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This time last year, if you’d asked me what would be the biggest issue for the property sector in 2020, I might have said Brexit. That’s still a concern, of course, with questions to be answered as the transition period runs out. I might also have predicted severe issues around cladding and fire safety which proved to be devastating for many leaseholders unable to sell up and move on, and in the meantime feeling unsafe in their own homes. It’s been estimated that replacing unsafe cladding in London alone

MetroPM has been appointed to manage Heritage Court, a prestigious development of 116 apartments and four ground floor commercial units in the heart of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. Located in George Street, Heritage Court was completed by Barratt Homes in 2003. Services for occupiers include a concierge service on site and it has under croft parking. Ian Smallman, director of MetroPM which has offices in Birmingham and Cheltenham, said: “The directors of the Heritage Court management company felt it wa

Directors at residential property management firm MetroPM have welcomed a government decision to extend the deadline for applications to the Building Safety Fund for 31 December 2020 to 30 June 2021. Similarly, the deadline for a start on site for remedial works has been extended from 31 March 2021 to 30 September 2021. MetroPM director Ian Smallman said: “The Building Safety Fund is intended to meet the costs of remediating cladding systems which do not adequately resist the spread of fire. “It requires

If you have a repair or maintenance job that needs carrying out at height, your first thought is going to be ‘how are we going to get up there?’. Particularly if the job is on the top half of the building. But hold on, what if you approached it from another perspective – the roof. Many people, even those in the property management industry, still believe that traditional methods of access – scaffolding, cranes and lifts are the only solution when it comes to working in hard-to-reach locations. However, th

The government’s latest support for owners and leaseholders of high rise apartment buildings has been welcomed by experts at Birmingham-based Principle Estate Management. The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government is to provide a £30 million fund to encourage and incentivise the installation of fire alarms in high rise buildings that are awaiting remedial work on external cladding which has come under the spotlight following the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Joe Jobson, a director of Principle Esta

Elouise Hinton has joined residential service charge management firm MetroPM as customer service and compliance manager in its Birmingham office. She has worked within the industry for over ten years, starting out as a property administrator dealing with maintenance issues and lease inquiries, supporting both leaseholders and clients. She made a successful transition to business integration co-ordinator, taking new and previously managed scheme into management and liaising with contractors and contract te

When Principle Estate Management began looking after a small apartment block in London two years ago, it was presented with the surprise problem of a broken lift. This was no simple issue as the lift at Hamond Square, on Hamond Street in Hoxton, was a basic design that had been installed when the development was built around 20 years ago. This meant it was beyond economic repair, but the prospect of installing a new lift presented its own challenges as the costs might be too high to split between the leas

Moda Living has joined FOOTPRINT a new national property event to be held in Brighton in 2021 The UK’s fastest-growing rental brand hopes to encourage other players in the residential property sector to collaborate to make a meaningful contribution against climate change  The built environment is responsible for 40% of the world’s total energy and process-related emissions, and yet must achieve net-zero carbon by 2050  Moda has £850m of schemes under construction, the first tranche of a £2.5bn pipel

LONDON: Bishop & Sewell, a leading full-service Central London law firm, announces the recent appointment of Eleanor Furlong as a Solicitor in the Corporate & Commercial team. We are pleased to be able to share this news notwithstanding the current economic climate and this is further testament to our continued success and resilience as we implement our vision for growth. Eleanor Furlong joined Bishop & Sewell following her admission to the legal profession in 2020. She trained as a Solicitor in London wi

Issue 110 of News on the Block has now been published and is available for subscribers to read now. This issues includes some of the following articles:  John Lewis to enter build to rent market Law firm named one of top 200 Preparing for storms in property management Index linking takes hit during Covid A vital player in the energy field boosts customers  Online boost during turbulent year  Customer service is the ‘Principle’ behind growth Debt can be recovered with minimal upset Government plans

Nicola Fleet-Milne, one of Birmingham’s top property agents, has appointed Principle Estate Management to look after a luxury apartment block in Birmingham city centre. Queensway House, which is at 57 Livery Street on the edge of the Jewellery Quarter and just 50 yards away from Snow Hill Station, contains six high-end luxury apartments. Ms Fleet-Milne is chief executive of the well-known and widely respected FleetMilne estate and letting agency, which owns three of the apartments at Queensway House. When

Collective enfranchisement cases making it to one of the highest Courts in the land are not very common. However, a new case has been reported which clarifies what is considered the “appropriate tribunal” under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (‘1993 Act’), when certain matters remain in dispute. GR Property Management Limited v Safdar & others [2020] EWCA provides guidance as to when and most importantly, where, the leaseholders must make an application if the price to be paid