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“Serious concerns” about the firm that tested cladding on Grenfell tower were raised by a review body five years before the fatal blaze. And a senior civil servant warned “there is going to be a major fire” three years prior to the fire that claimed the lives of 72 people. The inquiry into the Grenfell tragedy was told about the warnings during two days of hearings this week. A series of reports were shown to the inquiry that criticised the firm that carried out tests on the building products used on the

A new housing minister has been appointed as part of a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Stuart Andrew will replace Christopher Pincher, who was appointed to the post two years ago. Mr Andrew becomes the fifth housing minister in four years. Until the reshuffle, Mr Andrew held the role of deputy chief whip of the House of Commons and treasurer of HM Household. The MP for Pudsey, West Yorkshire, has previously voted to phase out secure tenancies and to require those on high incomes living

This article was first published on the Winckworth Sherwood website.     he Government first consulted in July 2017 around measures to “improve the consumer experience of leasehold”.  It then asked the Law Commission to explore how improvements might be made to enfranchisement rights, the right to manage and to reinvigorate commonhold as an alternative to leasehold.  The Law Commission then consulted in 2018 and 2019 around this. It seems likely that reforms will be introduced along the lines of the Law C

A stunning development of five luxury, three storey apartments in Solihull that were designed by an award-winning architect are to be looked after by MetroPM. The leading property management company, with offices in Birmingham and Cheltenham, will be managing the modern Blythwood properties at 40 Blossomfield Road. The purpose-built residences were designed by architect Neil Boddison and built by Shakespeare Properties, a company with more than 20 years’ experience of constructing individually designed ho

Future Group has created a Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) calculator,, assisting Property Managers in budgeting for upcoming renewals for their managed blocks. The calculator allows the user to bundle services together for fire  life safety systems and in turn create a saving for the client. Future Group’s extensive service offering helps Property Managers receive the best service while saving money, across a range of facilities; from the servicing of the emergency lighting to the servicing of a b

Two senior promotions have headed a raft of new year staff elevations at expanding property management firm Principle Estate Management. As the company evolves its management structure, Stephanie Jobson, who joined as business operations manager last spring, has been promoted to operations director. Meanwhile Andrew Winstanley, who joined as property operations manager last January, has been appointed senior associate director. Other promotions include Danielle Lannon, who was a property manager and has n

Residential tenancy deposits are often a point of contention between landlords and tenants and it is not uncommon for deposit disputes to drag out for many months after a tenancy has ended.  A tenancy deposit is generally held as security for the performance of a tenant’s obligations within the tenancy agreement. Should a tenant fail to adhere to their obligations, then subject to the terms of their tenancy agreement, a landlord will usually have the ability to counter any losses suffered by making deduct

National law firm Irwin Mitchell is expanding its Property Division with the recruitment of three new senior associates to its Northern office teams. Jill Crawford is joining the Planning & Environment team, Sarah Swann the Real Estate transactions team, both primarily based from the Manchester office and Thomas Freeman is joining IM’s National Real Estate Disputes team and will be based in the Sheffield office. The new appointments take Irwin Mitchell’s Property Division to 28 partners and 150 qualified

Good-quality APIs can help agents to thrive in 2022 and beyond, according to automation specialists Openview – Powered by VTUK.   API, or Application Programming Interface to give it its full name, is a software intermediary that enables two applications to talk to each other. Every time someone uses an app like Facebook or Instagram, sends an instant message through WhatsApp, or checks the weather or football scores on their phone, they are using an API.  And it’s something that is particularly important

Leading managing agent Rendall & Rittner has appointed Jason Wakefield as Head of Procurement, a role in which he will have strategic overview of procurement across the company’s portfolio to continue to improve service and value for clients. Jason is a highly experienced professional with over twenty years in procurement, including fourteen years working specifically in facilities management. He joins Rendall & Rittner from student accommodation provider, UPP, where he led the procurement function for te

Leading UK developer SevenCapital has appointed Simon Howard as Group Sales and Marketing Director. Simon joins from Berkeley Group.   Simon will lead the global sales function at SevenCapital Group, servicing domestic and international clients looking to purchase quality property in key UK locations. His role will be instrumental in the developer’s expansion across the South-East and London, including leading the anticipated launch of their £500 million prime residential scheme in Kensington later this y

The successful Liverpool based practice, which recently retained Tier 3 status in the Legal 500 rankings, has continued to invest in their communications and IT infrastructure as part of a continued commitment to providing a positive client experience – which have been of particular benefit and value during the pandemic.  The branding and site development follow the successful launch of the market leading IDentify brand and website for online ID verification, led by JB Leitch Real Estate, and an online cl