Featured Articles

Firstly, what is the purpose of an Evacuation Alert System?   The objective is to provide a reliable and effective tool to assist in the evacuation of a building containing flats in whatever manner is considered appropriate by fire and rescue service operational commanders. These systems will typically be installed in high-rise blocks of flats, but the scope of this British Standard includes systems installed in any building containing flats, regardless of height.   When did this standard come into effect

Elevate Property Group has appointed Leicester-based Bode Contracting Ltd to deliver the Priory House development of 79 luxury apartments in the former Birmingham forensic science laboratories. Preparation work has been carried out in the seven storey Priory House since Elevate acquired the former home of the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham from Rainer Developments in March this year. Bode Contracting Ltd will begin a 55 week, multi-million pound build in late June with completion scheduled for the

Simple Life has partnered with Vistry Partnerships and Wakefield District Housing to build 140 two and three bedroom, eco-friendly properties in the village of Normanton, West Yorkshire. Simple Life is one of the leading providers in build-to-rent housing having already built over 3000 properties across the UK. The £21m development, named Ashfield Park, is housed on a former railway storage yard, providing a new lease of life to a previously derelict area, which has been vacant for many years.   Ashfield

New research from MRI Software, a global leader in real estate solutions, reveals that 71% of commercial occupiers say the mass shift to remote working during the pandemic has fundamentally changed their long-term approach to space usage, and yet 69% of landlords expect no lasting impact from COVID-19. MRI partnered with CoreNet Global, the leading association for corporate real estate professionals, to survey 200 tenants and 50 landlords across a broad cross-section of industries worldwide. The findings

DS2 is delighted to announce that Alix Green MRICS joins as Partner from 1st June 2021. Green will head the company’s expansion of its Build-to-Rent advisory and transactional services offer, whilst driving growth in their existing affordable housing valuation business.  Green brings a wealth of experience having been a Director at JLL for the past 10 years, with roles in both Residential Advisory and Capital Markets. She previously worked with the DS2 Partners whilst at Drivers Jonas and currently has a

As lockdown restrictions continue to ease, it's the right time for agents to consider the long-term role of PropTech in their businesses, according to Rex. The estate agency tech provider says that although things are slowly returning to something nearer normal, the pandemic has changed society - and the way the property market works - forever. "Making sound technology decisions now can set agencies up to thrive over the coming years," explains Anton Babkov, CEO of Rex Software. "Many of the trends that

The government has targeted property as a way of helping the country to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to financial services firm The UK Adviser Group.  The Group argues that the current market conditions appear to have been designed to deliberately boost the market and to appeal to the innate British desire for homeownership, with both an ongoing stamp duty holiday and the recently introduced 95% mortgage guarantee scheme keeping the market buoyant.   This isn’t surprising, given the housi

A growing problem of drugs, alcohol and break-ins has been quickly solved by Principle Estate Management at a residential development it won the contract to manage in Leeds. The anti-social behaviour and criminal acts were taking place in and around the car ports at the rear North Street Lofts, a development of 11 flats in the vibrant northern quarter of Leeds city centre. Stephen Downing, a property manager at Principle, explained that the development had been handed to Principle with a brief to tackle t

This article was first published on the Winckworth Sherwood website.  In this blog we pull together cases and legislative developments over the last 12 months relating to enfranchisement: Leasehold reform (ground rent) bill – the Queen’s speech heralded the introduction of legislation to effectively set ground rent at nil in new residential leases subject to some exceptions. These restrictions will affect Ground rent investors when granting voluntary lease extensions to flat owners and developers may lose

Following the recent parliamentary wrangling over who should pay for cladding remediation, it may have escaped leaseholders’ notice that the new Fire Safety Act includes new rules on front doors.  In the past, flat front doors were “demised” to the resident. Or in other words they were the responsibility of the flat owner and, for the purposes of the fire safety regulations, they weren’t included in the common parts of the building overseen by the property manager. That has now changed. The new Act has am

Letting agents should use innovative, digital solutions to ensure their businesses and clients are safe from property fraud and money laundering.  That’s according to CDDCheck, an innovative online platform that enables businesses to ‘electronically screen against individual stakeholders and businesses at a vastly reduced cost’.  The issue of full transparency and regulation against fraud and money laundering is a particularly hot topic at present, as letting agents who are not already registered have unt

Law firm Property Management Legal Services Limited is backing the national apprenticeship scheme by supporting two members of staff through their training in accountancy and business administration.  Victoria Staszynska starts her level 3 business administration this month and Hollie Cottam starts her level two account finance assistant. Leading property lawyer Cassandra Zanelli, who has previously worked with both Vicky and Hollie, is delighted to help them continue with their career development at her