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We are delighted to have Hilton return to Crabtree, he is an incredibly trusted and valuable team member. A driven, team-focused Senior Manager with 11 years’ experience in the Property and Built Environment Sector, Hilton has a proven ability to achieve performance-based targets and to build, sustain and support successful teams. Hilton has experience across both the private investor, development, and leasehold sectors, and has a distinctive flair for building long-lasting client and customer relationshi

Issue 108 of News on the Block has now been published. This issues includes some of the following articles:  - Radical plans to shake-upleaseholds unveiled - Property sector lends support to Pride month  - Leasehold Group mourns sudden death of MD Louie Burns - Don’t leave RCAs to chance Enfranchisement & Right to Manage feature  - Enfranchisement in a post-Covid world - A question of proportion! Katie Edwards considers the issues around calculating whether a mixed-use property qualifies for right t

IPM announced today that it has appointed Sarah Parkyn as director of Inspired Property Management effective from the 1 st August 2020. The appointment will expand the board of directors from three to four independent directors, bringing valuable experience and insight to the board. This appointment will enable the board of directors to enhance its commercial experience and operational insight, particularly within property industry.   Sarah Parkyn is an award-winning property manager with over 20 years’ e

Residential property lawyer George Cohen of Irwin Mitchell discusses the potential legal issues for the lifting of the stay of residential possession proceedings and advises landlords to enter dialogue with tenants as soon as possible August 10th, 2020 Since 27 March 2020, most residential possession claims and proceedings seeking to enforce an order for possession by a warrant or writ of possession have been stayed (put on hold). On 23 August 2020, Practice Direction 55C will come into force which sets o

Since its introduction under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (“the 2002 Act”), many leaseholders have acquired the right to manage their building.   In very general terms, so long as the building qualifies and the paperwork is correct (and served correctly), leaseholders are entitled to acquire the right to manage and take over the management functions. There is no need, therefore, to show any fault on the part of the current landlord and/or the manager.  However, for a non-fault based right,

There always seems to be a lot written about statutory lease extensions, the time frames, the valuation and the benefits of taking this route.  However, when I read about lease extensions by private treaty there seems to be a fair amount of caution and suspicion included within those articles. It often feels like lease extensions by private treaty are the poor relation to statutory lease extensions.  This is not the case — and obtaining a lease extension by private treaty can have a number of benefits. Th

With the plethora of restrictions on remedies against defaulting tenants introduced in the wake of the pandemic, it is fair to say that residential landlords are not having a good year. However, there is a crumb of comfort. The Court of Appeal has overturned a county court ruling to find — with a 2-1 majority — that a landlord who obtained a Gas Safety Record (“GSR”) before the tenancy began, but failed to give it to the tenant before they took up occupation, can still serve a section 21 notice, as long a

On 21 July the Law Commission published three reports on residential leasehold and commonhold, which pave the way for fit-for-purpose home ownership. Our recommendations will make it easier, quicker and cheaper for leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease, or to take control of their building by exercising the right to manage. These recommendations provide leaseholders with greater security and control over their homes, and (for those buying their freehold or extending their lease) place t

According to Rightmove, the majority of property sales in North London over the past year have been flats; with the average price standing at a whopping £559,308. As a result of this, for many home-hunters, the prospect of buying in London simply isn’t a feasible option; however, with the help of the Shared Ownership scheme, the dream of putting down roots in the capital could be made possible. Situated in Brixton – one of London’s most eclectic districts – BRX by Network Homes has a number of one-bedroom

As changes to the furlough scheme came into force from August 1 and lockdown measures continue to be eased, letting agencies and landlords should prepare for a spike in rent arrears. According to PayProp, a leading rental payment automation platform, property professionals can minimise arrears with systems that manage and record payments and tenant communications effectively. Furlough scheme and lockdown changes could lead to arrears spike From August 1, employers using the government's Coronavirus Job Re

We were ready back then, and we're even more ready now!  Commonhold isn't new to us, back in June 2019 the Fexco Property Services group was already looking at it. Being part of the larger Australian based Fexco where it is widely adopted as a type of property ownership, meant we were ahead of the game over a year ago. Back then we wrote about Fexco having built the largest strata management group in Australia (https://picagroup.com.au/) managing in excess of 200,000 apartments as well as a further 60,000

MRI Software, a global leader in real estate software solutions, announces the acquisition of Housing Partners, a specialist technology provider for the social housing sector in the UK and Ireland. The strategic acquisition strengthens MRI’s suite of residential property management technology options, MRI Living, adding capabilities from Housing Partners’ Housing Jigsaw, Streetwise, TAIM and HomeSwapper product brands. Housing Partners’ solutions are used by social housing providers, local authorities and