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The leasehold system has come under an intense spotlight over the past two years with a clear consensus emerging that measured reforms are required to bring the regulations around the tenure into the 21st Century. This sentiment has been fuelled largely by the issue of onerous ground rents, which while only affecting a small fraction of the UK’s four million leaseholders, has been a systemic failure which the media, industry stakeholders and policymakers have attempted to address. There is no doubt that t

Equistone Partners Europe Limited (“Equistone”), the European mid-market private equity investor, announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire FirstPort, a leading UK residential property management company, from Epiris and Chamonix Private Equity. Following this change of ownership, FirstPort’s incumbent management team will remain invested in the business and continue to pursue the same customer-focused strategy. The financial terms of the deal are undisclosed and completion of the transaction r

Decisions concerning the new Telecoms Code are now being issued thick and fast by the Tribunal, with three decisions in April 2019 and one in May 2019. We explore the new decisions below to find out what they mean for landowners.  Of the April decisions, two touch on the same point; whether Code rights could be ordered to be granted over land already occupied for the purpose (in specific factual circumstances), with the third dealing with rights to require apparatus to be removed to facilitate access to a

Based within property management company FirstPort’s Greater London region, Mark will be leading a team of Development and Property Managers from Heathrow to Dartford. He previously worked as an Area Manager for FirstPort’s Retirement division where he worked in Ramsgate and Sydenham  for four years. Prior to this he was a Store Manager for Dunelm, for six years. Nygel Scourfield, Managing Director of Property Services for FirstPort said: “Mark’s appointment from retirement to the Property Services divisi

It’s been a long haul since the High Town fire in 2010 but the public will finally get to see what Elevate Property Group has achieved at Alban House in Hereford when the show apartment opens to the public on Saturday 13 July. The £7 million development of 18 penthouses, apartments and townhouses has been engineered from the charred remains of what was left of 16-18 High Town after a devastating fire swept through the two Grade II listed buildings on Thursday 21 October 2010. The original buildings, which

Inspired Property Management (IPM) one of the leading providers of block property management services across the UK celebrates its 10th anniversary with the launch of a bespoke new App and the expansion of their head office in Doncaster.   IPM was launched in 2009 by David Poppleton, Andrew Poppleton and Danielle Parker who have established a thriving business with over 80 team members, managing over 500 developments nationally.   IPM has ambitious plans to continue their impressive growth, aiming to incr

Property management firm PM Legal Services has boosted its team after a series of staff developments at the firm. Jonathan Cass is the newest addition to PM Legal Services and Solicitor Asia Munir has been promoted to associate. Jonathan joins PM Legal as a senior litigator after a spell at a firm in Nottingham and brings with him over 13 years of experience in property litigation for commercial and residential properties. Experienced solicitor Jonathan, who is also a member of the Property Litigation Ass

The winners of the annual ARMA (the Association of Residential Managing Agents) ACE Awards were revealed at a glittering ceremony at Tobacco Dock in London’s east end on Friday (5th July 2019). Attended by 500 property professionals, the Awards celebrate excellence and exceptional achievement by the UK's leading residential managing agents, their suppliers and the work of their people in improving the lives of over a million leaseholders across the country.   The 18 winners were announced following a rigo

Churchill Retirement Living and its management company Millstream Management Services have been awarded a ‘Mark of Distinction’ by Keep Me Posted, recognising their commitment to providing Customers with paper copies of all bills and correspondence. Churchill is the first housebuilder to be awarded the ‘Best Practice’ Mark of Distinction. The retirement specialist and its management arm have over 8,500 customers and apartment Owners across the UK who will see their right to receive paper bills and corresp

Independent award winning property consultancy, Pennycuick Collins, has announced the promotion of two of its staff drawn from the residential and Building Consultancy teams. Chartered Building surveyor, David Baker, is promoted to Associate Director, whilst Neil Randle becomes a Senior Property Manager in the Residential Lettings and Management team.  David joined the firm in 2004 and oversees major works and the cyclical maintenance work at management portfolios of longstanding clients of the firm.  Nei

Mark Chick, ALEP Director, and Partner and Bishop & Sewell, said:   "The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) has reviewed Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) summary document in response to the technical consultation ‘Implementing reforms to the leasehold system in England’, published on 27th June 2019.   “Leasehold enfranchisement has been in the spotlight now for many months, and with the furore surrounding this issue it is crucial that leaseholders

Q: Do I need permission to extend my lease? If you are a tenant of a qualifying long lease of a house or a flat, and you have been a tenant/legal owner for at least two years, then you have the right to apply for an extension of your lease. A long lease is a lease granted for more than 21 years. You will need to serve a “notice of tenant’s claim” on the Landlord informing them of your desire to extend the lease and request their permission. An alternative to this would be to negotiate with the Landlord di