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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

News on the Block are proud to announce the winners for this years Property Management Awards. The winners were announced on the 4th December at a sixties themed awards ceremony and dinner. Please save the date for the Property Management Awards 2015-16 – 3rd December 2015.  Watch out for some new and exciting developments for next years event! Issue 76 of News on the Block will contain a special Property Management Awards feature. Please contact us to make sure you receive your issue or for any adve

A new online home conveyancing portal is set to launch in the spring. Veyo, a joint venture between The Law Society and IT solutions specialist Mastek UK, is designed to bring together all the processes, checks and documentation prepared and undertaken by solicitors and licensed conveyancers in the sale and purchase of residential properties. In its first phase, the system will allow professionals to better communicate with each other, clients and other parties, satisfy due diligence obligations more qu

David Clark, of Mainstay Group, is the new Chairman of the Institute of Residential Property Management (IRPM). He took over in October from Martin Rochfort who remains as immediate past chair. “I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to take on this important role and energised by the exciting projects that we have in the pipeline,” said David, who has been involved with IRPM since its inception in 2001. “I am pleased that I will have the support of the outgoing Chairman Martin who has done s