Featured Articles

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

Like all UK industries, property is impacted by COVID-19 and the effect of the gradual lifting of lockdown on the way it works. But despite this ‘new normal’, we cannot ignore our sector’s other key issues. For property managers, the pandemic has elevated customer service to prime position and technology is now key to the ways in which our customers’ property journey can be enabled and enhanced.  In response, today the Institute of Residential Property Management (IRPM) publishes the fourth part of its 20

SiteSales Property Group and Strettons have announced the formation of a joint venture which is a partnership to provide an end-to-end new build development consultancy, marketing and sales service. The partnership will bring together the vast experience of two specialist companies and provide market-facing advice and expertise gained from decades in dealing with substantial residential-led development sites. Their combined work will expand each independent firm’s service offering to help bring more value

Leaseholders can acquire management functions of their building in place of the landlord/management company where the building qualifies and there are sufficient numbers of tenants of “flats”.  A recent case shows that flats can be units that are not traditional family homes. Background Qualifying leaseholders in a building can take control of the management of the building (the Right to Manage “RTM”), using a company set up by them for this purpose (“RTM Company”).  If successful, control of functions su

“We are very excited to have James join us at JSR, he brings with him years of experience and will no doubt be an asset to the company. His expertise and success in placing site staff all over the UK, will compliment our market leading delivery of property management recruitment.” Stuart Jackson