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Two new staff were appointed on the same day in a move that saw Principle Estate Management’s customer service department grow from four to six team members. Sophie May has taken on the role of a customer services executive at the Birmingham-based company, while Kiera Hall has joined as a property apprentice. Ms May, from Sheldon in Birmingham, had spent 18 months as a senior property assistant with a competing estate management company, and before that had four years of customer-facing experience in chil

One of the Midlands’ leading estate management companies has moved into larger offices in a year that has seen staff numbers increase by 20%. But the directors and employees of MetroPM won’t have to travel any further to work – their new offices are in the same building. MetroPM has moved downstairs within St Marys House, Harborne Park Road, in Harborne, Birmingham, where the company has been for 12 years. The company has taken the larger, purpose-built, open ground floor office space after another strong

Award-winning leasehold lawyer Cassandra Zanelli announces today that she has established her own law firm. Property Management Legal Services Limited, launched on 1 December, will provide the full spectrum of legal services to the property management sector across the country.  Services include: Service charge and leaseholder disputes  Lease advice and interpretation Tribunal matters, including service charge disputes and dispensation from consultation  Advice for Residents’ Management Companies Ar

An article in News on the Block last month called for leasehold to be banned and replaced by commonhold, describing the system as “feudal”.  Whilst feudal systems may be ancient – it doesn’t mean they are wrong; crop rotation is alive and kicking and still very relevant in the modern farming environment. Similarly, a properly regulated system of leasehold ownership, with professional management of complex residential apartment blocks, has the potential to become a benchmark system for property ownership.

AM Surveying & Block Management have long passionately leveraged and integrated the use of technology into everyday processes to help ensure they provide a streamlined Block Management service to clients; providing residents an online facility to report repairs, managing such repairs via online management tools, GPS tracking of our Property Managers, Surveyors & tradespeople, using tablets/smartphones to conduct routine property inspections to yield value-adding concise reports, to name but a few. Even th

We are delighted to announce that Charlotte Archer has become a Partner in the Residential Property Team at Bishop & Sewell and that Charles Jamieson has become an Associate in our Litigation Team. We are delighted to be able to share news of these promotions notwithstanding the current economic climate and this is further testament to our continued success and resilience as we implement our vision for growth. Charlotte Archer joined Bishop & Sewell in 2012 and specialises in all aspects of residential pr

The IRPM and UKAA have come together, merging two working groups to deliver better learning and upskilling opportunities to their members and to the Build To Rent (BTR) sector. The merger brings together the UKAA’s Education sub-committee and the IRPM’s BTR working Group in an agreement signed by UKAA CEO David Butler and IRPM CEO Andrew Bulmer. There is a strong alignment of interests and overlap of membership between UKAA and IRPM. Both organisations have a passionate interest in promoting learning and

Lauren Walker of JB Leitch’s litigation team considers the question of preserving quiet enjoyment and highlights some of the issues that may face landlords in terms of breaching their lease obligations when considering necessary works… As a result of the government driven “brownfield first approach”, redevelopment of existing commercial premises is becoming increasingly popular. In contemplation of redevelopment works, landlords should be mindful of their obligations pursuant to the lease including or in

A luxury, mansion-style development fronting one of the main arterial roads into Birmingham is to be managed by Principle Estate Management. The contract to look after Norfolk Court, a high quality, five-storey block of 10 apartments prominently fronting the Hagley Road in Edgbaston, has come from the residents’ management company. Norfolk Court Freehold Company had decided to change agents and was recommended to Principle by contractors working on the 1930s apartment scheme. Joe Jobson, a director at Pri

Plans for 722 homes, exclusively for rent, alongside boutique retail, bars, and cafes in the Jewellery Quarter have been approved by Birmingham City Council – and will create hundreds of jobs.  Great Charles Street, Moda’s second development in the city in its Build to Rent (BTR) platform with funding partner Apache Capital, has been given the green light by Birmingham City Council’s Planning Committee.  Moda Living, the UK's fastest growing rental brand focused on the design, delivery, and long-term mana

One of the UK’s top estate management companies has cautiously welcomed the easing of the need for flat owners to have cladding safety checks before selling or remortgaging their properties. The comments from Principle Estate Management follow Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick’s announcement that flats without cladding will no longer need an external wall safety certificate (EWS1), which involves a survey. The extra safety checks were introduced after 72 people died at Grenfell Tower when a fire spread alo

The Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) has welcomed the HCLG Committee feedback on the Building Safety Bill, which pushes for further detail in key areas including funding, responsibilities linked to the Bill and scope. The HCLG Committee report mirrors ARMA’s concerns that the draft legislation does not do enough to protect leaseholders from the cost of remedying existing fire safety defects. The report stresses that the building safety charge should be used to fund future work, rather tha