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Property and construction consultancy Ingleton Wood has strengthened its position in the private sector with the appointment of a new Director of Building Surveying. Daniel Legg has joined the practice’s London office in a newly created role. He will be responsible for developing new areas of growth - expanding Ingleton Wood’s current offering andspecialising in multi occupancy residential buildings. Daniel, a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, who joins the practice after 10 years at K

Scanlans has expanded its property management division with three new arrivals at the firm’s Manchester office.   Paul Christopher, Mark Elves and Victoria Thomas have been appointed as property managers to help Scanlans meet growing demand for its services. Paul previously worked at Scanlans for more than a decade and has rejoined from Zenith Management (NW).   In his new role, he will spearhead the introduction of a new online client portal and electronic maintenance management system.   Mark was previo

Ground rents in long leases of new-build flats and houses are big business. Developers such as Taylor Wimpey and Bellway Homes have recently been in the limelight over the sale of long leases of new-build flats and houses which contain ground rents that double every 10 years. What seems like an affordable ground rent of £1000 per annum will increase to £2000, £4000, £8000 in a matter of 40 years. The owners of newly developed homes, bought in the last 10 years, claim that they were not told about the grou

Nottingham-based property specialist SDL Group has been named one of the top performing businesses in the UK. Featuring in this year’s Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100, SDL Group’s profits were ranked as the 58th fastest growing across the country. Recording an annual profit growth of 75 per cent over the last three years, SDL Group is one of only four businesses in the East Midlands to be recognised on the list. “Our success is all down to the great team we have at SDL, and it’s fantastic news that we h

Leading property software house, Visionbase is urging managing agents to adopt professional accounting standards to fully protect leaseholder’s property and money. According to Visionbase Software, managing agents have inconsistent administration and service charge collection services.  The leasehold management sector remains unregulated, so essentially anyone can set up as a managing agent and start in business.  As a result, leaseholders and tenants are not guaranteed industrywide, professional standard

Tim joined Whittingham Riddell in 2008 as a qualified senior accountant and initially took responsibility for a mixed commercial and not-for-profit client portfolio. He later helped Partner Alison Randall to set up the firm's successful property management team, which specialises in advising a wide range of property based businesses. Clients include residential and commercial service charge accounts, residential management companies and property based investment companies. The firm’s Partners recognised T

Earl Kendrick Associates (EKA) are delighted to announce they have taken over Finnegan Property Services (FPS) with effect from 6 April 2017. The FPS team will now join EKA, continuing to manage their former FPS clients to ensure continuity of service. The newly expanded EKA is now even better placed to serve the existing clients of both firms. Moreover, it now has the extra capacity needed to take on new ones. FPS managing director Damien Finnegan approached EKA at the end of 2016, having identified them

Monday 3 April marked a defining moment for PMR London as the company unveiled a dynamic new look.   “Up to this point we’ve offered joint management of onsite staff under PMR London, sister company to PMR. But the services offered by those two companies are completely different. We needed a new identity so that we could progress autonomously” says Rossi.   VERTO HR is a one stop shop offering a full 360 degree, tax efficient service, for onsite staffing. With dedicated client account managers, and in-hou

The Enterprise Act comes in to force on the 4th May 2017, bringing with it new legislation for the insurance industry relating to the handling of claims. The Act provides that insurers and their representatives must perform so that claims are dealt with in a reasonable time frame. If this goal is not achieved, then the act will enable the insured to claim for subsequent losses incurred. So, the Act benefits policyholders? Many people in the industry expect that the main beneficiaries of the new rules will

Reflecting on the findings of the 2016 National Leasehold Survey, Brady Solicitors held a roundtable discussion in February 2017 to gather the views and recommendations of key figures within the property management industry.   Introduction from Clare Brady, Managing Director of Brady Solicitors The clear message from the Leasehold Roundtable is that whilst the sector has difficult issues that need addressing; agents, leaseholders and landlords must do so in a united, measured and sustainable fashion. The

If you are acquiring - or considering acquiring - the freehold of your building, you will know that the process requires a great deal of planning and that there are many legal and technical issues to consider. Once formed, your new freehold company will have full responsibility for the management of your building and this includes insurance. It’s something which many people overlook. Directors of residents associations have, broadly speaking, two options when considering how to insure the property they ar

Leases generally require leaseholders to contribute to insurance of their block – whether by including the cost in the general service charges or by way of a separate charge known as an “insurance rent”. Residential leaseholders have statutory rights in relation to insurance, but the most important is the ability to challenge the costs in the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) in England, or the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal in Wales. Insurance costs are limited in three ways: ·         The lease may e