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You only have to see the damage that water can cause to a building to appreciate the importance of having a proactive planned maintenance programme. Such was the case at Gloucester Terrace, a Regency property converted into flats in Paddington, where investigation into the cause of water ingress, and remedial works to asphalt-covered balconies had to be conducted. But lifting the asphalt was like opening a can of worms – through many years of neglect water had penetrated underneath, rotting the French d

QUESTION I follow the cases in News on the Block with great interest, but I would like your advice on where I could get legal advice on extension of lease. I paid £16,000 to extend the lease eight years ago to 125 years and now the management of the block say the lease is not consistent with CML, and want me to pay £12,000 for the head lease. I have lost three buyers because they are scared off. Normal conveyancing solicitors don’t seem to help. Are there any solicitors you can recommend?   ANSWER The

You may have seen the story of the Waterloo station job hunter, Alfred Ajani, and how this creative candidate found employment in property recruitment with nothing more than a sandwich board and a great attitude. But why do so many unemployed youth remain even with an increase in job vacancies across all sectors? Alfred was a marketing graduate, and it seems to be sectors like marketing, PR and social media that excite young people more than areas like Leasehold Management. So what is being done to attra

One of the difficulties for Leaseholders in England and Wales is trying to understand their service charge demand, whether they are obtaining value for money and when they change agents perhaps needing to move to a new schedule of costs. There are simple solutions that residential agents could adopt that would not only demystify service charge accounts, but also demonstrate that the agent is working efficiently and make handovers easier. One suggestion is that agents should adopt the accounting principl

In November 2015 in Scotland most very long leaseholds will automatically convert to ownership status the equivalent of freehold on payment of compensation to the landlord for loss of ground rent. The Scottish system for flats is different to that of England and Wales as Scotland permits horizontal ‘freehold’ ownership whereas England and Wales for the most part do not and ownership must be leasehold. Scotland’s process started in 1974 when the maximum length of newly created flat leases was restricted t

Managing agent Warwick Estates has completed its purchase of Cotswold Property Management Services. This acquisition strengthens Warwick’s Cheltenham office and its presence in the wider West Country market. Warwick Estates Director, Craig Stevens commented: “It was an obvious target for us once we heard there was the chance of a purchase. Beth McDougall has built Cotswold PM into a really strong local brand over the years and whilst talking together during the process it was obvious that they were all a

The Government has decided to remove the need for residential landlords to comply with deposit protection laws for a second time if a fixed period tenancy rolls on past its end date. These rules require a landlord to pay the tenant’s deposit into an approved deposit scheme and provide that tenant with certain information within a specified time. The new measures form part of the Deregulation Bill, which is due to soon receive Royal Assent and become law. In 2013, a Court of Appeal decision in Superstr

Windows are some of the most prominent  features of any building, from period properties to modern office blocks. How they look often determines the look of the whole building, as well as its functionality – which means any alterations or replacements have to be carefully considered. This is particularly true in blocks of flats, where differences of opinion between the various leaseholders, or between leaseholders and the Landlord, can complicate matters considerably. This factsheet sets out the issues in

Property law firm JB Leitch has launched a new apprenticeship scheme in which it will develop five of its most promising staff. The selected employees will undertake nationally-recognised legal qualifications from the Chartered Institute for Legal Executives. Christian Cameron, Bethyn Finley, Lilian Goodwin and Sophie Howes are all currently Litigation Assistants while John Manley is acting team leader for the service charge recovery team. Three of them will be undertaking the Advanced Apprenticeship in

Gregory Property Group has appointed Philip Lees as Project Director to oversee the specific design and build of its commercial, leisure and residential developments. The architect retired in 2010 but was tempted back into business by the Leeds-based development company. He was a partner at Watson Lees & Batty before setting up his own practice, Philip Lees & Associates, in 1985. He sold the practice in 2005 to Archial Group and became chairman of the North and Midlands region and a member of the group e

Chard Robinson has won an award at the 2014-15 UK Property Awards for its student accommodation development The Newton. It was named winner in the Residential Development category for Cambridgeshire, gaining the highest score of 5 stars. The Newton is a new development on Humberstone Road, Cambridge, comprising 23 contemporary one-bedroom and studio apartments for students. It occupies the site of the former Fleur De Lys pub. Chard Robinson was shortlisted after, in the opinion of the judges, demonstra

Independent property consultancy Daniel Watney has appointed James Davis as partner to head up its building consultancy team. Davis joins from Kenningtons where he re-established the firm’s own building-surveying department, but he originally began his career at Daniel Watney more than 20 years ago. As well as growing the existing team and winning new business, he will work closely with the company’s current partners to support other functions of the company including planning, development, professional