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QUESTION Dear Sir I am writing for help regarding sinking funds. We pay a very high service charge but now over 2 years later we are being asked to pay towards a sinking fund. There are 167 apartments and we are being asked to pay up to £950 a year extra. I thought the developers set up a sinking fund and the owners paid into it as part of their service charge. We’ve had numerous service charge increases in 2 years. We pay part of the security team and other staff not needed. We have finally got a

Janet Entwistle has been appointed Chief Executive of Peverel following its recent sale. Janet has held senior roles in services businesses most recently role as Managing Director of BT Fleet, which operates from a national network of sites and which she built into one of the UK’s leading fleet management companies.     Paul Lester CBE has been appointed as independent Non-Executive Chairman. Paul has a deep background working within British industry, most notably as the Chief Executive of VT

Former Daily Mail Property Editor, Sebastian O’Kelly has joined the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership (LKP) as a Director. LKP was founded by leasehold campaigner, Melissa Briggs, and aims to promote best practice in leasehold property management.

Dawna Hewitt has been appointed Operations Manager at the IRPM for a three month period, following the departure of Caroline McKinnon.

Planning and urban design consultancy Turley Associates has strengthened its national residential housing team with the appointment of director John Acres. John is a highly experienced planner with a career extending across four decades. He has held senior roles with the Greater London Authority, London Borough of Southwark, the Home Builders’ Federation, Redrow Homes and, more recently, the Catesby Property Group. John is currently a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Regional Managemen

Blocks of flats insurance broker Deacon saved Essex Properties a massive £18,000 on insurance premiums for Barrier Point, a prestigious 257-apartment development located in the Royal Docks and overlooking the Thames Barrier in London. Carol Sullivan MIRPM, Director at Essex Properties said: “When we took over the management of Barrier Point last year, we felt that the premiums provided by the incumbent insurer were on the high side. We have been an Appointed Representative of Deacon for six years so use

Cotswold Property Management Services Limited has received the national customer service quality standard, Putting The Customer First. The organisation, which provides property management services to both commercial and residential clients, is the only Property Management Company in the U.K., to have achieved the standard awarded by accreditation body, Customer First UK. The Standard ensures those being assessed are putting customers at the heart of everything they do, through looking at 3 areas of wo

Trinity (Estates) Property Management Limited and Chainbow Limited announce the merger of their block management business to create possibly the largest privately owned residential management firm in England and Wales. Trinity Chainbow’ is a new business venture that amalgamates Chainbow’s London-based block management experience with Trinity Estates’ national operations to provide property management to approaching 35,000 homeowners in England and Wales. The merger aims to benefit all leaseholders by poo

The outcome of a consultation exercise conducted by the Department for Communities and Local Government on proposals for increasing leasehold upper value limits has been announced. Upper value limits determine eligibility of residential long leaseholders to rights to remain in their flats at the end of their lease terms or to extend their lease under existing legislation. Although with just 17 responses, there was a low level of response to the consultation, there was general support for updating the valu

The Olympic Games start on 25 July and are sure to be a TV highlight of the year. However, with London switching to digital TV in April, landlords and managing agents of apartment blocks that aren’t yet digitally ready are being urged to make preparations now. According to Sky Communal TV Solutions, there are still private apartment blocks in the capital not fully ready for switchover. Some landlords are unclear on what needs to be done, have concerns about costs and find the whole process confusing. Bren

The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 impose obligations on occupiers whose properties use septic tanks or package sewage treatment plants rather than connecting directly to the public sewer. Gemma James, Partner in the Property Department at Mundays Solicitors LLP explained: “It was intended to be compulsory from 1st January 2012 for all such occupiers to ensure their tank or plant is registered with the Environment Agency but this is now only the case for Wales because a form

Hera Management Services have been appointed to manage the prestigious Streamlight Tower in Tower Hamlets, London. Hera’s Managing Director, Suzanne Wicks, said “We are very excited to sign the management contract for Streamlight Tower. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to provide a first class, customer focussed and professional service for the residents of this award winning building.” A wholly owned subsidiary of Swan Social Enterprise Group, Hera combines expertise from the private sector with