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[image1] * SEE YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL IDEA SPRING TO LIFE BY SUBMITTING YOUR ENTRY TO THE CONSENSUS BUSINESS GROUP ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE * ENTER THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE AND YOUR IDEA COULD RECEIVE A GENEROUS CASH PRIZE OR AN INVESTMENT * A PANEL OF JUDGES WILL CHOOSE 12 CONSENSUS BUSINESS GROUP ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE WINNERS THROUGHOUT 2008 The Consensus Environmental Challenge Vincent Tchenguiz, Chairman of Consensus Business Group is pleased to announce that: “As one of the most substantial manager

Well, what a busy year 2007 was. News on the Block launched its first property conference on Commonhold, a group of us visited MIPIM in the south of France – the world’s most audacious and socially exhausting real estate event. (You can read a preview of this year’s event in this issue’s business pages). And we spent a few pleasant days in Cardiff at the newly launched RESI conference. It didn’t stop there: we published a new book for leaseholders, see page 30 to obtain your copy, and we teamed up with Br

QUESTION  Appointing a Company Secretary Whom is Neither a Share-Owner nor a Joint-Owner Dear News on the Block, I am the treasurer of a block of flats with 12 units. We need to elect a new company secretary. As there is a limited number of people able and willing to do this job we are thinking of appointing a lady who is capable, but although she is a permanent resident, is neither a share-owner or joint owner, although she lives with the person who is. Would this be acceptable from a legal point o

There’s plenty written about the problems subtenants can cause blocks – drunken parties, noise, fractured communities, as Jane Barry writes. But what about the many subtenants who are responsible, pleasant and thoroughly good neighbours? The virtues of many well-behaved subtenants often go unsung. When private sector tenants are up against a bad landlord, they can find a perfectly reasonable request for repairs puts them in danger of losing their home. And where do they turn to? There is no organisation d

This month Jane Bayliss communicates on the financial benefits of having mobile ‘phone masts erected on blocks of flats. (All names have been changed in order to safeguard the identities of those involved in this latest seaside saga!) t’s one of life’s little oddities that while most of the inhabitants of Seagull Towers see no more need for mobile ‘phones than for computers, two mobile ‘phone companies are paying into our reserve fund by renting space on the roof. This handy nest-egg has not been won with

Kerry Glanville is a partner and head of property litigation at Pemberton Greenish. She recently gave a speech at the ARMA conference discussing how effective the amendments to section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 have really been. Jamie Reid caught up with her to discuss the issue. Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 was included with one very simple purpose – to ensure that those who contribute a service charge are consulted and given the opportunity to comment on how their money

A common complaint of tenants is that their property has been badly managed and/or the landlord is collecting excessive amounts of service/administration charges. To deal with these problems, the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) has the power to appoint a manager and/or receiver to manage the property instead of the landlord or his agent.Pre-application procedure The LVT regards the appointment of a manager against the wishes of the landlord to be a draconian step and will usually require certain prel

Readers may recall I wrote an article outlining the reforms to practice and procedure brought in by the London Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) at the start of 2007 in relation to claims under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (‘the 1993 Act’) that appeared in issue 32 of News On the Block. The start of 2008 is a good time to reflect on these changes and also to look ahead to some changes to come. The reforms brought in by the Central London LVT, particularly allowing the par

Have you ever asked yourself where do the key workers – those low-paid but vitally important public sector employees who teach our children, drive our trains and buses and tend to our sick and injured – live in places such as France, Germany, North America and Australia? Have you also asked yourself why we in the UK seem to be the only place suffering a long-term affordability crisis coupled with an obsession with house prices that seem to be on a permanent roller-coaster and no stability in prospect? The

In the second edition of her series of articles from the front line, Antonia Adams considers whether the amalgamation of local authorities and private developments is a match made in heaven or hell. The above attention-grabbing headline was in my free local authority newspaper earlier this year stating that they needed 200 private sector properties to meet the continuing demand for housing under both their Rent Deposit and Leasing Schemes, with landlords being enticed with various benefits. I never took m

Last spring John Peartree, chief executive officer of the Federation of Private Residents’ Associations (FPRA), and his committee members, wrote to Tony Blair about the lack of consideration by government of the impact on leaseholders and residents of new legislation. Please see a copy of his letter below, with responses overleaf. Dear Prime Minister, The Federation of Private Residents’ Associations (FPRA) represents long leasehold and tenanted flat owners in England and Wales and estates of largely o

The problem of parking for residents is getting worse, considerably exacerbated by current planning policy, which increasingly restricts parking provision in town and city centre developments. “In many cases, there is no parking whatsoever, in expectation that people will be able to use public transport, or walk everywhere, but in practice this rarely works, except in the largest cities, where the transport infrastructure is effective. For most people, their car denotes freedom. It is integral to their li