Featured Articles

Most people would accept that fire prevention is ‘common sense'. However, here are some true statements made by residents complaining about fire risk assessments - "We've been living here for years without an incident why should we bother?" "Fire Risk Assessments - This is just jobs for the boys" "Risk Assessments are money for old rope" "We haven't got enough money - it'll have to wait" Focus on residential blocks and fire safety increased with the introduction of the Regulatory Reform Order (Fire

As the diseases attributed to asbestos do not appear in exposed individuals for many years after exposure, the true impact on the nations health will not be known for some time. The danger is complacency: asbestos can kill. The main target audience for the awareness campaigns tends to be maintenance contractors as they are more likely to be exposed to any Asbestos Containing Material (ACM) during the course of their day to day activity and this should be a concern for the block manager. Under the asbes

Times have changed since Basil Fawlty worried about the pigeons in the water tank in “Basil the Rat” in 1975. The following year the bacterium Legionella pneumophila was identified after a large outbreak at a convention of the American Legion. Since 1976, building managers have become aware that “Stick some ply over it” as a precaution against vermin and “Brush your teeth in it but don’t drink any” are inappropriate to the problem. Organic materials, including wooden lids, as well as some gaskets and pipe

It is not surprising that we question the sanity of Health & Safety when it seems to impinge on activities we all enjoy by enforcing what appears to be unreasonable and bureaucratic restrictions. The truth is that Health & Safety legislation prohibits little outright, apart from very high risk exceptions such as asbestos, which we know kills over 5,000 people a year. Health and Safety is actually about taking practical and logical steps to ensure that we become aware of, understand and manage real risks

Negotiating an 'arms length' lease outside the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (the "Act") might initially appear a cheaper, quicker option but there are potential pitfalls. Parties ultimately have to make a pragmatic decision on global costs but should always consider the following: 1. Timescales Timescales may slip and parties cannot drive matters forward in extensions outside the Act. Landlords can withdraw at any time leaving leaseholders with no other option than to re-com

Just as we thought it was safe that deferment rates were fixed, a coach and horses has come crashing through the door. The story so far: in Sportelli the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) set the rates at 5% for flats and 4.75% for houses. Last November, in a case concerning Kelton Court, Edgbaston (known as the Zuckerman case), the Tribunal determined that the deferment rate was 6%. Why the changes? In Sportelli, which was in prime Central London, the deferment rate for flats was arrived at as follows:

[image1]NOTB Podcast with Siobhan McGrath, Leasehold Valuation Tribunal In this podcast Nicolas Shulman meets with Siobhan McGrath, Senior President of the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal

The recent case of Hosebay Limited v Hugo Benjamin Day and Lady Hilary Maureen Greenslade Day (2009) is the latest judicial offering on the thorny issue of what constitutes house under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (the Act). The case demonstrates the unintended consequences of recent changes to the Act which entitles lessees to acquire the freeholds of their houses under certain conditions.  Up until 2002, when the law was amended, it was a condition of enfranchisement that the claimant satisfied a res

Communal heating systems are very common within older blocks and it is inevitable that at some point the Residents Association will consider abandoning the system in favour of installing independent boilers and heating systems to each ¯at. Whilst the idea of each resident having their own heating system is desirable for all sorts of reasons, making it happen is not as straight forward as you would imagine, so in order to save you time and money on consultants and surveys let us ¯rst look at the practical

Over the past 10 years it has become a cliché for residential developers to hire famous architects. And in Liverpool Grosvenor didn't spare a penny by hiring international architect Cesar Pelli (famous for the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur) to design their landmark city centre block, One Park West. So far, so good. But within weeks of the building's launch, One Park West had been nominated for Building Design's 2009 Carbuncle Cup - the magazine's list of the nation's ugliest buildings. Within days prot

Leading national property management company Peverel OM has relaunched as OM Property Management.Andrew Billson, Managing Director of Operations at OM Property Management, comments: "The OM brand has 30 years of heritage among house builders and developers so we have created a new brand identity that builds on our original name, taking us ‘back to our roots'. With a team of more than 50 regional field-based property managers who look after more than 1,100 residential developments across the UK, OM Propert

As we all shiver and long for the warmth of our comfy houses whilst commuting to work in the freezing weather, rodents share our sentiments and are also looking for cosy hideouts during the cold snaps. The house mouse is commonly found around a warm home during the winter months. Rats are usually associated with the outdoors. Infestations tend to occur in external areas with rats making their burrows nearby. Indeed, during winter months rats might also settle in warmer areas such as compost heaps, flower