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Property consultancy CPBigwood has been acquired by Shepherd Direct, one of the UK’s fastest growing independent property groups. Senior partner Rory Daly will remain with the business as Chief Executive Officer of CPBigwood. “2016 is going to be an exciting year for us,” said Mr Daly. “This marks the next step in the evolution of CPBigwood and will further enhance our position as a major player in the auctions and residential service-charge-management sectors. “Rest assured the day-to-day operations will

The newest Savills office opened its doors on 4 January on Elgin Avenue, near Maida Vale underground station, covering the areas from Brondesbury Park south to Little Venice. Head of Lettings Monika Scott believes the combination of Savills’ extensive global network and their local knowledge will serve the area well, especially with the increasing corporate relocation from Kensington, Chelsea and other areas of prime central London. Originally from Finland, Scott has lived and worked in London since 1995

A £100m plan to regenerate Swiss Cottage town centre has been given the go-ahead by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Essential Living, a developer and operator of homes for rent, will deliver and manage the mixed-use scheme under a single brand. As well as an array of communal facilities and amenity spaces, the plans will include 54 new affordable homes and purpose-built space for community use. Camden councillors refused the proposals for 184 flats in September 2014, despite a

New features have been added to one of the UK’s leading property management and accounting software packages. Grosvenor Systems is launching the latest version of its Propman property management and accounting software, Propman X4, 25 years after its first launch. Key features of Propman X4 include templates for business-process workflows – allowing individual tasks to be allocated to a specified user and setting deadlines. Business-process events can be created automatically on a regular basis, or create

Next time you are tempted to offer professional expertise as a favour for a friend, you might want to think twice. An architect who managed a Grand Designs-style garden revamp for wealthy friends ended up being sued when the project went badly wrong. Basia Lejonvarn was engaged by recruitment tycoon Peter Burgess and his wife Lynn to supervise a redesign of their back garden after Mrs Lejonvarn told them a £150,000 quote was excessive. She agreed to supervise the work for her friends and former neighbours

The number of UK properties worth at least £1 million is expected to more than triple between now and 2030, according to a new report from Santander Mortgages. Today, less than half a million homes in the UK are valued at £1 million or more, but this is set to rise to over 1.6 million in the next 15 years.  While 7% of homes in the South East are expected to fetch £1 million+ by 2030, less than 1% in the North East, Yorkshire and Humber, North West, Scotland and the East Midlands are expected to do the sa

Under the shared ownership scheme, people part-buy and part-rent their home. The government is relaxing the criteria for those who apply from April 2016. The scheme will be open to people of any occupation and income caps will also be raised. A deposit of just £1,500 may be required.

Qube Global Software has launched a new service which offers customers the option of passing the day-to-day management of their Horizon property management systems to Qube Global Software. The move reduces the need for clients to have their own dedicated in-house staff. Customers can use Qube’s expertise as creators of the software to administer it on their behalf, reducing staff commitments and costs. Qube has a large pool of staff who are highly trained in Horizon. Qube’s chief executive John Cuppello s

A storm has broken out over a clause in the ground rent of a modest Midlands flat which could see it rise from its present level of £8,000 – more than 10 per cent of its guide price – to a staggering £8 million by 2120, thanks to a gearing mechanism that doubles the rent every 10 years. Barnard Marcus has withdrawn a flat from auction amid claims the property’s ground rent could spiral to £8 million by 2120. The case was raised in the House of Commons by MP Sir Peter Bottomley, who claimed the sellers wer

The government has announced two major new policy initiatives to build 40,000 new homes. Approximately 10,000 new homes are to be commissioned directly by the government on public land, while an extra £1.2bn will be allocated for the preparation of brownfield sites, which will be used for another 30,000 starter homes. “Many brownfield sites have been unused for too long, and we have long since called for them to be developed,” said Jeremy Blackburn, Head of UK Policy at RICS. “We’ve been working closel

Key figures from the leasehold enfranchisement sector met to discuss everything from valuation to negotiation at the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners' (ALEP) 18th Spring Conference.   Held at The IET, Savoy Place in London, the conference was attended by more than 250 experts from across the leasehold enfranchisement sector including barristers, managing agents, project managers, solicitors and valuers, as well as senior representatives from organisations such as the Royal Institutio

Question: I was Director & Chairman for 6 years. (private residential estate).  Over that time I formed about 15 personal files on various matters‎ -contractors, correspondence, items to/from residents, contracts etc.  I voluntarily stood down in May 2014.   ‎Within a month or so a neighbour took the files and handed them to my successor, to help him in his duties. At no time was ownership surrendered, either spoken or implied.   At no time to date have I been formally consulted on them. I have several