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Whether you’re a graduate just starting out in your career or an experienced professional looking to move up another rung on the ladder, there are so many things you can do to help boost your prospects and stand out from the crowd. Here, Deverell Smith Director and Head of Property Management, Emma Timothy, offers her top tips for those looking to make their mark in the block management sector.   QUALIFICATIONS An ideal place to start is by increasing your knowledge through industry-recognised qualificati

McDowalls Surveyors have today announced that Colin Horton will be leaving the firm at the beginning of next month. Chris Baker owner of McDowalls has stated:  “Colin has decided to leave McDowalls and set up his own company. Whilst this was not what I had originally planned for the firm, I do understand Colin’s ambition and desire to make this new venture happen. I would like to thank him for his time with my firm and wish him every success in the future. The valuation team at McDowalls will now be hea

A property firm is celebrating after seeing its first female graduate qualify as a chartered surveyor.    Bosses at Croydon-based Leasehold Valuers were delighted when Joanna Stephenson became a qualified surveyor and a Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS).   Joanna becomes a part of a profession that is made up of just 13 per cent of women in the UK.   She said: “There is clearly a real shortage of women entering the surveying profession, particularly in leasehold reform, so I'm v

Adults in the UK lose more than 84m hours of sleep every week because of noisy neighbours, new research claims.   A quarter of adults are being deprived of 6.5 hours of sleep every week — the equivalent of one night’s sleep — thanks to their neighbour’s noise, the Churchill Home Insurance survey found.    Men lose more sleep than women, the figures claim, with a majority of 43 per cent singling out bass-driven music as the most annoying sound. This was followed by couples arguing!   Women find DIY activit

A law firm has launched a one-stop shop to make it more cost effective for flat owners to extend their leases.   Winckworth Sherwood has partnered with valuers to offer all the advice owners need in one bundle for a fixed fee.   A spokesman for the company, which has offices in London, Oxford and Manchester, said the idea was to make it as easy and cheap as possible for flat owners to exercise their right to a new lease where the premium was moderate and there were no complicating factors.   He added: “Fl

A man accidentally burnt down his apartment as he tried to kill a spider by setting fire to it.   The resident in California had spotted a large wolf spider and used a torch lighter to destroy the creature, which then scuttled under a mattress and went up into flames.   A fire official said that residents had tried to extinguish the fire with a garden hose, but their efforts were unsuccessful. The blaze caused approximately £8,100 worth of damage.

A newlywed couple claim they are trapped in their home after discovering a legal clause in their lease that means ground rent will double every 10 years.   Nathan and Tasha Stewart put their house in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on the market last October – four years after buying the new build property from Taylor Wimpey.   After accepting an offer, the couple were told that the buyer’s solicitor had asked for a sales pack from the ground rent company and uncovered the clause.   Nathan said: “The solicitor tol

Battersea Power Station — which is being transformed into luxury apartments, offices and a shopping and leisure complex — is about to be bought in the UK’s biggest ever property deal.   Two Malaysian state-backed funds have said they will pay £1.6bn for the iconic building, which will provide a much-needed cash injection as its completion has been hampered by delays and increased costs.   Asset management group Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) plans to buy the building with pension fund Employees Providen

Residents at a block of flats in South London that is fitted with the same cladding as Grenfell Tower are being asked to pay more than £30,000 each to replace it.   Leaseholders of the Citiscape block have said they have been handed a combined bill of £2m to remove the aluminiumcomposite material (ACM) panels, which are thought to have helped spread the horrific fire.   The owner of the building — which is one of 228 to fail combustibility tests — said they were not responsible for the cost of replacing t

Leasehold houses and flats have had a lot of coverage in the press recently culminating in the report prepared for Sajid Javid (Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) on abuses of the leasehold system in the housing market. As a result of all this coverage, more and more people are becoming aware of the length of their lease and that maybe it is not as long as they thought it was. Here are five good reasons why you should consider extending your lease: 1.  A lease is a diminishing asset

QUESTION I am the Chairman, of a Residents Association that manages a 17 apartment, 6 floor, leasehold block, with a share of the freehold. One of the lessees wants to have a Labrador dog and has asked for my opinion. The lease, common to all, has a paragraph which relates to dogs which doesn’t appear to forbid dogs nor does it allow them: ‘Not to keep or allow to be kept any bird dog or other animal in or upon the said flat or garage which may cause damage nuisance or annoyance to the lessees or other oc

The Court of Appeal has just dismissed the eagerly awaited appeal of the decision in Mundy v The Trustees of the Sloane Stanley Estate. Consequently, valuers should continue following the guidance set out in the Upper Tribunal’s decision. Leaseholders with less than 80 years remaining on their lease will feel the pinch but landlords should see a benefit following the dismissal. Mundy concerned the valuation of a lease extension under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, specificall