Featured Articles

The Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) has reviewed the Law Commission’s consultation paper ‘Leasehold home ownership: buying your freehold or extending your lease’ published on 20th September.    Mark Chick, ALEP Director, and Partner and Bishop & Sewell commented:  “Leasehold enfranchisement has been in the spotlight now for many months, and with the furore surrounding this issue it is crucial that leaseholders are well informed and educated. ALEP welcomes the oppor

Leading trade body, the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA), has invited Cassandra Zanelli, head of PM Legal Services, to moderate at its national conference. Cassandra, who launched the award-winning firm - a division of Keebles LLP - from scratch in February 2017, is a recognised residential leasehold expert and the first UK lawyer to be appointed to ARMA’s advisory panel. ARMA’s ‘Agents for Change’ conference in London on October 18 will address key sector issues - the repercussions of th

QUESTION History I am a retired architect and I was resident director of the management company of a block of 8 flats for some 14 years and now assist the new directors with advice after my retirement as director 2 years ago. One of the residents acquired her one-bedroom flat some 20 years ago which included a loft space inserted by the previous owner. There is no record of request for or of approval by the directors at that time to the extension and the use of the loft as a bedroom has been allowed to ha

Scanlans has secured property management deals at two new developments in Greater Manchester. The group has been appointed to manage Broughton Place in Salford on behalf of the Bahraini-based developer Awal Investment and The Red House in Swinton for Bridgwater Property Development. Broughton Place is a three-storey gated development comprising 34 flats of one, two and three bedrooms, with communal gardens. Located on Lower Broughton Road, it is Awal Investment’s first project in England. All of the flats

The industry’s first property management franchise scheme, SDL Property Partners has gone strength to strength within its first year of launch, and its franchisees are no different. Sam Kamara, a franchisee based in the Croydon area, has 15 years’ worth of experience within the property industry. He has decided to put this to good use and become his own boss by starting his own business. This has proved to be a good move as Sam has already successfully secured two management instructions in central London

Following its purchase by leading managing agent Rendall & Rittner, Braemar Estates will become Rendall & Rittner creating one fully integrated business. Rendall & Rittner acquired Manchester-based managing agents, Braemar Estates, at the end of last year, bringing the group’s total portfolio of managed properties to more than 60,000 across the UK. Initially, the two companies were operating under their own names, but the move to unite them as Rendall & Rittner allows the company to grow nationally under

Principle Estate Management has won the contract to manage a highly regarded apartment block in Walsall. The company has been appointed by Fishers, a lettings agent based in Harborne, Birmingham, to look after Melrose Court on Mellish Road, near Walsall town centre. Melrose Court is a three-storey property containing 21 flats that was built around 18 years ago by Kendrick Homes. Fishers – which has been operating for over 100 years – does not undertake block management but one of their clients owns Melros

Rendall & Rittner, a leading managing agent, is proud to announce it has been awarded a Platinum accolade - the Investors in People (IIP) standard, and is in third place, out of only 18 real estate companies in the UK to be awarded this level, demonstrating the commitment to high performance through its good people management. The company, which currently employs 360 members of office staff and over 2,000 on-site staff at more than 60,000 residential properties throughout the UK, moved up the scale from i

Award-winning property management law firm Brady Solicitors has recruited property dispute resolution specialist, Catherine Gritt, as Head of Litigation. Catherine brings a decade of specialist property and commercial litigation expertise, including six years in the national property litigation team at Squire Patton Boggs and, most recently, at Fraser Brown solicitors in Nottingham. In her new role as Head of Litigation at Brady Solicitors, Catherine is responsible for overseeing the swift and effective r

With landlord facing seemingly unending legislation and more and more taxation it is imperative that they are able to regain possession of their property if necessary without facing scrutiny or the need to provide a reason.  Currently there is a nationwide campaign headed up by Generation Rent and supported by Salvation Army and Crisis amongst others. The campaign has over 50,000 signatures so far calling for section 21 to be scrapped. No-fault evictions Section 21 evictions, also known as no-fault evicti

Selective licensing is a location-based government provision that requires landlords in selected areas to hold licenses that enable them to legally rent their property. If your property is in an area that has implemented selective licensing then you’ll need to apply for a license.   The Housing Act 2004 gave individual councils the power to implement selective licensing. You can view the legislation in full here.   Each council will have their own scheme and will be important to find out from the local au

JPC Law is delighted to announce that it has expanded its residential and commercial real estate services through the successful acquisition of central London practice Terence St J Millett.  The Partners of Terence St J Millett; Derek Wilkinson, Paul Skilbeck, Ian Sinclair and Pauline Riley, along with their team, will continue to practice as part of the JPC Law residential real estate team, strengthening the firm’s leading expertise in high value conveyancing work. Derek Wilkinson at Terence St J Millett