Featured Articles

GH Property Management are delighted to announce the recent promotion of two key team members; Emily Blackmore and Teresa Hirst, to our Board of Directors.  Emily shall be taking the role of Operations Director, responsible for all company and procedural matters, in addition to her current and crucial role as Major Projects Manager and team leader, and Teresa shall be appointed as Finance Director, having headed up our finance and administration department for several years. Both Emily and Teresa bring ma

Please save the date for the UKAA BTR Expo 2022! Date: Thursday 28th April 2022 Venue: Business Design Centre; 52 Upper Street, London, N1 0QH The BTR expo is back this year with the opportunity to network with over 500 BTR professionals throughout the day. Meet and learn about the latest BTR supplies in the sector with some of the best products and services on exhibit. Dip in and out of our workshops open to all attendees throughout the day covering a range of hot topics in BTR. There will be fun giv

Coming Soon: 2022 UKAA & Grace Hill Resident Sentiment Survey! The UKAA is gearing up to partner with Grace Hill for our 2022 UKAA Build To Rent Sentiment Survey which will measure and assess renters’ experiences and future decision-making regarding renting in the UK—and you can be a part of it! Learn more during our information session We invite you to attend our upcoming information session on January 20, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. GMT / 10:00 a.m. CT to learn more about the 2022 survey and also the benefits for

Over the past two years, there have been many articles, forums, discussions, focus groups, and webinars on the need for more diversity and inclusion in every aspect of our business. And while there have been many valuable points made and practices shared, there are three themes that have particularly stood out to me. 1. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is not a Human Resources initiative I really appreciate hearing the clear stance that diversity, equity, and inclusion is NOT simply an HR initiative. I

Principle Estate Management had a special welcome for an important member of staff who returned from maternity leave: they promoted her as part of the company’s expansion. Rebecca Gibson joined Principle back in September 2019, working on compliance, client reporting and business integration. She has now become client services manager, still focussing on compliance and client reporting but also overseeing what has become a nine-strong customer services team, responsible for their performance and strategic

Leading property management agent Rendall & Rittner has recently appointed Michael Wareham as Divisional Director for its South Central Division. Having enjoyed customer facing roles throughout his career, Michael has worked in the property management sector for over 15 years, with previous experience at FirstPort and Lambert Smith Hampton. Before joining Rendall & Rittner, Michael most recently worked as Head of Residential South for Lambert Smith Hampton. Rendall & Rittner’s impressive portfolio include

This article was first published on the Winckworth Sherwood website. The deferment rate may be set to change. How might this play out and why does it matter? The premium payable by residential leaseholders to their landlords is in part a product of the deferment rate and so a change in that could have a big effect on premium payable. There are two moving parts; the deferment rate currently in use under the statutory valuation framework is prone to challenge; it may also be fixed as part of the government’

New legislation being introduced this year is set to present landlords and their tenants with new regulatory and financial challenges on top of the financial burdens of Covid-19, says independent property management agent. There is a mix of new legislation being introduced early in 2022, and confirmation of other regulations that will be introduced over the following few years. Some of the new legislation that is due to introduced will not only add unwelcome costs to landlords' overheads, and subsequently

FirstPort has received a five-star grading from a recent Health and Safety Audit for the sixth consecutive year.  Not stopping there, the organisation’s Health and Safety focus continues with it adding ISO 45001 certification for occupational health and safety for the first time. The Five-Star Audit measures performance against a number of key safety management indicators.  The audit provides organisations with a benchmark of their safety culture and management systems against current worldwide best pract

The Supreme Court has today handed down judgment in the case of FirstPort Property Services Ltd v Settlers Court RTM Company Ltd & Ors [2022] UKSC 1. The appeal concerned the statutory “right to manage” conferred on long leaseholders by Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002. The court was asked to answer a single question of construction of the relevant provisions: to what extent (if any) does an RTM company in respect of a single building on a wider estate acquire the right

Strong demand from city dwellers for outside space has fuelled a surge in sales at a luxury apartment development in Ashford, Kent, which is just 36 minutes by train from London St Pancras. Only 11 of the 216 apartments at Victoria Point remain to be sold with developers Elevate Property Group and joint venture partners Investin plc revealing that a decision to upscale the outside space during construction has paid dividends. Elevate sales and marketing director David Hofton said the pandemic had made hom

The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) has welcomed action taken by the Government to make developers responsible for meeting to cost of removing unsafe cladding for lower height buildings.  Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, announced yesterday (10 January 2022) that leaseholders in buildings 11 to 18 metres in height will no longer have to contribute to replacing cladding, although there is currently no help for those living