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Licence to alter can often seem like an awful lot of trouble over what might appear to be a trivial matter. Leaseholders tend to think of themselves as home owners with the right to do what they like to their own properties, even if that’s technically not the case.  And managing agents typically have enough on their plates that they’d rather not go looking for trouble. But turning a blind eye to unlicensed works is a mistake. Potentially a very big mistake. The whole point of licence to alter is to protec

Despite record-breaking heat and travel disruption, Thursday the 25th July saw colleagues from across the country convening for the second annual northern property social event. Organised by Liverpool based property solicitors JB Leitch and held in the open rooftop bar at Manchester’s acclaimed El Gato Negro restaurant, guests were able to share industry insights, ideas and opinions over informal drinks and award winning tapas. With members of JB Leitch's real estate, litigation and commercial departments

If you’re involved in managing a property, you’ll know only too well that the to-do list is very often half a mile long. So, the idea of handing some, or all, of the responsibility over to a property management company is very attractive.    Finding a team of people that you can work with continually, and who you can trust to take care of the issues you present them with, however, can be a challenge. There also must be communication and honesty between both parties if the relationship is to succeed.    Th

Liverpool based property solicitors JB Leitch are enjoying award success, having received industry accolades for two leading lights in July. The Property Management 50, managed by the Flat Living and Property Management Recruitment team, recognises individual excellence within the property management sector across a range of categories, in addition to highlighting those who are setting the standards. Hot on the heels of receiving a prominent Women of Influence listing in the sector media, business develop

The Labour party has unveiled its proposals for reform of the leasehold sector. Their title “Ending the Scandal – Labour’s New Deal for Leaseholders” gives a clue as to the direction of travel they are consulting around. They summarise their proposals as follows: 1. To end the sale of new houses on a leasehold basis straight away and the sale of flats in this way by the end of their first term. 2. To ban ground rents for new leasehold homes and cap those for existing leaseholders at 0.1% of the property v

Principle Estate Management has become the UK’s fastest growing residential estate management business just over a year after its launch. The company opened for business in May 2018 at Cornwall House in Lionel Street, Birmingham – although it has a growing portfolio of properties in London, the south east, south west, south and north of England, as well as across the Midlands. From a standing start, the business now manages over 100 developments across the country with its next milestone being 3,500 units

Realty Management have been voted as the highly commended winner of Larger sized Managing Agent of the Year 2019 in the UK at the annual Association of Residential Managing Agents' (ARMA) ACE awards. The winners of the awards were revealed at a glittering ceremony on Friday 5th July 2019 at Tobacco Dock in London’s east end.  Attended by 500 industry professionals, the Awards celebrate excellence and exceptional achievement by the UK's leading residential managing agents, partners and suppliers, and the w

The great news is that if you had bought a flat in a development run by a Residents Management Company, you arguably have the most control over the future management of your property. Given the current discussion regarding freeholders, ground rents and government regulation, this can only be a positive for you. In this article, we are going to explain what a residents management company is and 5 ways for you to get the most from yours. Let’s start with the basics, what is a Residents Management Company? A

The term 'leasehold reform' is most commonly being used to refer to the government's current proposals to rework enfranchisement and commonhold legislation. However, in fact the proposed changes go even deeper into the leasehold system than might first be apparent, with the most recent consultation focusing upon the private rented sector in particular. Firstly, and to understand why the current proposals may seem unprogressive, it helps to remind ourselves of some key dates in the evolution of private sec

Industry-leading repairs and maintenance management software provider, Fixflo, launched an annual leasehold and block management survey on 22 July, 2019, amidst the controversial discussions about commonhold and the overall leasehold reform.   The Fixflo Leasehold and Block Management Market Report 2019 aims to understand the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for property professionals in the sector. With a myriad of external challenges such as leasehold reform, the regulation of managing agen

A case that The Property Ombudsman was asked to review came from a leaseholder.  The agent was instructed by the freeholder to provide a management service in respect of the block in which the property was situated. Installation of water meters The leaseholder complained that the agent did not consult her about the installation of communal water meters, saying that the agent did not provide clear responses in a timely manner to her queries about the installation of the meters and the effect this would hav

Surveying and property management firm Scanlans has strengthened its Leeds office with two appointments.   The new recruits are property manager Shabnam Shahid and commercial surveyor Mark Williams, who each have extensive experience of the Yorkshire market. Shabnam has joined Scanlans from Leeds-based Watson Property Management, where she worked for more than five years.   Mark has moved from Dacres Commercial, which has six offices in Yorkshire. The appointments come amid strong growth for Scanlans. The