Featured Articles

Get the answers to your questions and stay up to date about apartment building management with our featured articles and NOTB guides, on topics such as service charges, right to manage, buying your freehold, major works, building insurance and other issues about blocks of flats.

Forfeiture: Was it sufficient for a tenant's application for relief from forfeiture to be made within the 6 month time limit

Where a tenant applied for relief from forfeiture, was it sufficient for the application to have been made within the 6-month time limit or should it have made the application sooner? The background In Keshwala and another v Bhalsod and another [2020], the tenants occupied property comprising a ground floor retail shop with a residential flat above under a 20-year lease, of which the defendants were landlord.  The tenants’ rent for the June 2018 quarter was £2,000 but only £1,500 was paid to the landlords

MRI Software Announces Key Solution Enhancements at Virtual Users Conference ‘Ascend Anywhere’

MRI Software (“MRI”), a global leader in real estate software solutions, announced a series of key enhancements and innovations across its product portfolio at MRI ‘Ascend Anywhere’ 2020, the first virtual edition of its annual North American users conference, held October 19-21. With more than 1,700 registrants, the conference brought together professionals from across the real estate industry to attend virtual keynotes, presentations and panels by MRI and its technology partners – as well as guest appea

Barratt Developments becomes first major national housebuilder to have its science-based carbon reduction targets approved

Barratt Developments, which is currently building more than 8,000 much needed new homes across the South West, has become the first major national housebuilder to have its science-based carbon emissions targets officially approved. The company, which owns Barratt and David Wilson Homes, took the lead for the housebuilding industry back in February, announcing its commitment to reduce direct carbon emissions by 29% by 2025 and to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in its own operations by 2040. Thes

MRI Software Acquires Jenark from CoreLogic

MRI Software, a global leader in real estate technology, has acquired residential property management software Jenark™ from CoreLogic, Inc. (NYSE: CLGX).  Jenark aligns with MRI’s existing product set for the management of residential property portfolios, addressing the unique needs of community and homeowner associations by facilitating processes, operations, transactions, communications, accounting, administration, and reporting. The solution is used by hundreds of management companies and large self-ma

Brickflow — the UK's first online search engine for development finance — officially launches

Brickflow, the UK's first online search engine for development finance loans, today announces its official launch to the market. Brickflow is a property technology platform that aims to revolutionise the property finance sector by digitally connecting borrowers and lenders in seconds. The company's mission is to empower property developers by opening up the market and providing the quickest and easiest way for them to secure trusted finance. Available online, Brickflow's technology offers wide market visi

Property Firm Moves Back into History

A North East property lawyer has used her own conveyancing skills to move into new offices with a historical link her to her profession. Sue Toomey has moved her Toomey Legal practice to Cramlington Village where she has taken over the Surveyors House which first appeared in maps of the town in the mid 1800s. The building was previously a family home, a quarry office and an undertaker's home for the nearby St Nicholas Church. Originally a lawyer for a Sheffield law practice, Sue set up her own property la

Principle to manage 250-plus units across UK for national property operator

The major new contract has come from Simarc Property Management Ltd, the expanding management arm of the Wallace Group, which now owns well over 100,000 leasehold properties. Simarc has already commissioned Principle to manage multiple developments, including hundreds of other flats in London, the West Midlands and south England, and a plush development of apartments each worth approximately £3 million in an exclusive block at Acre House in Covent Garden, London. Following its success with these propertie

Ban leasehold says Oxfordshire property management expert

Leasehold should be banned and replaced by a system where people can own their flat or house for life instead of a limited period set by the owners of the freehold of the property - an Oxfordshire property management expert claimed today. In launching a new website Alan Draper, managing director of Common Ground Estate & Property Management Ltd, of Littlemore, Oxford, said: ”Feudalism should not exist in the 21st century, but it does.  It’s called leasehold.” Alan, whose company manages property in Oxford

Letting agents must prepare now for changes to referral fees system

Letting agents should prepare to disclose the third-party referral fees they receive to landlords and tenants, according to PayProp. The leading rental payment automation platform says that although the referral fees recommendations made to the government by Trading Standards focused on sales, guidance for the lettings sector is likely to follow. Trading Standards calls for greater transparency Earlier this month, the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) published proposals

Help for NHS homebuyers is just what the doctor ordered in Nottinghamshire

The helping hand, in the form of a contribution of up to £15,000 towards a new home, was launched earlier in the year as a thank you to the country’s 1.5 million NHS workers caring for people during the Covid-19 crisis.  Available until the end of December 2020, the scheme can be used at David Wilson Homes’ developments Romans’ Quarter in Bingham, Berry Hill in Mansfield and Fernwood Village in Newark. With excellent commuter links from both communities, there are opportunities available for employees at

Communication and customer service

Clive Winton, Senior Property Manager within the Crabtree brand talks about why he’s been so successful with client retention over the last 10 years – and it comes down to solid communication skills. Here are his words of wisdom.  Property Management primarily focuses on communication and understanding with both the Client Directors, Lessees, and Residents at site. There are different methods of carrying this out, with the most common being via email. The pitfall of miscommunicating This method though has

The UKAA Festival of Build To Rent

The UKAA Festival of Build To Rent is billing itself as being the most valuable online experience of 2020. Big claims indeed until you look at the programme running from Monday 16th to Friday 20th November.  Two very different speakers headline the event, Tim Heatley star of Manctopia, will talk about how BTR is helping transform Manchester and Luke Chadwick, premiership winner with Man Utd explains about how mental health issues stopped him “Living The Dream”.  Four virtual study tours of BTR schemes in

© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.

News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.

We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site you consent cookies.