Featured Articles

DISILLUSIONED first time buyers affected by the credit crunch are having doors opened to them thanks to a new nationwide scheme. Jordan's, a long established letting agency in the North West, is launching Rent- 2-Buy, a scheme for first time buyers, allowing them to rent a property first and then giving them the right to buy at a discount. Under the new scheme, buyers rent a property for a set time and then agree to purchase it at open market value. Half the rent they have paid is then rebated as a reduc

Chainbow has announced it recently joined the Association of Residential Managing Agents, an organisation dedicated to matters relating to the management of residential leasehold blocks of flats. The membership illustrates how Chainbow is keen to play an active role in helping to improve the relationships between lessees, resident management companies and investor freeholders. Chainbow founder and chairman Roger Southam comments: ”Chainbow has been operating in property for 19 years and dedicated to resid

Adiuvo, (pronounced ADD-EE-OO-VO by the way) managed to persuade several property managers and various contractors to give up their Sunday in order to celebrate their official launch at Brands Hatch. Adiuvo, the specialist Out of Hours Service for the property sector, is sponsoring a classic Formula Three car this season and invited clients and guests to watch the car perform along with many other classic races during a somewhat food and drink filled day. The sun shone brightly on the day’s proceedings an

In a major departure from traditional property sales techniques, interior design and branding specialists Tonik this week launched its groundbreaking development concept at Cog Developments’ Hartington Place scheme in the centre of Eastbourne. Prospective purchasers at Hartington Place will be able to buy their apartments fitted to a “shell and core” specification, allowing them completely free rein to design the interior space as they wish – from the number and sizes of bedrooms to the type of fixtures a

Ian Reid Managing Director of Brevent Insurance, the leading independent block of flats insurance specialist explains why Resident Directors should pay much closer attention to their insurance arrangements now, especially as in many cases they represent 15-20% of the annual service charge. It’s a fact of life isn’t it? Insurance premiums automatically cost more every year. Well it’s not necessarily so. In the past few weeks, our team have helped Resident Directors achieve premiums that were significantly

The House of Lords has dealt another blow to owners of residential or mixed use buildings following its decision today in the case of Les Aggio and Others v Howard de Walden Estates Limited and 26 Cadogan Square Limited v The Earl of Cadogan and Cadogan Estates Limited. In May 2007, two of the largest family owned London estates, the Howard de Walden Estate and the Cadogan Estate, joined forces to secure a victory in the Court of Appeal preventing leasehold owners of buildings which include flats from cl

If you’re wary of the uncertainties surrounding the UK property market right now, maybe it’s time to consider a switch to a high growth alternative where off plan still makes sense. Remember off plan?Great for high growing markets and a thing of the past in the UK – at least for now. New Europe has to be one of the most exciting property markets in the world for property investors. And many of the rules for avoiding the deal killers are, well, the same as for any market. But not exactly. At Property Secr

If your managing agent isn’t doing their job properly, what steps can you take to rectify the situation? We spoke to the FPRA’s John Peartree about what to do when you aren’t happy with the managing agent’s performance, and look at all the options available to the dissatisfied leaseholder. Residents fall out with managing agents for a huge variety of reasons – poor financial handling, not paying bills, not making repairs or carrying out maintenance fast enough and being hard to get in touch with are but

So you need to find a managing agent for your block of flats. The good news is that you have this book, which is an excellent resource for finding one. However, now you have several hundred companies from which to choose, so where do you start? Here, we look at how to approach the hunt for the perfect agent. Check out what sort of properties the agent already manages – are they similar to yours? You want to make sure that the agent will be suitable for your needs. Someone who manages luxury blocks wi

Whenever a managing agent isn’t doing their job properly, at some point, at least one leaseholder will undoubtedly utter a variation on the phrase “what are we paying this service charge for when we aren’t getting any service?” But contrary to popular belief, the service charge doesn’t just disappear into the managing agent’s pocket – or at least it shouldn’t! Andrew Adamides breaks down the whys and wherefores of what the service charge is for, how it’s calculated and where it should be going. Put in its

We read about people being sued in the papers, see it on the news, watch television programs about it and it is even used in plot lines on films but we never think it will happen to us – do we? We discussed the situation of health & safety with Pete Gilgallon, operations manager, The GOL Group. The reality of being sued by someone for an accident that has happened to them due to poor health and safety is an everyday occurrence in the UK. Any company that has dealings with the public must do all they can

Many lessees may have heard the term “enfranchisement” without really knowing what it means. Basically enfranchisement is a group or collective right for leaseholders of flats to buy the freehold of the building they live in, regardless of whether the landlord wants to sell. Seeking a lease extension on the other hand, is an individual right for leaseholders to buy a new, extended lease which adds on 90 years to the unexpired lease with no ground rent. Although the rights are slightly different, the proc