‘piecemeal legislation.’ “Anything that drives up standards can only be seen as a good thing for the PRS but the lack of reassurances and detail in these reforms risks some landlords selling up at a time when rental properties are urgently needed,” cautions Neil Cobbold, managing director of PayProp U

A property operator with more than eight years’ experience has been recruited by Principle Estate Management to help the company’s expanding lettings management portfolio. Lauren O’Brien joins Principle from The Tenant Management Hub (The TM Hub) in Wolverhampton, where she has worked as a property management team leader for nearly three years. Ms O’Brien has previously worked for Virtu Property Management and Centrick, as well as a previous role as a property maintenance manager at The TM Hub. She is qua

The Building Safety Act 2022 (the Act) places new more stringent building safety responsibilities on resident-led organisations (Right to Manage (RTM) and Resident Management Companies (RMCs)) which will be accountable persons for in-scope higher risk buildings. It is important to note that the resident led entity will be the Accountable Person and lay directors will not be Accountable Persons in their personal capacity. This, however, does not relieve resident-directors of personal liability if they are

In this article Charles Seifert a partner at SAY Property Consulting, considers some of the challenges around the Building Safety Act and to submitting successful applications for Government grant funding to the coming 11-18m Cladding Safety Scheme  For managing agents, landlords and directors of RTM companies, getting to grips with the requirements of the Building Safety Act (BSA), and more specifically the consequences of failing to do so, may feel overwhelming.  My advice to anyone who thinks that thei

Bishop & Sewell’s next legal webinar will provide Leaseholders, Freeholders and Agents with essential insights into the ramifications of the Duval* decision, which continues to impact what works can and cannot be done when making alterations to a residential leasehold property.     Delivered by Partners Mark Chick and Chris McCartney from the firm’s renowned Landlord and Tenant team, the free online webinar ‘Leasehold Question Time – Alterations and Duval’ will take place on Wednesday 28 June between 

The Building Safety Act 2022 was a significant outcome of 'Building a Safer Future' consultation by the government. It aimed to reform the UK's building safety system by improving control and transparency in fire safety and structural safety for new and existing buildings that are at least 18 metres tall. Managers and owners of existing and new buildings are approaching an important requirement outlined in the Building Safety Act 2022. With proper preparation and organisation, this process should be swift

EM React takes a methodical approach and attention to detail to ensure that we are the preferred emergency response team to any fire incident because we know fires can be fatal and preventable. We provide and adhere to up-to-date rules and legislation around protection before and after any fire incident. Our response teams use their expertise and professionalism to continuously improve the services we offer. EM react liaise with the emergency services by reacting and responding following a 4-stage procedu

Nearly six years from Grenfell, the landscape has certainly started to change.  The Government has introduced new statute, made amendments to existing statute, launched funds, brought responsible parties to the table and signed up nearly fifty of the largest developers to put right the wrongs of the past.  I could fill several pages providing commentary and advice on the multiple aspects of the fire safety landscape as it exists in 2023, but for the purposes of this editorial, I will consider just three a

A question often asked: How long will it take to get rid of the knotweed on my property or land? In this article, we answer this question because we know it’s an important factor when you first find out you have a problem with knotweed. But first let’s take a brief look at the options for the control or complete eradication of Japanese knotweed. There are typically two methods; herbicide application or excavation. Herbicide treatment Carried out in a series of planned treatments called a Knotweed Manage