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A recent Lands Tribunal decision, Beitov Properties v Elliston Martin, has held that it is not sufficient for a written demand for payment of service charges or other sums, such as ground rent or administration charges, to contain the landlord’s name and the address of the landlord’s agent. Section 47 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires such a demand to contain the landlord’s name and address. For an individual that should be the landlord’s place of residence or place he carries on business; for

Specialist legal property management firm Brady Solicitors has secured the national Law Society’s law management quality mark, Lexcel, becoming one of only a handful of legal property management firms with the accreditation.   Lexcel is an optional, recognised accreditation scheme for law firms and in-house legal departments, which gives assurance that a practice meets high client care and business management standards. To gain and retain Lexcel accreditation, practices must undergo a rigorous initi

Your essential guide to recruitment. Some of this features articles include: Block management from job to career My CPD year Client and candidate tips for interviews Independent industry practitioners offer some advice in our comprehensive pull out and keep supplement about recruitment.

Bournemouth-based blocks of flats insurance broker Deacon has further demonstrated its commitment to supporting local young homeless people, by presenting a cheque for £13,717.07 to New Forest Nightstop Co-ordinator, Jude Todd (pictured third from the right). Ringwood-based New Forest Nightstop provides emergency overnight accommodation for homeless people aged between 16 and 24 via a network of volunteer households, throughout the New Forest. Deacon’s Marketing Manager, Dave Hitchins says, “As a spec

The Court of Appeal in Magnohard v Cadogan has decided that it is not reasonable to call a block of flats a house for the purposes of enfranchising the building under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 Act. The case concerned a building in Chelsea which was constructed in 1888. Had the leaseholder succeeded, they could have forced the landlord to sell the freehold to the building to them.

Two managing agents are independently raising money for a range of good causes through a sponsored walk and bicycle ride. Jonathan Smith and Angus Cooper from Trinity Estates are going to be climbing Ben Nevis and cycling through it for the charity ‘The Neuroblastoma Society’. Meanwhile, Rob Robertson from Crabtree Property Management is going to be recreating the 2011 historic 52 mile Ridgewalk to be completed in 24 hours for SENSE, a charity dedicated to helping deaf and blind children and adults.

The foyer of Nell Gwynn House in Chelsea, London which has been refurbished at a cost of £125,000. Designer Tim Gosling, instructed by managing agents Crabtree, highlighted the art deco heritage of the 430-unit building, which in London is only matched by The Connaught and Claridges Hotels. Ben Hopkinson of local estate agents, Moretons, said: “Nell Gwynn House is an important building in Chelsea and it’s important to keep in good order, by doing that it will remain popular and stay a premiere residence i

The Government has introduced into law an outright ban on clamping cars on private land. The legislation has been passed in the new Protection of Freedom Act. In response, the Federation of Private Residents’ Associations (FPRA) which represents flat owners in England and Wales has accused Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone MP of ignoring flat owners and tenants. Bob Smytherman, FPRA Chairman explained that they had unsuccessfully lobbied the Home Office because: 1. Residents and leaseholders o

Midway Insurance Services is throwing down the challenge to other insurance brokers to up their game in the blocks of flats market with the launch of their updated flats product “Ultimate Flat Owners”, which is underwritten by Aviva. Paul Robertson, Managing Director explains that the buildings insurance market for blocks of flats is one of the few remaining markets that fails to offer its end customers competitive choice. So, he is challenging brokers to up their game in three areas: 1. To improve the

Most residents of blocks of flats may expect to find some junk mail leaflets mixed up with their post - a few local pizza companies, or a taxi firm perhaps. However, it is not everyday that a leaflet from the Ministry of Defence turns up explaining that a missile battery is going to be placed on the roof of the building where you live. However, that is what happened at Bow Quarter where the Ministry of Defence have installed a missile battery for two months to protect the Olympics - much to the chagrin of

If you are a flat owner wondering why your service charges are too high, the service from your managing agent is lacking, or why you are in despair at what you can do about it, now you know. It’s your own fault. Or at least that’s what you may think if you paid attention to the comments from the Government in a recent House of Lord’s debate. The debate concerned service charges and other matters relating to residential blocks of flats. It was the first time for many years that issues affecting over 3

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