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In September we joined with over 6,000 delegates at Housing 2021, the biggest meeting place for the housing sector to discuss, debate, and learn about we can improve the lives of people in housing. It was a fascinating event and because it is so well attended by social housing owners and managers, we decided it was a great platform to launch our latest social housing whitepaper. The paper is a first look at how smart technologies are addressing acute challenges faced by social housing providers and enabli

One of the largest private residential landlords in the Midlands has appointed Principle Estate Management to start collecting various ground rents and look after some of its properties. The Stratton Fox Group’s core business is to retain and develop assets for future long term capital growth, and it now owns a mixed portfolio of single unit residential and commercial investments. It has acquired various ground rent investment properties over the last couple of years and has instructed Principle to collec

South West property manager Jodie Fraser, of Fraser Allen Estate Management has recruited two new staff members as her company grows.  Fraser Allen Estate Management which celebrates five years in business this year now manages blocks of flats in Bristol, Bath, Wiltshire, Stroud, Cheltenham and London – and now has 30 blocks on its books.  Founder and managing director, Jodie said: “I am really proud of what has been achieved with the business in such a short space of time. The business is growing and it’

The Government has published a new Code of Practice and a draft  Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill with the aim of tackling accrued rent arrears for businesses, which were forced to close or operate under restrictions during the pandemic.  While the majority of commercial landlords and tenants have already reached agreement over how to share the pain of Covid-19 arrears, which have been substantial for so many, there are still those struggling to find common ground. The new arbitration scheme is not inte

The trade and representative bodies representing the legal, surveying, estate agency and property management sectors have today (22 November 2021) launched updated versions of the LPE1 (Leasehold Property Enquiries), LPE2 (Consumer summary) and FME1 (Freehold Management Enquiries) forms.  The forms will “go live” on 11th January 2022. Bodies such as the Law Society, Conveyancing Association, CILEX, Society of Licenced Conveyancers as well as ARMA, ARHM, BPF, IRPM, RTMF and ARLA are encouraging their membe

Places for People Group has announced Greg Reed will succeed Group Chief Executive David Cowans. Greg Reed, former CEO of Homeserve UK, will take up the role on December 1st 2021. Following a 20-plus year international career in banking, Greg joined HomeServe and was UK CEO from 2017 to 2020. He was a key member of the new executive team at HomeServe UK that transformed it into a people-first, customer-led and purpose-driven commercial powerhouse. Last year, Glassdoor named Greg one of the top five highes

There are big changes coming in relation to the energy efficiency of home that are rented, mortgaged or sold. These may prevent properties from being rented or mortgaged and could make mortgages and home ownership and investment more expensive.   Since 2008, a property let on an assured shorthold tenancy is required to have an EPC. In 2020 Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) were introduced which required landlords to make changes to any property with a rating of F and G. This month 59 Local Author

Award-winning property management law firm, Brady Solicitors, has appointed experienced finance professional Mark Short following a record year that saw the company grow its revenue by more than 60 percent.    “We’ve experienced an incredibly strong year despite the challenges of the pandemic and the associated impact on the court system,” Colin Hussey, Director at Brady Solicitors says. “Through the hard work and agility of our team and staying close to our property management clients throughout the pand

A long-standing client of Future group was looking for a contractor to service and maintain both fire alarm systems and emergency lighting at a large complex. Future Fire answered the call, and attended promptly, surveying the site and discussing the client’s needs and requirements. With fire and life safety being one of the most important aspects within block management, Future Group survey the site with care and an attention to detail that is second to none. The Future Fire team were then delighted when

One of the UK’s largest housebuilders has instructed Principle Estate Management to look after more than 260 new houses under construction in the Black Country. The new contract from Taylor Wimpey is for Principle to manage a development called Wyrley View, off Goscote Lane in Walsall. This will see a total of 263 two, three and four-bedroomed homes with prices ranging from £295,000 to £308,000 built on a site backing onto the Wyrley and Essington Canal, with plenty of green open space. Joe Jobson, a dire

– The results and findings from the first Build to Rent (BTR) viewing experience benchmark have been revealed today at the UKAA BTR Fayre by hereSAY, the new mystery shopping service line from SAY Property Consulting. Over the past year, hereSAY’s mystery shoppers visited 22 BTR schemes across the UK (three times each) posing as potential tenants and gave detailed accounts of their experiences viewing the developments. Each shopper responded to over 100 questions across eight categories, providing in-dept

The IRPM announces today its newly improved and revised Level 4 BTR member qualification. The updated and now fully interactive course reflects the evolution of one of the UK’s fastest growing property sectors, building on the popular qualification launched for the first time in 2018.   The course has been thoroughly reviewed with content updated to match current BTR practice. The syllabus for the exam remains the same and learning from the 2018 course still remains valid. The course is now available for