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As most residential landlords will be aware, the stay on possession proceedings in England and Wales comes to an end on 20 September 2020. Barring any last-minute extensions from the Government; what happens next? The Master of the Rolls working group has published a practice note on how possession claims will work once the current stay is lifted. The document entitled “The Overall Arrangements for Possession Claims in England and Wales” runs to 15 pages but a summary of some of the main effects of the pr

It is an obvious fact that our counter terrorism efforts must respond accordingly and so must our insurances. Terrorism is often talked about in sensationalist ways as if it is an entirely new challenge the world is facing. That is, of course, a fallacy. It’s understandable of course; years can go by with little or no incidents either globally, or on home soil, depending on your perspective. The shock when it does happen always makes it feel new. When I was growing up, terrorism was (according to my perce

The UK’s fastest growing residential estate management company has made a major commitment to the city where it began just over two years ago. Principle Estate Management has moved to stylish, boutique office space at 137 Newhall Street in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. The move is driven by the growth of Principle’s team from founder Brett Williams in 2018 to 24 currently. Now in its third year, Principle Estate Management has tripled in size in the last 12 months, with the number of units it looks afte

Jodie Fraser, founder of Fraser Allen Estate Management has been named as one of the nation’s Small Biz 100 in a national campaign highlighting some of the UK’s most inspiring small businesses. Jodie, who was recently awarded in the Property Management 50, is one of the Small Biz 100. Jodie and her business Fraser Allen Estate Management, will be celebrated by the Small Business Saturday team on 5 September.  The 36-year-old, who has run her business managing the homes of residents in apartment blocks acr

Project Surveyors recently celebrated their 1st anniversary of trading and are delighted to announce their success in the first year. Having succeeded in securing national contracts with some of the sectors largest managing agents, Project have really made headway in their goal to become the go to building surveying firm in the sector. Led by Jon Livermore MRICS who is an APC assessor and backed by Colin Horton and Arran Anderson of Hortons Valuers, the team are confident that their personable and honest

Simple Life, by Sigma Capital Group plc is part of a £55m new housing development, Baberton Grange, in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, where 50 of its new PRS (private rental sector) homes are being delivered. The two, three and four-bedroom homes will be built by the UK’s leading mixed-tenure developer specialising in placemaking and regeneration, Countryside. Part of a larger development in the area, the homes will sit amongst 145 properties that are available to purchase through open market sale with Countrysi

The role of a Property Manager is busy and varied and no two hours are the same, let alone two days.  Meet Kirsty Taylor, one of FirstPort’s Associate Directors who has worked in property management for seven years. Kirsty recently gave us a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her world, talking us through one of her busy days. MORNING: Meetings with RMC Director clients  I hosted a ‘Teams’ (virtual) meeting with one of our RMC Directors and some colleagues to discuss the budget for the year ahead for one of m

Leading facilities and maintenance specialist Future Group™ is launching a new 24-hour call-out service on 02nd October 2020 available to all our clients as well as via Adiuvo “The market leaders in Out-of-Hours Call handling” to the block management sector. Great news for property managers looking for 24/7 support on 365 days of the year, for the full range of lighting and electrical services including EV charging, security, heating or fire safety systems. Future will be offering 24-hour cover for typica

IRPM is delighted to announce the launch of its new Level 2 Foundation Leasehold qualification. New course is 100% online Video, infographic and text-based learning Get your results instantly with our multiple choice exam that takes less than an hour   The new course is 100% online and on-demand so you can learn in bite-sized chunks to suit you and to fit around your other commitments. Our Level 2 Leasehold qualification is fully aligned with the Ofqual criteria for online learning and replaces the

The Building Safety Bill 2020 was published on 20 July 2020, at a time when landlord and tenant professionals were distracted by the publication of the Law Commission’s three blockbuster reports on Leasehold Reform. It was therefore easy to miss the (rather more immediate) proposals in Part 4 of the draft Bill to bring in a whole new category of statutory charges for leaseholders, akin to service charges.  The proposals apply to fire safety charges for leaseholders in blocks of flats with more than 5 stor

The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) is hosting its annual Conference with a twist for 2020, as the event will be a week of online seminars held from Monday 12 October – Thursday 15 October.  Anna Bailey, ALEP Founder and Director, explains: “Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges for us all, we’ve worked hard to make it ‘business as usual’ for ALEP. We’ve already turned a number of our scheduled events into online sessions, and the Annual Conference is no di

A residential development site on the main road to Solihull with planning permission to build more than 200 homes has been bought for £1.8 million, thanks to Siddall Jones. The Birmingham property agents have arranged the purchase of Lyndon Place on the Coventry Road from the owners, Property Alliance Group Ltd, for a private client. This prime development site adjoins the Westley Brook Green Wedge, part of Sheldon Country Park, a designated Green Belt area and recognised Site of Local Importance for Natu