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Fierce winds ripped a large section of roof from a block of flats in Slough which then crashed onto the town’s High Street.   Tons of debris from the block – which houses around 200 people – landed in the middle of the road as Storm Brendan whipped across the south of England on January 14.   Thames Valley Police said they believed that no-one had been injured. Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue confirmed there were no serious injuries and they had not found anyone under the rubble.    Taxi driver Haris Baig

A former office building in Kidderminster is set to be given a fresh lease of life as new homes, following a £385,000 sale deal sealed by property agents John Truslove. New owners Mario Construction have secured planning permission to convert the former BT Building, at 75 Mill Street, into single-bedroom flats. Mario Wojcik and his team aim to start work shortly on converting the distinctive three-storey office building into 13 individual apartments. Jay Mann, from Mario Construction, said: “Our main focu

ARMA (the Association of Residential Managing Agents) has announced a new insurance partnership with Insurety Limited, effective from today (8th January 2020).  Through this exciting partnership, Insurety is offering a unique range of insurance products specially designed for ARMA Members. Insurety was selected as the ARMA INSURE partner through a tender process due its expertise and fresh approach to insurance and risk management in the residential leasehold sector. The partnership will offer excellent c

Flat owners are becoming more and more aware of their right to extend their lease but there are still many flats on the market that are being sold with short leases (being those with less than 80 years).   For the seller, selling a flat with a short lease will greatly reduce the pool of prospective buyers, potentially to just cash buyers. For the buyer, buying a flat with a short lease is likely to cause significant difficulties in obtaining a mortgage because the remaining term is simply not long enough

Property management has traditionally been about the nuts and bolts. But that’s all changed now – with industry players taking a much more holistic view across business strategy, operations, communication and brand development. 2020 is going to be all about relationships for businesses and professionals operating in sector, and technology is going to play a key role in fostering those ties. In the coming year, digital innovations will help property owners and operators to drive resident engagement, keep o

Nicola Muir, Barrister at Tanfield Chambers and member of Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) has stated that the current leasehold legislation is responsible for causing hostility and disputes during the enfranchisement process, due to strict requirements and draconian punishments.   Muir has welcomed proposals from the Law Commission which, if adopted, could benefit both leaseholders and freeholders when going through enfranchisement.   Nicola said: “The current system cr

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