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NOTB caught up with Liam McAvoy, Managing Director at Hyperoptic as part of our recent Prop Tech feature.  Your background and how Hyperoptic began Hyperoptic was founded in 2011 by Dana Tobak with her business partner, Boris Ivanovic. Previous to Hyperoptic, they started and managed Be Broadband in 2005/6, prior to its acquisition by O2. Be was the first to launch ADSL 2+ in the UK and offer Annex M for an increased upload speed. But they knew then that copper-based technologies would never truly deliver

Issue 114 has now been published and is available for subscribers to read now.  This issues includes a special Prop Tech feature and includes some of the following articles:  Leaseholders’ hope after government intervention ALEP to hold conference online again Are desktop RCAs a false economy? Meet the managing agent matchmaker PropTech feature sponsored by Hyperoptic  All you need to know about prop tech - Richard Berridge guest editor, introduces this feature  Our ambition is to maintain gold standa

Agents should get ready for the stamp duty holiday end date in September well in advance to ensure that fall-throughs and chain breakdowns are kept to a minimum.   That’s according to HBB Solutions, which argues that agents need a plan B in case things start to go wrong as the end of the stamp duty holiday nears and the expected market dip arrives after it ceases.  Not all transactions will complete in time  While the first stage of the stamp duty holiday ended on June 30, lowering the nil rate thresh

The automation of Right to Rent checks should now be normal practice to take the pressure off landlords, agents and tenants.  That’s the claim made by anti-money laundering experts Blinc UK, which includes automated Right to Rent verification as part of its services.  With recent changes to Right to Rent, due to Covid-19 and Brexit, compliance has become more important than ever. But keeping on top of what is expected of landlords and agents can prove difficult, Blinc says.  “Right to Rent checks might no

Principle Estate Management has welcomed a major UK government intervention that means leaseholders “trapped” in flats due to the cladding crisis could soon be able to sell or remortgage their properties. The comments from the leading estate manager come in the wake of advice from an independent expert group that has found that homes in blocks of flats up to 18 metres don’t need an extra safety form. The concerns over the safety of cladding were raised after the 2017 fire at Grenfell tower in which 72 peo

Leading property law firm Property Management Legal Services Limited is to donating £5 to national suicide prevention charity PAPYRUS for each new instruction received during the month of July.   Suicide is the biggest killer of young people – male and female – under 35 in the UK. The charity, based in Warrington, aims to reduce the number of young people who take their own lives by shattering the stigma around suicide and equipping young people and their communities with the skills to recognise and respo

QUESTION I was informed by my property agent that there has been a smell of someone smoking weed in their apartment and smoking weed in an apartment is illegal. I don't personally smoke weed but is it really a property manager's business what a homeowner does in their apartment? There are neighbours which cook food that makes the entire corridor smell awful. Is this in the same category? ANSWER One of the key roles given to a property manager is to enforce the terms of a lease on behalf of a landlord and/

QUESTION  I bought a leasehold flat back in 2008 and at that time the management company belonged to the freeholder and directors from there. Their memorandum of articles was prepared to favour them.  In 2011 the freeholder agreed to hand over the management to the residents in the form of an RMC. We had the first ever AGM in 2011 and we allowed random Leaseholders to become directors assuming the RMC process will complete. (New company number, MOA approved by majority, management policy etc) Without our

Residential property management company Mainstay has expanded its property portfolio in Central London by taking over the operational management of the popular Metro Central Heights development. The 422 residential scheme boasts numerous sought-after amenities including 24-hour concierge, private swimming pool, sauna, gym, landscaped courtyard, and a large underground car park. Metro Central Heights has a rich history – built in the 1960s by Hungarian architect Erno Goldfinger, the site was original

Despite the pandemic, rapid growth is continuing at Common Ground Estate and Property Management with more homes added to its portfolio and jobs being created. In the last year, the business has taken on a further 983 flats and houses across 22 developments.  This represents a rise of 50 per cent with the business now managing a total of 2,453 properties. Staff numbers have also grown from eight to 13 in the same period and a drive has just been launched to recruit a property maintenance operative as well

A pandemic-prompted focus on lifestyle and wellbeing has boosted sales at Victoria Point, Elevate Property Group’s luxury development of 216 apartments at Ashford in Kent.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            The £55 million development is already 90% sold, with the remaining apartments set to be snapped up on

Estate management company MetroPM has been appointed to manage the maintenance and day-to-day running of a major purpose-built apartment development in Coventry. Beauchamp House, in Greyfriars Lane in the city centre, was built in 2005 and comprise five blocks housing 136 apartments. MetroPM will be working closely with the client, Beauchamp House RTM Ltd. Ian Smallman, director of MetroPM, said: “Beauchamp House RTM went to tender and wanted an agent who are experienced in managing complex schemes. “Anot