Featured Articles

Maria Economou is a leasehold enfranchisement solicitor at YVA solicitors, who shares Angela Alexiou's vision of growing the department and educating the public on all aspects of leasehold reform.    Maria has experience in advising leaseholders and freeholders through both the statutory and informal leasehold and enfranchisement process. She offers technical and commercial advice to her clients.   Maria has also embraced the challenge of running the marathon and raising money for the North London Hospice

Emergency lighting, like terrorism insurance or the airbag in your car, is something that we all hope we will never need. Thankfully, in most blocks it is infrequently – if ever – used, so this aspect of block lighting isn’t always uppermost in block managers or their residents’ minds. An understandable but potentially dangerous attitude and one that, as lighting consultants, we are working to change. If there were to be a major incident at your block and residents were plunged into darkness the emergency

There was something reassuring when films and TV depicted the good guys in white and the bad guys in dark colours.  Seeing the Lone Ranger and Tonto rid the Wild West of the evil outlaws in their dark Stetsons and waistcoats you always knew the World was a good place.  Well in our technicolour, multimedia age the ability to spot right from wrong is more challenging.  Of course one bad experience and conspiracy theories abound about how everyone is out to be corrupt and rip people off.  Generally an experi

Britain’s architectural heritage is rich and varied. We are rightly proud of that heritage, and measures are in place to help protect it. In England alone, approximately 374,000 buildings are Listed, which mean any proposed alterations have to be approved by the planning authorities, who will consider them in the context of their special interest. While, we can all agree this worthwhile in the name of preserving unique buildings, it can also make maintenance of listed buildings complicated and expensive.

Last year was the worst year to be a leaseholder in living memory, and the situation for the UK’s 4.1 million leasehold flat owners looks set to be even worse in 2017. That’s the view of Louie Burns, Managing Director of leasehold enfranchisement specialists, Leasehold Solutions. A series of developments during 2016 has made it increasingly difficult for flat owners to exercise their legal rights, while the cost of doing so has also risen significantly. Mr Burns said: “It is no exaggeration to say that 20

QUESTION  The Leaseholders in a block of 120 flats in Bournemouth have a serious problem with an overspend on a Major Project. The original costings for this project was just over £1m but the overspend is currently over 40% higher (£410,000.00) and likely to rise even higher. The Leaseholders are at their wits end not really knowing what to do and the FTT have been consulted by the Managing Agents to see if the overspend can be justified. Have you any suggestions? ANSWER Major works disputes like th

Metamorph Law Limited have completed a merger with SLC Solicitors (SLC).   SLC is a niche practice serving professional commercial and residential landlords and managing agents from its base in Shrewsbury. Its founder and previous sole owner, Neil Shearing, becomes a consultant to Metamorph Law. This division of Metamorph Law will trade as ‘SLC Solicitors, part of Metamorph Law’.   Metamorph Law’s CEO, Simon Goldhill, commented: “We are delighted to have added SLC to our business. SLC is the recognised ma

A new chief operating officer has been appointed by Warwick Estates as it continues its drive for new acquisitions. David Golderg, who has many years of experience at firms including Chestertons and Crabree Property Management, said he was delighted to be joining the company. He added: “With 120 new clients joining Warwick in 2016 and with a number of potential acquisitions due to take place in Q1 of 2017, I certainly won’t be bored! It’s exciting to join a successful award winning team and have the oppor

Tanfield Chambers has announced that Christopher Heather has been appointed Queen’s Counsel. With a broad expertise in real estate, easement cases, boundaries and industrial estates, Christopher is known for his expertise in professional negligence and enfranchisement work. Head of chambers, Philip Rainey QC, said: “We are delighted that Christopher’s expertise and standing in the field of real estate law have been recognised through his appointment as Silk. It is richly deserved and a fitting endorseme

The head of a homeowner association has been sentenced to two years’ probation and ordered to pay more than £50,000 in compensation after a concrete slab fell from a roof and hit a young mum. Andrey Kazakov was found guilty of negligence after Olga Klintsova was knocked unconscious when the block fell, which narrowly missed her baby, as she entered the block of flats in Russia. Olga, 32, has since been reunited with her daughter Katya after having to undergo gruelling physiotherapy sessions for seven mont

A property law firm has become the East Midlands only legal practice to hold membership of a professional body for legal advisers and residential leasehold enfranchisement practitioners. Nottingham-based Brady Solicitors has secured membership of the Association for Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP). The body provides leaseholders with information on leasehold law and their rights as the owner of a leasehold property, and represents trusted and vetted practitioners that can  assist them. Lesl

Freeholders have been urged to review the terms of flat leases after an Upper Tribunal hearing allowed flat owners in a London block to upgrade a garden licence. The owners used the enfranchisement process to allow them to permanently enjoy the rear garden of their property. In the case of 4-6 Trinity Church Square Freehold Limited v The Corporation of the Trinity House of Deptford Strond [2016] UKUT0484(LC), the Upper Tribunal upheld a decision to allow the owners a permanent indefeasible right to access