Featured Articles

This year we celebrate our 30th Anniversary providing buildings insurance and associated products for flats and apartments in converted properties and purpose built blocks. During that time, we have often cautioned against underinsurance.  And it doesn’t help that there is sometimes confusion between a Buildings Declared Value (BDV) and Sum Insured, one or both of which will appear on your policy document.  Let us try and help clear up any confusion. Your Policy schedule may show two values: a Declared Va

Established contacts from more than 25 years ago have asked Principle Estate Management to look after their mixed shops and flats property development in North Worcestershire. Leonard Carver and Son, a family firm, first worked with Brett Williams, managing director of Principle, back in the 1990s, when he dealt with both transactional and management matters at their properties. Now James Carver – a chartered surveyor and third generation property professional in the family firm – has appointed Principle

Andrew Palmer has joined Kitewood as Development Director, having previously worked as a Partner and Head of Residential London at Cushman & Wakefield for 24 years.   Andrew’s experience has given him a strong exposure to both the London and South Eastern markets where he has gained a strong reputation in advisory, land delivery and client care.   His role at Kitewood is to support the continued expansion of the company by helping with the delivery of existing projects, whilst working with the team to gai

Sudbury-based property management company Block Management UK Ltd is celebrating taking on the management of its 3,800th unit this month. And they are looking to expand even more by the end of 2019. Block Management UK Ltd manages properties from Plymouth to Norwich and has a strong presence in the East of England. The company’s head office is based at Stour Valley Business Centre in Sudbury. The company focusses only on property management, which allows it to offer the expertise to effectively manage a w

A brand new property management company has been set up in a bid to shake up the industry and provide residents with a better service. Dan Robinson, Carla Bussey, Warren Wright and Freddy Hoare established LevelUP Property Management after noticing more and more leaseholders were constantly being let down and treated unfairly by block management companies. According to figures, 68% of leaseholders across the UK do not believe their managing agent could resolve issues efficiently and effectively. Conversel

Lee Baron, the property management specialists, have appointed two new property managers to work on their growing portfolio of major regeneration projects throughout the London Boroughs Zen Shaban-Rogers joins as Senior Property Manager. Zen has over six years’ experience in residential-led mixed-use development and is an Associate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a Member of the Institute of Residential Property Management. Charlie Wheaton has seven years’ experience working within the

Godwin Group has launched a new build-to-rent (BTR) brand called Core Living to build up to 2,500 homes to help ease the nation’s housing crisis. Core Living will sit under the Godwin Group brand but will only be used for BTR, which is one of the UK’s fastest growing construction sectors. The new Core Living brand follows the government’s efforts to tackle the UK’s housing shortage by defining BTR as a distinct product for the private rented sector in its National Planning Policy Framework glossary. It is

Principle Estate Management has won the contract to manage a Birmingham property group’s apartment block in the Black Country. The MIA Property Group owns Sovereign Heights, a 22-unit apartment block in Dudley, built by David Wilson Homes around 12 years ago. MIA, based in Moseley, has appointed Principle to look after the apartments along with a portfolio of 123 freehold ground rents on five additional sites across the West Midlands. Brett Williams, the managing director of Principle, sold the freeholds

When is an insurance report not an insurance report? Answer: when it’s a LOLER. It’s not the kind of riveting question that will get you going at your local pub quiz but the issue of insurance and LOLER reports is something we are asked about on a regular basis. What is an insurance report? What is a LOLER? Why do we need one? What happens if we do not have one? Let’s start with what they are. Though many people refer to insurance reports, the reality is that no such report is used in the lift industry. I

Flat owners may often wish to challenge the reasonableness of the their landlord’s management fee. Sometimes this fee will be based on the passing service charge expenditure, e.g. 20% of the same, and on others as a fixed fee perhaps with inflation proofing. They may be surprised to hear that their ability to do this is not always available; it may be closed off by the terms of their lease. This is demonstrated by the Upper Tribunal’s decision in the case of ANCHOR TRUST v LESLIE WABY & ORS (2018) UKUT 37

QUESTION I would like to ask if it is possible for a small block of 6 flats under the umbrella of 30 flat, to buy the freehold of a block separately. ANSWER The wording of the question does not allow for the exact structure of this block to be determined, and it is therefore difficult to provide a specific response to your reader. It would appear, given that your reader has identified that the 6 flats form a small block, that use of the phrase 'under the umbrella of' signifies a small block that is attac

Over the past 8 years, in my position as the Estate Manager at a well-known retirement development in Chelsea, West London, I have long recognised the importance of a Residents’ Association. Residents’ Associations (RA’s) are an important asset for Customers, Property Managers, Managing Agents and Landlords. If you haven’t yet realised this, take my advice and set one up, or encourage your customers to form one. The formation of a residents’ association is a simple process, which requires a group of inter