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Thursday 17th April 2014 sees Crabtree PM Ltd complete the move from their offices at 114 Rochester Row taking up residency at Warwick House, 25-27 Buckingham Palace Road.   With the lease at Rochester Row coming to an end, the move to larger premises confirms Crabtree's intention to expand in Central London. Crabtree recently saw the arrival of Louise Berwin as Operations Manager in Central London. Louise has over 25 years’ experience enhancing Crabtree's already established, well trusted service. Crabtr

Wednesday, 12 February was memorable for all sorts of weather related reasons, however the lasting memory for us at Homestead on the North West coast is of the record breaking winds. As a property management company looking after 6,000 homes in the North West we knew that we were likely to be at the sharp end when we became aware of the forecast. The Met Office had given warnings of biblical weather so even before the phones started to ring on the morning of the 12th we held a quick meeting to discuss a

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.