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On 5 April, the new version of the health and safety law poster became mandatory. Employers have a legal duty under the Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations (HSIER) to display the approved poster in a prominent position in each workplace or to provide each worker with a copy of the approved leaflet that outlines British health and safety law. What has changed? The 2009 poster replaces the version which was published in April 1999. The new poster and leaflet are more visually appealin

Insurers have struggled in the block insurance market for some years to make money. And, while this has enabled many blocks to enjoy low premiums, the reality is that many of the UK’s largest insurers have lost too much money and are exiting from segments of block insurance. Such a reduction in competition usually can only mean an increase in premiums; but, coupled with continued uncertainty over the predicted deterioration of UK weather, this will probably also mean larger excesses for weather related pe

It was the wettest January in 250 years and February did not fare much better. More than 1,000 homes were flooded by either coastal, river or groundwater flooding and this number is set to increase. The estimated cost of the damage is £1 billion - however this is a rolling figure. If we put the extreme January and February aside for the moment, generally it is getting wetter. Long term averages (of 30-year periods) show an increase in annual rainfall of 5 per cent (source: The Met Office). With 5.8 milli

Volunteering as a director of a Residential Management Company (RMC) can be interesting and rewarding, but it can come with its own hazards. In taking this role you expose yourself to personal financial risk. If you make a decision that turns out to be wrong and creates a financial loss, you could be sued. If you fail to comply with regulations – whether you know they exist or not – you can open yourself to legal prosecution. The likelihood of this happening is small, but the consequences can be serious

Managing agents are often tasked with being a Jack-of-all-trades when in actual fact, one of their primary roles is knowing where to go for help and guidance. A case in point is communal boiler systems most often found in ageing residential blocks that provide hot water and/or heating to the flats in the building. Most experienced property managers will know what it means to manage a building with communal boiler plant - this is especially memorable if the plant has unexpectedly gone down leaving residen

Working as an asset manager there is not a day that goes by where a lease extension is not being dealt with, and the same argument arises in every single case: whether to agree statutory or non-statutory terms. Every freeholder will have different financial motives when it comes to extending the lease. Some may have short-term financial objectives and in turn are happy to extend the lease under statutory terms while others will look to improve the value of the asset by improving on the ground rent. Stat

Legal property management firm Brady Solicitors  has recruited a senior property lawyer to assist with the firm’s push into non-contentious and transactional property work. Lesley Brentnall joins Bradys’ Nottingham office from regional law firm Shakespeares, where she had been an associate for 15 years. Meanwhile, Andrea White has also joined the firm from Shakespeares and will work alongside Lesley in a paralegal role.

TC Facilities Management has announced several changes to its executive board, including the appointment of Richard Chappell as its new Chief Executive Officer. Richard joins from the Impellam Group, where he spent 16 years in several senior management roles. Meanwhile, incumbent CEO, Paul Kennedy, has become Executive Chairman, while Peter Ellis has moved into a Deputy Chairman role and Keith French has been appointed to the board as Strategic Development Director.

Liverpool Property law firm JB Leitch LLP has recruited solicitor Kirsten Blower to its team from Hilary Meredith Lawyers. She is joined by four new legal assistants: Himadri Das and Michelle Davis, formerly of Weightmans and JC&A Solicitors respectively, and Charlotte Antrobus and Krystyn Durkin, who are taking up their first legal positions.

A landlord demanding thousands of euros of rent arrears threatened tenants and police with a whirring chainsaw, in an incident in southern Germany. According to Reuters, the terrified tenants called the police, and the 45-year-old landlord dropped the chainsaw when officers arrived and produced their guns. Police say the landlord was trying to collect 13,000 euros (£10,750) in rent arrears on a flat in the town of Burgau, and he was subsequently charged with threatening bodily harm.

One hundred and ninety new homes will be created across the south of England following the creation of a joint venture consortium between Mill Group and Bovis Homes Limited. The new properties will comprise 110 houses and 80 apartments, designed for couples and families. They will be built in phases over the next 18 months and are located in Cambridge, Bristol, Gloucester, Southampton, Horsham and Hemel Hempstead. The portfolio will be asset managed by Investors in Homes Management Ltd, Mill Group’s res

A residential block which had for 40 years gradually drifted into deterioration, is finally moving in the right direction, according to its managing agents. The 54-unit Frognal Court, near Hampstead in London, was the subject of a landmark case in 2011 (Garside & Anson v RFYC and Maunder Taylor), in which the Upper Tribunal decided that managing agents must consider the financial impact of major works on lessees and whether to phase works so they become more affordable. Managing agents, Maunder Taylor