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Residential property management specialist urbanbubble and mobile app developer Padoq have developed an interactive app to keep residents connected and engaged while living under COVID-19 lockdown. Designed to motivate and engage residents of apartments across Manchester managed by urbanbubble, the app provides a ‘cyber community’ tailored to the needs of people in specific residential developments. Described as a ‘place to connect with your community’, the app gives residents access to a wide range of li

The Leasehold Group of companies announces with great sadness that Sophie Lyall passed away on Monday, 27 April 2020.  Sophie joined Leasehold Valuers shortly after the company was established in 2013 and she was a driving force in its success in her role as Business Manager. Whilst passionate about her work at Leasehold Valuers and always striving to act in the best interests of the company’s leaseholder clients, Sophie was studying a BSc (Hons) degree in Estate Management at the University College of Es

The Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Duval v 11-13 Randolph Crescent Limited [2020] UKSC 18 on appeal from [2018] EWCA Civ 2298, was handed down yesterday (6 May 2020) and confirms that landlords should ensure, when faced with requests for consents under a lease, that consent is only granted where the landlord is entitled to do so.  Where the lease contains: an absolute prohibition against certain conduct (ie, subletting or alterations); a commonly found provision that all leases in the developm

As a result of COVID-19, we find ourselves working from home. For some, this is new territory. A number of Clients I’ve been speaking to have been wondering how they can continue to keep their employees engaged and help them to feel like they’re still a part of the team. There’s no one answer, in fact, there are a number of things you could do to ensure your team remain engaged and connected.   The main and perhaps most powerful thing here is to make your team feel valued and remind them that they’re stil

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the government is pushing on with legislation to better protect multi-occupied residential buildings from fire in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Its Fire Safety Bill recently had its second reading in the House of Commons, six weeks after being introduced, and will significantly widen the measures that need to be taken.  This follows the government’s guidance note in December 2018, banning the use of combustible materials in cladding on all blocks of 18m or highe

Although the current COVID-19 pandemic has put all of our lives on hold and we are living a new normal, life will reassert itself soon enough, as the changing seasons remind us, green shoots will emerge.   As soon as conditions allow, the UK will steadily return to work and your buildings will come back to life through occupation. As this happens, the safety of returning workers, tenants and the general public will remain a key priority for real estate owners and managers.   In the meantime, there’s still

Working from home comes with a number of benefits and can be hugely rewarding if you keep your productivity levels high, look after your wellbeing, maintain a healthy work-life balance and keep the lines of communication open with your colleagues.   Here are 15 Top Tips on how to remain productive and healthy whilst working from home.   1. Set a morning routine   When working from home, it’s quite easy to roll out of bed at 8:25am and prop yourself up at your laptop ready to start working. Are you rea

The Coronavirus outbreak has caused us all to evolve and adapt in many ways. We’ve been left with uncertainty, a lot of questions and we’ve been speaking to clients who are curious to know how this will impact their ability to hire. Not all employers are in a position to put recruitment on hold and wait for this strange time to be a distant memory. In fact, some are using this as their chance to have their pick of the strongest candidates in the market.  We’re going to talk you through the changes in the

Responding to news that the Department for Work and Pensions has suspended until 10th May deductions from Universal Credit payments for rent arrears, service charge arrears and council tax arrears Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association said:  “At such a difficult time the priority should be to do everything possible to prevent tenants getting into rent arrears in the first place by ensuring tenants are able to continue paying their rent in full. “This means that the

QUESTION Our block of 100+ flats has two leaseholder companies 1) The superior landlord which owns the Freehold and Head Lease (Leaseholders Company LC) and 2) a Right to Manage company (RTMC) which appoints the Managing Agents and deals with the management of the block. These were set up to provide checks and balances and try to guard against predatory activity either internal or external. One director from each board sits on the other ex-officio. The directors are neighbours, sometimes friends, and have

Law firm Royds Withy King sets out its recommendations for the Government to restart the UK housing market once the lockdown restrictions are lifted. A Stamp Duty holiday should, says Tim Bunting, an Associate in the Residential Property team at Royds Withy King, be extended to benefit not just first-time buyers, but those looking to move up the property ladder, and property investors. Tim comments: “First time buyers, or the sub-£250,000 market, clearly need to continue to benefit from any stamp duty hol

Wise Living, one of the UK’s largest BTR (build-to-rent) specialists, has seen a spike in lettings across all its schemes, including the iconic Mansfield Brewery redevelopment, The Old Brewery. Wise Living believes the lockdown is helping drive unprecedented demand for these properties for a variety of reasons; the shift in market demand, potential tenants having extra time on their hands to research local properties and PRS tenants realising their current home is not quite what they are looking for, lead