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The British Property Federation (BPF)  has announced the creation of a new committee that will focus on promoting the emerging build-to-rent sector to government and other stakeholders, including consumers. The committee, which will be formed as a subset of the BPF’s residential committee, will be chaired by Andrew Stanford, UK Residential Fund Manager at LaSalle Investment Management and former head of the Government’s Private Rented Sector Taskforce. Adam Russell, Acquisitions Manager at FizzyLiving, w

The qualifying 
period for the Government’s Right to Buy programme, which allows many council tenants to buy their home at a discount, has changed to three years from five years. The change, which came into effect in May, was introduced through the Deregulation Act 2015.

Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea-based independent property agency, Farrar & Co, is re-launching its prize-winning property management division under a new name. It will now be known as Principia Estate and Asset Management. The firm, which has extensive experience in property management in prime central London, is aiming to enhance the service it offers its existing, extensive international client base, while also expanding to take on more owners who are seeking management of their premium propert

The Court of Appeal has granted permission to appeal its judgment on the recoverability of penalty charges imposed by a private car park operator upon those who overstay a limited period of free parking. The original judgment was in favour of the respondent, ParkingEye Ltd, against the appellant, Barry Beavis, on its claim to recover a charge of £85 for overstaying the permitted period of free parking in the car park at the Riverside Retail Park in Chelmsford. The Supreme Court will hear Mr Beavis’s app

A new law firm has launched, covering all aspects of property, in particular service charge and ground rent recovery, and property-related disputes. LMP law was started by industry professionals Laura Severn, Matthew Wayman and Peter Cornell, and will act for clients throughout the UK. Laura Severn said: “Matthew, Peter and myself have all worked closely together before and found that our skill sets and expertise fit together well. We love the property management industry and we believe that we can set

The appellants in the Arnold v Britton and others case are leaseholders of chalets at the Oxwich Leisure Park near Swansea. There are 91 chalets on the site, each let on a 99-year lease from 1974. The first 70 leases granted contain a clause stating that lessees would pay an annual service charge that would increase by a compound rate of ten per cent every three years. The service charge for the first year of each of these leases was £90. However, in the last 21 leases to be granted, the service charge i

As the transfer market begins to heat up, online estate agent eMoov.co.uk has taken a look at the Premiership property table ahead of the start of the 2015/16 season. Next month football returns with the Charity Shield, as FA Cup winners Arsenal take on champions Chelsea. The two London giants are also top of the property league, with the most expensive average house prices in the top flight. Chelsea top the table with the average in the SW6 postcode at £1,137,550, but a slip in form has seen prices fall

If you are looking for Property Management and Enfranchisement training that only takes an hour of the time and provides you with invaluable industry knowledge, then please see below the details our upcoming webinars on PropertyCPD.TV.   SERVICE CHARGE DISPUTES IN THE FIRST TIER TRIBUNAL LIVE BROADCAST Date: 4th August 2015 Time:  12.30pm-1.30pm Speaker: Cassandra Zanelli, Partner and Head of Specialist Property Management team, Taylor&Emmet LLP.   Disputes relating to service charges are increasin

Question I have a client that has a pet dog which also acts as an assistance dog for my client’s autistic son. I am not sure if the dog is an ‘official’ assistance dog, but I am told that the dog has a soothing and calming influence on the child’s episodes. The freeholder is refusing consent to allow the dog to remain on the premises and has since served a section 146 notice. The clause in the lease says that no pets are to be kept on the premises without the landlord’s consent which can be withdrawn. S

QUESTION As a RTM company, how can we obtain a full set of drawings for our Building? It was built in 1998 approx. We need these to maintain the building. ANSWER The copyright attached to the drawings vests in their creator, usually the architect who was instructed during the planning and development of your Building. If you are able to identify the architect who designed your Building, you could try to contact him / her to obtain a copy of the drawings but be prepared to pay a fee. Your local authorit

QUESTION I'm hoping you can offer some advice. I live in a block of three flats which are joint freeholder/leaseholders and do not have a management agency (but do plan to appoint one once the issue described below is resolved). The middle flat tenant has recently been arrested for the second time for drug dealing at the property following a police raid. The landlords are refusing to evict the tenant because "it is not in their interest to evict". The council do not have the power to enforce an eviction

QUESTION   Heat Network Legislation - 2014. I'd be interested to know if you've issued any guidance on this https://www.gov.uk/heat-networks I'm involved with an RMC which looks after 25 owner-occupied and 5 rented flats in one block with communal heat and hot water charged via the service charge. I'm not sure who is liable under this legislation - the RMC or the Managing Agent? I don't think many people know much about this so any advice you can find out would be useful I think.   ANSWER Certain cr