Featured Articles

QUESTION Who actually owns the sinking fund, and is it a taxable income? I thought landlords were trustees of the fund NOT owners? Our landlord insist he owns it and pays tax on it? ANSWER The area surrounding the ownership and control of a service charge fund is quite a detailed one, I have provided a response that should give you the answers generally to the questions, but further clarification should be sought as outlined. The sinking fund is a service charge and although it is normally administrated

Every stop and turn there is an announcement or commentary about the market. All the while there is the serious business of the leaseholder and their homes. LEASE holds stakeholder meetings every 6 months and at the last one in December there was discussion after a comment that a leasehold property is not ownership. Of course this is nonsense. Even rental is ownership, it gives you a right to your home. There is a debate about leasehold being good or bad and I genuinely believe that misses the point. Leas

Winter. And no time for surveyors to plant roses. We have been planning the year ahead whilst making a little time to reflect on last year’s experiences. Surveying is fundamentally about people. And human behaviour is one factor it’s often hardest to predict. For example, any surveyor in the residential sector can tell you scaffolding is unpopular with residents: it’s unsightly, often involves noise, and of course it doesn’t come cheap, so it can be a hard sell even when it’s absolutely essential to a pro

Post Boxes UK Limited, the leading independent supplier of banked mailbox solutions for apartments, is pleased to announce the addition of Alubox spares and accessories to its existing range of products and services. With a reputation for offering a quality finished product, the availability of Alubox mailboxes and spares has been somewhat lacking in recent past, in part due to the letterbox manufacturers export policy. However, Post Boxes UK has reached an agreement where it can offer Alubox doors, lette

There were two interesting points that emerged from Fairbairn v Etal: 1) The ability to recover legal costs through the service charge 2) Whether or not a leaseholder-owned company should be treated differently The case concerned a block each with 999 year leases. The landlord was the residents management company (RMC). In 2010 the leaseholder to flat 29 had brought a claim against the RMC after it had failed to take action to repair her damaged floor. The end result was that the RMC admitted it had breac

Specialist property litigation firm Brady Solicitors is continuing its strong growth, with the recruitment of six people to its Nottingham team. Established in March 2008 by property litigation lawyer Clare Brady, the firm has established itself as one of the UK’s leading law firms in the property management sector, with its recognised specialism in service charge recovery and related property management disputes. The new appointments take the total headcount to 36. Commenting on the new appointments Clar

HML Holdings has appointed Clive Greenwood to their team as Business Development Manager. Clive will be working throughout the HML brands in London and comments that he is excited to be working for the Group that provides the tailored local and personal service that resident management companies require. He joins the company after 12 years with property management company FirstPort.

Residents Insurance Services Limited, the specialist residential property insurance broker and part of the Gray’s Inn property group, has appointed Neil Bowman as an Account Handler. Neil has seven years’ experience in the insurance industry as a schemes underwriter with Allianz Insurance plc. More recently Neil worked as a customer service advisor for Towergate Insurance. Neil’s background and underwriting experience enhances the brokers’ already highly focused blocks of flats specialisation and supports

Jacqui Adams has been promoted to HR Director at Qube Global Software. She also joins the Executive Board in recognition of the growing importance of human resources as the business expands. Jacqui said: “I have enjoyed a long and fulfilling career at Qube Global Software and I’m delighted to take on this exciting new challenge. My promotion reflects a massive investment in HR systems, processes and recruitment campaigns to ensure we have the best people delivering the highest possible level of service to

Managers struggling to deal with illegal parking should consider the recent case where the Supreme Court upheld that a parking charge was enforceable. After much confusion and debate over whether a secondary charge to be paid on breaching an agreement is a penalty, and therefore unenforceable, the court has clarified that it is not considered a penalty. The long-running dispute between Beavis and ParkingEye was part of a combined case heard in the court and concluded that ParkingEye had a legitimate case

First introduced as a temporary measure in 2013 to increase the number of residential properties, the ability to change property use from class B1(a) offices to class C3 residential without requiring planning permission has been made permanent. The measure announced by the government under the Housing and Planning Bill is subject to some exceptions and obtaining Prior Approval. The right extends to the permission to demolish office buildings, although limitations to this right have not been disclosed at t

The ‘right to rent’ Immigration Check Scheme becomes law on 1 February 2016. It applies to all residential landlords in England, including agents and householders letting or sub-letting residential property and requires them to check that new tenants and occupiers have a right to be living in the UK. There is no requirement to check the right to rent of existing tenants and occupiers. The new responsibilities for landlords include establishing how many adults are using the property as their only or main h