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Indicating the direction in which the British property market is travelling, a new trade association for the apartment industry has been launched. The UK Apartment Association (UKAA), aims to spearhead the professionalisation of the residential rental sector by differentiating the build to rent, multi-family housing market from the amateur ad hoc rental service provided by small-scale landlords that currently make up the bulk of rental properties in the UK. With more than nine million renters in the UK an

Picture the scene – a new development is ready for sale and one of the first prospective buyers turns up in the evening to view.  It’s an impressive sight; everything is brand new and the areas around the common walkways and drive glitter with lights, bathing everything in a comforting and reassuring glow.   A well-appointed block of flats has been completed and is ready for new residents. But come back a year later, and things are very different.  Many of the lights have stopped working, giving the outsi

QUESTION I am in the process of applying for a lease extension. The lease I have was the one I was given when I purchased the property in 2005. The head lessee wrote to me last week informing me that the lease was altered in 1998 and informing me that the ground rent was increased from £25 to £125 and enclosing a bill for £700. The letter states that this alteration took place 'amongst other things' but is not specific about what these things are. The same head lessee has been sending me bills for £25 ann

QUESTION I live in a block of 28 retirement flats which are all owner occupied and of course leasehold. In addition we are all shareholders in the Housing Association which owns the building and land on a leasehold basis and whose sole business is the ownership of this building. We appoint a Managing Agent (also a housing association) to manage the building. I assume, even under our own unusual ownership structure, that section 20 applies even though the Landlord (us collectively) is giving us (individua

QUESTION We've recently gone RTM with a Property Management Company, which I chose and agreed a pricing strategy last October for a fixed overall charge for Service charges - being  £1500 (+vat) divided by six leaseholders. Before signing up, one of our colleague directors expressed concern that the PMC apparently have a past reputation for lumping on extra charges which had not been agreed with leaseholders. It rang alarm bells when our Chair received an email from Oakfield stating that we would need to

QUESTION My flat has been damaged by water pouring through my ceilings from the flat above. This happened on 5 separate occasions in the last 6 months and both my kitchen and bathroom are now badly water damaged and in need of redecoration and damp treatment. The water damage even short circuited the bathroom light fitting and it has not worked for 4 months now.  On each occasion that water poured into my flat, I informed the tenants straight away – showed them the damage and also emailed their landlord

QUESTION I am a leaseholder (for the last 8 years) and I have been having problems with my management company / agent on cost matters and various other issues. I'm a chartered builder, surveyor and estimator and I have a good understanding of costs. We are 47 flats in a block running under RMC. Over the last 6 years I have seen we have been over charged and poorly managed but the managing agent is claiming everything was approved by RMC directors, but all of the accounts are flawed and unsubstantiated. I

QUESTION Approx two and a half years ago a flat was left vacant after the death of the owner. It has remained so since, we are told by the executrix due to probate matters. Standing charges are fully paid and directors keep a voluntary eye on the flat to ensure it is wind and watertight as we hold a key. I do wonder if there are legal, insurance and other complications we should be aware of? It seems that the long period of vacancy MAY be coming to an end soon. ANSWER Many thanks for your enquiry. I am p

Volunteer directors of residents’ management companies across the UK that have taken control of their own blocks can be handling five-figure service charge revenues. Now Deacon Insurance has warned they may still be liable, even if they retire and move away from the block, as the consequences of any decision that they made will follow them. They could face potentially unlimited personal liability in the courts. “While it is good news for other leaseholders that resident-controlled management companies hav

The equalities act 2010 makes it unlawful for any person or company managing or owning premises to discriminate against a disabled person occupying those premises. Once a written request is made, the landlord/manager is under a duty to take reasonable steps to address the matter. Arguably there are three main types of adjustments that apply to residential premises: (1) Auxiliary aids and services, ie the replacement of taps, door handles etc; (2) Policies, procedures and practices; (3) Changes to a lease

In reality, the essence is not who owns the freehold but rather how the building is run, how the personalities get on, and how differing expectations are managed… we are dealing as much with social interaction as the legal process. I have had the pleasure of undertaking a day and a half on the phones at the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE). I undertook this to ensure I had a clear understanding of the nature of calls received, and who our callers were. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed my time on

From your perspective as the managing agent, you need to take care that you are not being led by the freeholder’s agenda When acting for an rmc, managing agents will often be asked by their landlord and its legal advisers to combine the ground rent debt with the service charge arrears. There are clear advantages to the landlord of this approach but it can cause problems for the RMC – and a potentially dangerous conflict of interest for the managing agent. Managing agents should consider carefully the impl