Featured Articles

Over 120 members and non-members attended the ALEP Seasonal Drinks Reception in December 2011 for a festive evening of networking with their enfranchisement colleagues. Alex Greenslade, Honorary Secretary, welcomed everyone to the event and announced the forthcoming introduction of barrister membership to ALEP, which will be launched in January. Damian Greenish, Honorary President, formally thanked the ALEP staff and committee for their hard work in managing ALEP’s 2011 events and activities, and looked a

Your essential guide to buying your freehold or extending your lease.  Your essential guide to buying your freehold or extending your lease. Independent industry practitioners offer some advice in our comprehensive pull out and keep supplement about the enfranchisement process. Some of the articles in this feature include: Alex Greenslade explains why now is the time to check the length of your lease  Yashmin Mistry considers whether preliminary investigations are worthwhile in enfranchisement ca

In November 2010 Managing Director, Neil Chatterton took the role of Chairman following the untimely death of director James Pilcher. Ron Roser, who has worked as a business consultant with Caxtons for the past 6 years, has joined Caxtons as non-executive director and has also been appointed as Chairman. Ron held a number of senior appointments with Barclays Bank and spent time in a senior management position for BDO Stoy Hayward, Chartered Accountants. Since 2003, Ron has been an independent business con

David Clark, Principal at Mainstay Group and a Fellow of the Institute of Residential Property Managers, has been elected to the board of governors. David was a founding governor at IRPM back in 2002 but left after a year to take up the chairmanship of ARMA. He rejoins at an exciting time for the growing Institute who now boast more than 2000 individual members and more than 370 exam candidates a year. ‘I was closely involved in the formation of the IRPM and setting the first examination syllabus,’ sa

RatedPeople.com joined forces with the highly-regarded gardening expert, TV presenter and author, Toby Buckland. Chief Marketing Officer Tariq Dag Khan commented: “Toby has great ideas that all homeowners can benefit from. RatedPeople.com aims to become a one-stop-shop for homeowners looking for good, honest tradesman.”

Award winning regional law firm Brethertons has appointed Roger Hardwick, a member of the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners, as Head of Enfranchisement. Roger’s sole focus is residential leasehold property. His work includes statutory lease extension, collective enfranchisement and right to manage claims; ground rent investment sales and purchases; freehold acquisitions under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967; residential service charge disputes and applications to the Leasehold Valuati

Bolton-based ground rent specialist, Landmark Investments Group (Landmark), has seen a 33 per cent growth in profit in the last 12 months, following the company’s increased ground rent management portfolio and expansion of client services. Trusted to provide management and purchase services to six of the UK’s top ten housebuilders and working in partnership with developers and landlords nationwide, owner/director Mark Hawthorn said the company’s growth was owed to its unique internal systems and process

Funding has been secured and a global search launched for a PhD student to carry out pioneering research to help the property industry better understand the link between customer service and property performance. Sponsorship for the three-year project will come from the Lord Samuel of Wych Cross Memorial Trust Award, together with industry contributions from RealService Ltd and the RealService Best Practice Group (RSBPG). The Trust was set up in 1989 to remember Lord Samuel of Wych Cross, founder of L

RICS has launched a consultation to tackle problems about current risk and pricing in professional indemnity insurance (PII) in the UK valuation sector that are creating market dysfunction. The quantity and cost of handling alleged negligence claims is having a significant impact on the cost of PII, not just for firms who have received claims but for the market as a whole. These structural problems could reduce client protection, limit competition within the market and lead to market failure. RICS has

Managing agent, Mainstay, is on a mission to continue its rapid growth over the next five years. The executive team have placed customer service firmly at the heart of Mainstay’s strategy and know that to be successful, they need to hire people who support the strategy and have the right skills and values. In an effort to reduce the risk of costly recruitment errors, Mainstay has engaged with Midlands-based firm, Williams. Williams have worked with Mainstay to develop a bespoke, efficient recruitment proc

Most legal advisers and many leaseholders are familiar with the right to be provided with a summary of relevant service charge costs under Section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. However, a little-known legal right passes great numbers of leaseholders by every year owing to its relative obscurity. Under Section 84 of the Housing Act 1996, residential long leaseholders who have formed a recognised tenants’ association have the right to appoint a surveyor to advise them on matters relating to

During the mid 1980’s  the way in which flats in England and Wales were being built and sold began to change. Why? Because developers began to realise that legislation being proposed and enacted by the government of the time was granting leaseholders more and more rights/powers in respect of consultation requirements, management audits and flat management generally. Developers know the balance of power was beginning to shift and consequently being a freeholder was no longer an attractive prospect. What