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More than a thousands front doors in a London borough designed to protect residents from fire could be faulty after failing safety tests.   Hackney Council commissioned fire resistance testing on its door stock back in April, similar to the testing which revealed that Grenfell Tower’s doors failed under test conditions after just 15 minutes.   The so-called FD30S door is meant to keep smoke and flames at bay for at least 30 minutes. After the tests, the council has revealed that 16,000 doors are to be rep

Savvy landlords are turning to social media to screen tenants before letting them rent their property.   New data from Foundation Home Loans has found that sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram could reveal valuable insight into how people would be as tenants.   The research said that it is the first port of call for an estimated 11% of landlords.   Depending on the accounts available, information that could be gathered from social media could include everything from job and career histo

MRI Software (“MRI”), a global leader in real estate software solutions, announces the acquisition of Thesaurus Technology, the UK-based provider of cloud-based, self-service software for residential sales and lettings agents. The acquisition, revealed today at MRI’s International Users Conference in London, enhances the company’s technology choices for residential property agents, developers, owners and investors in the UK, from smaller-scale systems for local businesses up to fully-tailored, enterprise-

Aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding – which covered Grenfell – is just one of many high-risk concerns that residents, freeholders and managing agents should be aware of. But the narrow focus on this type of cladding has distracted the size of the issue. As consultants specialising in the area of façade combustibility, the industry often finds a lack of information available to help people understand their buildings’ external fire risk or its compliance with legislation. How do I know if my façade

Issue 98 of News on the Block has now been published. This issues includes some of the following articles:  Property Management Awards 2018 Winners feature  A better deal for leaseholders?   What you need to know about cladding Warning to landlords after court ruling  Who do you think you are? Introducing psychometric profiling Industry events directory and more....!    To view this issue now, please click the download link below.

Increasingly, employers are studying the personalities and behaviours of individuals within the workplace to discover ways to maximise job performance and contribution to the organisation. Whether it is to increase personal effectiveness, team effectiveness or boost overall sales effectiveness, understanding how employees behave, react and engage with others plays a key role in the development of workplace dynamics, and the individual themselves. "We know what we are but not what we may be." – Shakespeare

Landlords who have to consider whether to grant consent to works despite there being an absolute prohibition against alterations in a tenant's lease, must take care in future. The Court of Appeal has held that a landlord of a block of flats was not entitled to grant a licence to a lessee to carry out work which would breach an absolute covenant against alterations, where the lessees of other flats could require the landlord to enforce covenants upon request. Facts In Duval v 11-13 Randolph Crescent Ltd [

Deverell Smith hosted a breakfast seminar last week at The Listing, gathering the best in the industry to discuss the recent HMRC guidance on VAT on the supply of on-site staff, a hot topic for block and property managers across the UK. Over 35 people from the Property Management, Development and Build to Rent sectors were in attendance to listen to interpretations of the guidance by the panel and to embark upon a lively debate thereafter! The event was hosted by Directors Emma Timothy and Richard Inglis

Lee Baron, the property managers, are delighted to announce that they have been appointed by Knight Dragon, the entrepreneurial urban regenerator, to provide strategic and day to day property management services and consultancy advice for their Greenwich Peninsula project. Knight Dragon are creating a cultural, art and design destination on the 150-acre site. Eventually this vibrant new neighborhood will have nearly 16,000 homes.   Initially Lee Baron will be working on the Upper Riverside neighbourhood w

Several high-value London properties are part of a major new national contract won by Principle Estate Management. Principle will be looking after  a development of apartments each worth more than £1.5 million on America Street, just off Southwark Bridge Road – near the famous Borough Market, Tate Modern art gallery and Shakespeare’s Globe theatre. Other properties in the portfolio is a mixed use development comprising a restaurant and with apartments above on Poland Street, off Oxford Street in trendy So

Block management employers want the best of both worlds. And who can blame them? The managing agent industry has, of late, been complaining of a shortage of competent and committed block property managers.  At the same time, employers want property managers who can hit the ground running and that means they need to come with block management experience. So when lettings managers are looking for a career change to ‘block’, the tendency is for employers to reject their advances rather than embrace their dif

Residential leasehold expert PM Legal Services has reinforced its commitment to developing tomorrow’s talent with a new appointment and a promotion.  The award-winning firm has taken on Chloe Quinn, a student from Doncaster charity YMCA Training which supports young people to learn the skills they need to achieve their aspirations.  Expanding the team by over 300% since its launch in February 2017, PM Legal Services has also promoted Kirsten Etheridge; another YMCA training student who has clinched the ch