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The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP), has reported a significant increase in interest as the COVID-19 lockdown gives leaseholders time to review their lease extension.  ALEP's website has experienced a major spike in traffic since the beginning of March as leaseholders, and freeholders, find out more about enfranchisement options and source accredited practitioners.   Clare Grove, ALEP’s Marketing Manager, said: "We have seen a consistent increase in web visitors since the loc

At present, Covid-19 presents a huge challenge to the UK property industry but, despite the lockdown, we cannot ignore our sector’s other biggest issue – building safety. Post-Grenfell, safety in the residential block sector is being completely overhauled and many of the recommendations coming from the Hackitt Review hinge on data collection and management.  With this in mind, today the Institute of Residential Property Management (IRPM) publishes Who shares Wins: the impact of technology on building safe

Earl Kendrick Building Surveyors are offering complimentary CPD training for property managers. With the majority of people now working from home, EK thought some complimentary remote CPD surveying sessions would be a useful training tool to help clients and colleagues in the industry reach their RICS and IRPM CPD requirements. For more information, to see the full April schedule and to register please click here.

Prioritising resident safety: What agents, operators and landlords need to consider in respect of COVID-19 Oversubscribed with more than 1,000 property professionals registered, the first webinar in Fixflo's COVID-19 series on 2nd April 2020 saw David Smith (Partner, JMW Solicitors) and Rajeev Nayyar (MD, Fixflo) address key concerns for operators, landlords and managing agents looking after residents in rented homes. Watch the full recording and catch up on expert advice around company policies, maint

Flexible judicial deployment deals with the longstanding problem of what has officially been described by “legal ping-pong”, where courts and tribunals transfer and re-transfer cases back and forth, confusing both parties and their legal advisers in equal measure.  The basic premise with ‘double hatting’ is that all aspects of a dispute are determined on the same day by a judge wearing the different jurisdictional ‘hats’ of a County Court Judge and a Tribunal Judge. The idea is to simplify matters, reduce

Homeowners looking to sell properties as soon as the COVID-19 crisis is over can look to these tips for getting properties market ready. From choosing a trusted agent and legal partner, to researching your local housing market and decluttering, the conveyancing experts at JMP Solicitors, have compiled a list of top tips to get your home primed for sale. Head of residential conveyancing, Jacqui Harley, said: “If you’re now waiting to put your home on the market, use this time wisely to get ready for when t

Bolt Burdon will be hosting a series of virtual interactive informal online discussions with the opportunity to ‘ask the expert’ offering a platform to share knowledge, ideas, enthusiasm and positivity in these challenging times! Each session will be focused on a different topic starting from the 27th April  as set out below: Monday 27th April at 2.00pm - Site Acquisitions and Construction Considerations Tuesday 28th April at 2.00pm - Development Finance Wednesday 29th April at 2.00pm - Plot re-sales and

Since the Grenfell disaster there has been a question in a lot of property owners and occupiers’ minds about the safety of the building that they live in.  Now owners of property in high rise blocks are also being left in a difficult position of owning a property that is not mortgageable, preventing them from moving or re-mortgaging.    Current Guidance The Government intends to introduce a Fire Safety Bill to clarify the duties of the responsible person for multi-occupied residential buildings under the

Barratt Developments Plc is donating 400 defibrillators from its sites across the UK to help in the fight against coronavirus. DWNW - Defibrillators donated by homebuilder David Wilson Homes North West The company is donating the defibrillators, usually used on its construction sites, to St John Ambulance. Amongst the contribution are 21 defibrillators from Barratt and David Wilson Homes North West's developments across Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside which have been safely hand-delivered to the healt

Landlords are calling for a six month extension to the validity of all gas and electrical safety certificates to cover for the impact of the coronavirus. This comes in response to a survey showing that 38 per cent of landlords are struggling to source maintenance contractors to undertake required work and just over a third are having difficulties undertaking work in their properties because of either themselves, or their tenants, self-isolating. With tenants also concerned about letting people into their

Principle Estate Management has appointed an experienced property manager to look after some of its larger and more complex developments. Stephen Downing’s new role was created after the number of developments the Birmingham-based company manages across the country reached more than 200. Mr Downing is Principle’s third recruit of 2020 and takes the company’s staff numbers up to 21, including three consultants. He has nearly 14 years multidisciplinary experience in the property sector, including his most r

When a settlement is reached at a mediation the parties will look to confirm this in writing. Usually this is done by what both agree is a binding document. However, sometimes what is signed is labelled ‘Heads of Terms’. These are often interpreted as ‘agreements to agree’ and treated as not being binding. In Abberley & Ors v Abberley [2019] EWHC 1564 (Ch) His Honour Judge Jarman QC had to decide whether heads of terms signed at a mediation were binding The mediation.  This was a family dispute relating t