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Kamal Baines, 51, a property manager from Birkby is on trial charged with manslaughter after two children died in a house fire in February 2016. Baines is accused of failing to install smoke alarms, despite repeated requests to do so. The house fire was "eminently avoidable", had the letting agent provided smoke alarms, a court has heard. The deaths of the young brothers, three-year old Logan Taylor and two-year old Jake Casey, may have been prevented if Bains had not allegedly neglected the requests of t

Joyful support for England in the World Cup has been shown by a scaffolding team who have covered a block of flats with a giant flag in Hove, East Sussex. It took a week for ten men, involving staff of Seasons Scaffolding and owner, Steve Easons, to measure and assemble a 120ft by 60ft flag out of white and red safety netting. They then cloaked the staging area around Albany Towers, St Catherine’s Terrace. The display was the ideal way to show England support, Mr Easons said before the game against Colomb

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 6th July 2018.  Attended by more than 500 industry 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

Jackson Sims Recruitment are pleased to announce that John Ward MIRPM AssocRICS will be joining as Consultancy Director.  Stuart Jackson, Director said: "John has worked in the property industry for twelve years, working on the property management side as well as client. He was previously heading up the estate operation department client for the largest London developer, prior to starting his own successful lease and management consultancy business. As a Consultancy Director John understands first hand w

It is estimated that there are more than 300 flags covering a block of flats in Bermondsey, south London. Almost every flat balcony on the Kirby Estate is said to be emblazoned with a St George’s Cross. Excluding the bunting, there are 222 England flags. It all started a few years ago when Geraldine Howard, local resident, erected an England flag which was soon followed by neighbours as more and more added to the sea of flags. The move was said to be ‘embraced’ and welcomed with ‘good community spirit’ by

Abbatt Property Services, a property recruitment agency specialising in on-site staffing, won the award ‘ARMA Partner of the Year’ at the ARMA Ace awards on Friday 6th July. Held at the astonishing Tobacco Dock for the second year running, more than 500 industry professionals attended. 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 coun

Two common themes for me are customer experience and community spirit.  These are matters for all aspects of life but are exacerbated when it comes to communal living of any sort.  The number of clips on the internet of people overreacting, bullying, arguing, and incident rage are extraordinary.  Of course, from any totally objective perspective, it is easy to be rational or controlled.  However, when caught up in a moment rationality tends to disappear faster than Boris Johnson for a Heathrow runway vote

Property management and surveying firm Scanlans has bolstered its Manchester team with the appointment of Andrew Ashworth as a senior surveyor. Andrew, 33, has joined Scanlans from Nolan Redshaw, where he began his career as a graduate surveyor in 2008. He qualified as a registered valuer with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 2013. Andrew said: “Joining Scanlans is a brilliant career move for me. The opportunity to join one of the most respected consultancies in the region is very exciting

A specialist with more than 30 years’ experience in credit management, legal debt recovery and enforcement has joined a new national property law firm based in Birmingham. Neil Jinks has been appointed as a director of Realty Law Limited, a sister company of established law firm Emms Gilmore Liberson, with a remit to shake up the property law sector. Realty Law Limited specialises in the complex area of debt recovery for the residential sector, acting for managing agents of leasehold properties to recover

Leases - it is easy to underestimate their importance. They survive the lifetime of your tenancy, and even if you’ve paid a considerable premium to own your dream flat, compliance with the terms of a long lease is as important as it is in a short letting. Your Lease A lease is a special type of contract – one which grants you the right to live in your home, subject to certain rules. It might seem peculiar that you can buy a flat for an open market value and still be subject to a landlord’s rules, but effo

More than 50 firefighters have been tackling a blaze today (July 3) that spread across four storeys of a block of flats in London. Eight fire engines were called as flames licked up the side of the building in Heritage Lane, West Hampstead, north-west London, at 11:25am. The fire was believed to have started on a balcony before it spread to balconies above, but London Fire Brigade (LFB) said that the cause was not known at this time. The added that no casualties had been reported in the fire, which has no

People attending the Grenfell Inquiry were evacuated when a fire alarm sounded today (July 3). A tannoy announcement at about 12:30pm said that a fire had been reported and urged those at the inquiry to assemble outside Holborn Bars. A fire warden then reported that it had been a false alarm and the hearing continued from 2pm. During the day’s evidence, the inquiry heard that senior fire officers wanted to abandon the policy of telling residents to “stay put” as the inferno engulfed the high-rise. Senior