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As 2021 drew to a swift close, there is much speculation about what 2022 will have to offer.  Despite the emergence of the Omicron variant, which has caused wobbles in financial markets across the world, and the reimposing of restrictions and travel bans, the Bank of England decided on Thursday to increase rates back up to 0.25% from record lows of 0.1%. This comes in the face of soaring inflation and is the first rise in nearly three years, after Brexit/election uncertainty and then Covid had puts plan

People-first technology will be vital to customer experience. Technology underpins the way society operates and how we can support our customers. Ours is an industry that has historically been slower off the mark when it comes to digital engagement, but now is the time to make sure our industry is at the forefront of tech and digital solutions. FirstPort has spent the last year designing and building cutting-edge technology to support our new ways of working to transform customer experience, making it sli

Taylor Wimpey to strike out terms that mean ground rents double every 10 years in latest CMA victory for leaseholders. Affected leaseholders’ ground rents will no longer increase and will remain at the amount charged when they first bought their home. Investigation into Barratt Developments ongoing. Taylor Wimpey – one of the UK’s leading housing developers – has voluntarily given formal commitments to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to remove terms from leasehold contracts that cause groun

DMS Metering Solutions and Data Energy are partnering for the first Energy Metering, Data Collection and Heat Pump breakfast seminar. Date and time Wed, 23 February 2022 08:30 – 11:30 GMT Location 30 Euston Square London NW1 2FB During our breakfast seminar we will be covering: Energy metering technology selection with DMS Metering Solutions Data collection and billing with Data Energy Heat pumps with Infinitas Design Ltd Places are extremely limited and must be booked in advance. We cannot accep

The CEO of a leading ground rent investment firm received an award from Boris Johnson hours before the controversial No.10 Christmas party of 2020. Mark Hawthorn, of Landmark Group, was handed the accolade from the Prime Minister for setting up Xmas Party Heroes charity. The digital platform encourages companies to give money from cancelled Christmas parties to hundreds of charities. It has emerged that during a visit to Bolton on December 18, 2020 Johnson handed Mark the award for raising £1.3m for c

A modern property design company has instructed Principle Estate Management to look after its new mixed-use in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. Principle will manage Liv Projekt’s units at 1 and 2 Legge Lane which includes nine townhouses, four “live and work” units which the developer is retaining to rent out, and a further commercial unit. The residential units include one two-bedroomed townhouse marketed at £550,000 and eight three-bedroomed townhouses marketed from £675,000 to £895,000. Robert Simonds,

Our last issue of 2021 has now been published and is available to read online. This issue includes a special NOTB Awards feature, including all of the winners and photos from the event.  This issue includes some of the following articles:  Ministers ‘covered up’ fire risk of Grenfell cladding Over 200 attend ALEP virtual conference How to avoid the legal headaches of running a RMC Love thy connected neighbour! Technology helped people feel safer in the pandemic Technology’s role in the future of social

Amstone Ventures has submitted a planning application for the 3.28 acre (1.33 ha) former Sainsbury’s site in Stockport town centre for a build to rent led residential development.  The site, situated on Warren Street close to the historic Market Place and Underbanks area of the town, was purchased by Amstone in March 2021.                                                    Architect, Leach Rhodes Walker, has drawn up a plan for a landmark scheme of 563 high quality residential homes. There will be a mix o

Whether you're a landlord or a leaseholder, securing the correct managing agent is critical. It's also vital that you understand the terms of the contract you're agreeing to. Obtaining a managing agent may be useful since they are in charge of maintenance, repairs, service charge collection, and other factors that contribute to the successful operation of a Residential Block. Before selecting a managing agent to handle your residential block, there are certain key provisions in a property management agree

National law firm Irwin Mitchell is expanding its Planning and Environment Team with the recruitment of two new members: Tracy Lovejoy as a Senior Associate, based in the Birmingham office and Victoria Tague as an Associate in Manchester. The appointments take the specialist Planning and Environment (P&E) team to nine. P&E sits within Irwin Mitchell’s Property Division which numbers 27 partners and 146 qualified lawyers. Tracy Lovejoy is joining Irwin Mitchell’s Birmingham office as a senior associate fro

A PropTech startup designed to streamline and automate the set-up and management of new tenancies has claimed that faster and easier onboarding is crucial in the fight against rent arrears.  With the new Omicron Covid variant causing worry and consternation around the world, and the potential for further restrictions and lockdowns in the UK during the winter months, RentProfile says rent arrears could become a major problem for agents, landlords and tenants again – especially if the successful but very ex

Leading housing association Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) has won a coveted WhatHouse? award. The housing association was crowned ‘Silver’ in the Housing Association of the Year category during this year’s ceremony which took place at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Friday 19th November. MTVH was commended for its innovative approach to raising awareness of shared ownership and improving its customer experience. The award celebrates housing associations who offer innovative solutions to support b