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Block Management UK Ltd announces the appointment of Fiona Ducasse as Business Development Manager. The veteran negotiator has previously worked for property management firms RMG and Peverel and joins us to lead Block Management UK Ltd on attracting and on-boarding larger sites across the whole of the UK.   Fiona is very experienced with winning management instructions from large house builders, including sites with more complex arrangements such as the management of on-site staff, gymnasiums, communal he

One Property Recruitment are expanding and have just launched their Manchester office, with Hayden John Bennett joining the team from the 1st February to head up the North. Coming from both a property and recruitment background, Hayden has years of offering consultative advice to clients locally and building valuable relationships. Hayden will be covering Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and the surrounding areas.

Eighties pop star Rick Astley could face being taken to court in a row over the lease of a London apartment. Astley, best known for the hit Never Gonna Give You Up, owns the freehold of the property and has turned down a leasehold extension offer by the flat owner. Reports in The Sun state that Cornelia Rang allegedly offered £24,000 to increase her 79-year lease by 90 years. But it appears the star and his lawyers are never going to turn around and accept the offer, saying it is ‘so unrealistically low t

UK top 200 full-service law firm Keebles LLP has promoted Liz Rowen to the position of Legal Director to lead their Residential Property Management department. The 13-strong team of lawyers, legal executives, paralegals and legal assistants, will provide advice on arrears recovery, service charge disputes, first tier tribunal, lease variation and leasehold disputes. With more than 12 years working within the property management industry, Liz has a wealth of expertise and a deep knowledge of the sector. Li

Europa Capital, the pan-European real estate investment manager and its partner, Addington Capital, the property investment and asset management company are completing the re-development of One Lampton Road, Hounslow. This is a mixed-use office/retail building that has now been converted into a new PRS residential scheme of 118 residential homes, ready to launch. The building, which was acquired by the joint venture in 2018, has been converted under permitted development rights to create new studio, one,

Homebuyers need to see more details if they are to be convinced the government’s proposed leasehold reforms will make it easier and cheaper to buy their homes, according to Midlands law firm Thursfields Solicitors. Darren Cox, an associate in the firm’s residential conveyancing team, said leasehold had had a bad press but can be a perfectly legitimate way of owning a property. “Where there have been problems, they have been caused by some developers allegedly misusing leasehold, coupled with increasing gr

The organisation received a score of 95.88%, demonstrating its commitment towards the continual improvement of health and safety management systems and processes and recognising it as a best practice organisation. The audit recognised FirstPort’s continued efforts to implement the highest standards of health and safety management, a clear commitment from senior management, and an enthusiastic health and safety team. It also highlighted that FirstPort has an extensive occupational health and safety managem

Westbury Residential Ltd, London-based property managers with a specialism in Tribunal appointments, has joined forces with the Urang Group who currently manage over 340 blocks across London. Westbury’s Alison Mooney has been involved as manager in several high-profile blocks in which major battles between leaseholders and landlords have occupied the courts over many years and has even attracted the attention of the media. As Urang’s managing director, Paul Cleaver said: “Alison’s success in navigating th

Leading residential property bodies have today published an open letter to Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and copied to Thalia Baldwin, Director of the Geospatial Commission highlighting the potential benefits from a widely adopted Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) and steps that Government needs to take to make this happen. The signatories of the letter,  which includes leading bodies from across the residential property sector, believe that

Andrew Winstanley has been appointed as property operations manager at the UK’s fastest growing residential management company, taking its headcount to 30 within three years of its launch. He will run all property operations at Principle, sitting between the directors and the property management and customer service teams. Mr Winstanley comes with a wealth of knowledge from a career that most recently saw him as a senior property manager at Pennycuick Collins, looking after some of its larger and most com

A building containing eight apartments in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter is to be looked after by Principle Estate Management following an official appointment by a property tribunal. Leaseholders at 58 to 60 Albion Street applied to a First-tier Tribunal (FTT) after dissatisfaction with how their properties were being managed and nominated Principle as their preferred choice for future estate management. The tribunal agreed that chartered surveyor Joe Jobson, a director at Principle, had the correct skil

Leading residential managing agent, Rendall & Rittner has appointed Shreya Lakhani as Property Team Manager for the South Midlands. This is a new role for Rendall & Rittner’s Midlands division, created to support the ongoing expansion of the business in the region. Shreya will head up the teams of property managers responsible for developments across locations including Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire and Watford. Based out of the Milton Keynes office though currently managing teams remotely, Shreya’s foc