Featured Articles

Winckworth Sherwood Partner, Mark Vinall, discusses how flat owners exercising their right to a new longer lease may be paying a premium to the landlord. This is made up of the reduction in the landlord’s interest that flows from the extension and, where the outstanding term of the lease is below 80 years, the landlord’s 50% share of marriage value. To estimate the marriage value, the worth of the flat on its existing short lease and with the extended lease needs to be evaluated. The comparative values ar

Leading residential property management company, Rendall & Rittner, is pleased to announce that it is strengthening its business portfolio by expanding its Right to Manage (RTM) offering. The initiative, which was introduced by the Commonhold & Leasehold Reform Act in 2002, provides leaseholders with the right to acquire their landlord’s management functions allowing them to take control of the running of their apartment building. In order for an RTM claim to be successful the correct procedure must be fo

Issue 104 of News on the Block has now been published. This issues includes some of the following articles:  - Developers under fire in uncapped fees row  - Professor James Driscoll dies  - Is the block management business model broken? - Looking ahead to tomorrow’s world! The ARMA Conference 2019 included a packed programme - Can the on-site team run the show? - Alteration altercations! There are times when a Retrospective Licence to Alter is the answer - Are you aware of regulation?  - Property M

Property management firm PM Legal Services has strengthened its team with six new appointments following a period of growth for the firm. Charlotte John, Jessica Feltham, Yasmin Taylor and Courtney Tabor have been appointed as senior paralegals. Evie Britton and Luke Evans have also been appointed as paralegals. Partner Cassandra Zanelli said: “I’m excited to welcome our six new paralegals to PM Legal, especially as investing new talent into our firm will be extremely beneficial to follow the recent growt

There’s no doubt 2019 has been a busy year! We’ve responded to Government consultations, studied in detail MHCLG guidance notes, read the comprehensive Law Commission reports, kept up-to-date with legislative changes and learnt lessons from appeal cases decided, and much more.  As a lawyer, I’ve found the case law this year interesting. That’s not to say 2018 or previous years were dull, but it has not just been the usual suspect RTM or service charge cases; we’ve had some interesting cases and trends are

In December 2018, the Government issued Advice Note 14 (AN14) for anyone responsible for, or advising on, the fire safety of external wall cladding systems on residential buildings over 18m in height that do not incorporate Aluminium Composite Material (ACM), such as that found in Grenfell.  The emphasis was on combustible systems such as wood and High-Pressure Laminate (HPL) installations.  Although only an Advice Note this document is causing issues in the sale and re-mortgage of leasehold flats in affe

Property management has vast challenges, but retention of clients in the current financial and fast-moving environment takes hard work, and attention to detail.    Clive Winton is now in his tenth year with Crabtree, and to date his portfolio of clients remains intact from when he was first appointed as their property manager.    How has he achieved this?  This is Clive’s story   Clive worked in the city for 36 years. His involvement in property management started as a Finance Director in the property whe

James Brewer has recently joined Coyle Personnel to head up their newly formed Residential Property Management division. With a primary focus on site based positions, James is able to assist with anything from Cleaners and Caretakers to Building and Estate Managers, on both a temporary and permanent basis. If you are a Property Manager in need of expert advice on your on-site recruitment needs, you can contact James by clicking here.

This case (Aldford House Freehold Limited V Grosvenor (Mayfair) Estate and another 2019] EWHC 1848) concerns a block of flats facing Park Lane near the Dorchester Hotel. A number of flat owners sought to collectively acquire the freehold interest. To do so notice must be given by qualifying flat owners holding at least half of the number of flats in the building. So it was essential to establish how many flats were in existence at the point the notice was given. The tenants decided there were 26 flats as

An extra full-time property inspector has been recruited to join Principle Estate Management to help manage the company’s fast-growing portfolio. Matt Hill’s new role was created after the number of developments the Birmingham-based company manages across the country reached more than 150 since its launch in Spring 2018. Principle’s property inspection team is already using the Qube site inspection app to make thorough inspections of all properties, normally every six weeks for all apartment developments.

QUESTION The lease for my flat contains the following clause :-   “Not at any time during the Term:   underlet the Demised Premises without the prior written consent of the Manager or its agents ( such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed ) PROVIDED ALWAYS that such underletting shall be by means of an assured shorthold tenancy agreement or any other form of agreement which does not create any rights of tenancy for the tenant after the term of any such agreement shall have expired” .  

Flat owners exercising their enfranchisement rights, i.e. to acquire a new lease alone or the freehold collectively, have to protect their position by applying to the Tribunal for it to determine the terms absent an agreement having been reached within a period of six months from the landlord’s counter notice being given. Negotiations will continue alongside Tribunal proceedings. The Tribunal gives parties the opportunity to have the proceedings held in abeyance for a period of three months to give more t