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The Law Society Gazette has reported that research by Hogan Lovells suggests a ‘significant’ rise in litigation within the real estate market in 2011. The rise is expected to be in the area of professional negligence, but with landlord and tenant and insolvency cases also increasing. Hogan Lovells’ expects banks to contemplate professional negligence actions against surveyors and solicitors, in relation to valuation and defective documentation that have left banks less protected than they believe they sho

The impact of reduced public funding for flood defences will demand a more innovative approach to managing flood risk, the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has said today.   Spending reviews will see DEFRA reduce its resource spending by 29% and capital spending by 34%, with £2bn allocated to coastal and flood defences over the four year review period, 2011 to 2015. However this is less than the £2.15bn commitment made in the previous three year period, 2008-2011. According to the Environment Agen

Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) has been long supporters of minimum housing space standards and welcomes the Mayor of London’s proposed policy of minimum internal and external space standards for all housing developments. TCPA says that these standards provide the basis for high quality sustainable urban development across London as too often, the homes being built do not provide the living space required for a decent quality of life, with enough space for storage, privacy and flexibility of

The National Landlords Association (NLA) has announced it is to join forces with the UK Association of Letting Agents (UKALA). Under the agreement, the NLA will assume responsibility for management of UKALA and provide advice and information to its member agents. Members of UKALA, which represents more than 500 letting agents, voted at their Annual General Meeting to establish professional links with the NLA. The UKALA brand will remain and its board will be made up of an equal number of directors nominat

The Ringley Group was recognised as Green Champion of the Year for 2010 at The Negotiator magazine awards. Managing Director, Mary-Anne Bowring said “We have pin-pointed the nearest car club to each development, recorded what recycling facilities are on site, put together a dossier on bike rack solutions and started installing bike racks which can be vertically mounted so take very little space indeed. In 2011 we have plans to roll out to composting to larger sites, divert rainwater goods to water buts

Landlord Action commented that the Government may be offering the private sector landlords an option to receive Local Housing Allowance directly if rents are reduced, and only temporarily. For the landlord, this option presents a low risk solution to receiving rent, but would come at the opportunity cost of lower returns on rent. It is uncertain whether it would be favourable to tenants on benefits, however. Landlords could either welcome a steady stream of rental income for a lower return, or insist on

There are several residential house price indices used in the UK and several have consistently reported diverging results. The fragmentation of residential property benchmarks generates widespread variation in the direction and magnitude of price changes, as well as the average price level of properties. Of the seven indices followed by Bloomberg, including Halifax and Nationwide, only 5 out of the last 22 months showed consistency in the direction of residential house prices in the UK. According to F

The National Insulation Association (NIA), representing over 90% of the UK’s home insulation industry including installers and manufacturers, reported that an independent survey has found over half of UK residents remain unaware that over 50% of the heat they are paying for in their homes can be lost through uninsulated cavity walls and lofts. Neil Marshall, Chief Executive of the NIA advised: “Home insulation is the single most effective method to stop the heat escaping and to save money on domestic en

Zoopla.co.uk reported the number of ‘discounted’ properties for sale had increased by 13% over last 3 months with a further £500m slashed off UK asking prices since August of this year. The average reduction was 6.1% from initial asking price and 8% on properties over £1 million. Swindon had the highest percentage of ‘reduced’ properties on market, while Manchester had the highest average discount on properties for sale. Nicholas Leeming, Commercial Director of Zoopla.co.uk, said sellers are becoming in

According to Easyroommate.co.uk, flatsharers are five times more likely to move across the country compared to their non-sharing peers. Flatsharers also provide the UK with a young mobile workforce of 209,000 each year. One in five landlords have seen an increase in the number of flatsharers looking to move because of work since recession.

Independent property consultants, Sandfords, says that average rental prices have increased by over 12% year-on-year as demand continues to exceed supply. They attribute the exodus of buy-to-let investors from the market in the last few years, but landlords are beginning to return, encouraged by higher yields and increasing mortgage availability. Andrew Ellinas, director of Sandfords, comments: “This will have an impact on rental price growth, which I expect to slow in the second half of 2011 as more prop

The winners of the Block Insure Property Management Awards 2010-11 were revealed at a glittering award ceremony held at Lord's Cricket Ground on Monday 6th December 2010.  A full report will follow in Issue 53 of News on the Block.   THE WINNERS ARE...   London Property Management Company of the Year, sponsored by SLC Solicitors  WINNER: RingleyHIGHLY COMMENDED: Crabtree Property Management and Granville & Co.FINALISTS: Granville and Co, Rendall and Rittner, Crabtree, Chainbow, Mainstay and Ringley