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"A paradox, That most ingenious paradox! We've quips, and quibbles heard in flocks, But none to beat that paradox!" Gilbert and Sullivan words could be describing the "Paradox" facing the Law Commission's Terms of Reference which seeks to satisfy opposing interests: "set out the options for reducing the premium payable by existing and future leaseholders to enfranchise, whilst ensuring sufficient compensation is paid to landlords to reflect their legitimate property interests;" in addition, they have been

Do you manage a block (or blocks) fitted with a fire alarm system?  If so, to remain compliant with British Standard 5839 you should be testing the system every week. In my experience this is simply not happening. It is unrealistic to expect property managers to visit all their sites weekly to test the fire alarm is in good working order.  And paying for a ‘skilled person’ to carry out these tests can prove expensive over the course of a year.  However, these arguments won’t wash if you find yourself invo

Earl Kendrick Associates are delighted to announce the appointment of two new Directors for the South and North regions respectively. Zoë Walheim MRICS and Andrew Banister MRICS have been spearheading Earl Kendrick’s expansion in the past two years, with new regional offices in Brighton and Manchester, which are now separate companies under the EKA umbrella. In recognition of their success, Zoë Walheim becomes our Regional Director – South, while Andrew Banister is our Regional Director – North.   The Bri

Gemma Price has been appointed head of property management at residential property manager urbanbubble. With more than 20 years of experience across a wide range of business sectors including property, leisure and hospitality, Gemma joins the Manchester-based business from her role as head of operations at Recom Solutions and a director at Hardcastle and Hogarth Ltd. Prior to her three years at Recom, Gemma spent seven years at commercial property group Bruntwood in a head of property role. Her role at ur

FirstPort has made senior appointments in two customer-focused areas of its business to continue to drive forward the highest standards of service for customers and clients. Heidi Stephenson (LLB MSc) has joined FirstPort as Director of the Luxury portfolio. She brings with her 20 years’ experience in residential Property Management, 15 years of which were spent at one of the UK’s most luxury brands, Harrods. As Associate Director, she was part of the Senior Management Team for Harrods Estates Asset Manag

Brethertons LLP has again been recommended in practice areas in both the Chambers & Partners UK 2019 and the Legal 500 2018, with a notable seven lawyers receiving individual rankings. This year Brethertons has been ranked in the practice areas of Family, Personal Injury, Employment, Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate, Corporate and Commercial, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Property, Real Estate, Real Estate Litigation, Debt Recovery, Property Litigation, IT and Telecoms and Intellectual Property.  

Time is one of the most valuable things within a business and over the past decade more and more employers in different sectors have been using video interviews as their initial approach to potential employees. It’s a technique that can save employers time, money and any scheduling issues with their working day. For an employer it’s an easy way to sift through candidates quickly and efficiently. Using first impressions and strategic questions can be a time saving activity. Scheduling for a video call is m

ARMA has radically overhauled its professional training programme in the face of government proposals for property professionals to hold recognised qualifications. The new programme goes hand in hand with ARMA’s core aim of raising the standards in property management. The training covers all areas of residential leasehold management, legal, health & safety and fire management, accounting, insurance, RMC and RTM company management, site staff, human resources and general interest. ARMA continually updates

The industry’s first property management franchise scheme, SDL Property Partners celebrated its ‘first birthday’ in style at an exclusive Central London location on Friday 12th October. The event which took place at the RAF Club in London’s Mayfair, celebrated all of the year’s achievements with the SDL Property Partners team and the scheme’s franchisees. As this event was held during the same week as World Mental Health Day (Wednesday 10th October), the day’s agenda reflected this. There was a seminar se

Thanks to the efforts of Lodge Managers, Owners and Colleagues around the country, Millstream Management Services and the Churchill Foundation raised a total of over £35,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support by supporting its World’s Biggest Coffee Morning campaign. Over 100 Millstream-managed developments took part by hosting coffee mornings, cake sales, bake-off competitions and raffles to help support the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning campaign. Lodge Managers and Owners all joined in the fundraising effort

The Law Commission recently proposed a series of reforms designed to tackle certain issues in the leasehold market with the view of making the lease extension and freehold acquisition process, known as enfranchisement, more efficient.  In addition, the Law Commission were specifically asked to provide options to reduce the price payable by leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease whilst also ensuring adequate compensation is paid to landlords in respect of their property interests. Arguab

There are some terrific block management companies across the country, all striving to serve a wide range of clients whilst keeping an unlimited number of balls in the air. Though PropTech – a forthcoming BBL Blog subject – is having a big impact on block management at the moment, without personnel, managing agents don’t have a business at all. Interview Checklist  So as an employer, you are looking for talented staff – typically operational property managers or accounts team members. They aren’t necessar