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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

Leading estate agents Loveitts has welcomed a new Managing Director to guide the business through the next chapter in its 175 year history. John Pugh (who is a Chartered Surveyor and has been with the firm for 20 years) has now taken over the reins.  His aim is for Loveitts to continue to evolve and adapt to meet the ever‑increasing challenges of the property market whilst maintaining the qualities which have made the firm such a trusted institution - customer care, professionalism and honesty. John said:

The Lancashire and Cumbria branch of Women in Property is being launched this July, with its inaugural event taking place in Carlisle. The branch will be the first of its kind in the area, as part of the national organisation which seeks to enhance the profile of women in the male-dominated construction and property sectors. Property Litigation Associate Lucie Barnes from Baines Wilson has helped form the branch and is inviting people to the event on 9th July.  Lucie will be joined by inspirational guest

Property owners stuck in troublesome leasehold agreements are being supported in an innovative expert roadshow launching in Lichfield next month. It comes as some 4.3million homeowners across England are being compensated for excessive charges on their leasehold property. An increasing number of people are facing bills of thousands of pounds if they want to move or even remortgage their house or flat as their properties came with 99-year leases when they were built in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.    Many are

Principle Estate Management has won the contract to look after a development of ten luxury apartments in Solihull. The Pavilion in Knowle needed an agent who could quickly catch up on maintenance issues and was prepared to work closely with residents on planning future works. The Pavilions (Station Road) Management Company Ltd appointed Principle after being impressed by its enthusiastic and forward-thinking approach to customer service. A spokesman for the management company said: “After a through ten

Co-op Homes (part of the RHP Group) has become one of the first not-for-profit housing associations to use Fixflo, the market leading repairs and maintenance management software. This will help Co-op Homes maintain its high standards in housing management, offer increased efficiency and deliver a great customer experience.  Fixflo was launched in 2013 and has up until now worked exclusively with residential property managers, and this marks the first time that the company has partnered with a registered p

Principle Estate Management has recruited a new property assistant for its customer services department as the business continues to grow after 12 months of operations. Brett Williams launched Principle in Birmingham last year to provide a nationwide property management service and was quickly joined by directors Ian Smallman and Joe Jobson, with the business recruiting a total of 12 people in its first year. One of these recruits was Michelle Cox who joined as customer services manager earlier this year,

We are delighted to announce the winners from our 2019 Enfranchisement & Right to Manage Awards which were held at the Landmark London Hotel on 6th June 2019.    The ERMAs, which are now in our 11th year, brought together 300 people from across the industry to celebrate excellence and professionalism in the industry over the past year.   We would like to thank ALEP for all of their support on the event this year, and of course our judges and sponsors.    Congratulations to all of this year ’s winners, hig