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Housing Minister Grant Shapps has announced that he will be scrapping plans to regulate managing agents. The u-turn was met with dismay by an industry largely supportive of proposed regulation. Speaking in Parliament, Mr Shapps confi rmed that with the property sector already governed by a well established legal framework, the Government has no plans to introduce any further regulations. Lucy Morton of W A Ellis said: "I believe this is a major error of judgement as it is essential to improve the standard

Leaseholders and residents' associations seminar: Your rights explained Trowers & Hamlins LLP are delighted to invite you to a seminar held in conjunction with News on the Block on Enfranchisement, Lease Extension and other leaseholder rights.  The seminar will focus upon the rights granted to leaseholders and leaseholder groups by law.  You will hear from speakers including: Nic Shulman of News on the Block (Chair), Genevieve Mariner of Strettons, Peter Ward, Michael Donnellan and Leigh Shapiro of Trow

Property Management company, Chainbow,  celebrated its 21st birthday by having a staff birthday cake ‘bakeoff’ with proceeds from the sale of the oven-baked treats benefiting children’s research charity, Sparks. Chairman Roger Southam (pictured below)) reflected, “The secret of our success is enforcing a high standard of customer service, transparency, accountability and acting in the best interest of our clients whether they are freeholders, leaseholders or developers.” The company has recently increased

Communal areas of residential blocks are comparatively low risk, however accidents will happen. There will undoubtedly be a collective yawn and audible sigh from Landlords, Block Managers and RMC Directors everywhere. Just the thought of Health & Safety will be enough to make the eyes glaze over with the perceived complex and frankly soporific bureaucracy of legislation and regulation. Health & Safety can have this effect however it is apparent and unfortunate that nothing focuses the mind more on Healt

Peter Gilgallon advises blocks to plan in preventative maintenance throughout the year Here, he looks at the spring and summer months. Springtime Increase garden maintenance as the growing season is starting especially the grass and weeds. Carpets and hard floor surfaces will undoubtedly look tired as rock salt, mud, leaves and wet weather conditions have left their mark on communal areas. During the autumn, leaves and moss from roofs, would have dropped into the gutters so consider having drains

There have been many cases on refusal to consent (whether to assignment or underlet) all turning on what is "reasonable". The Landlord must show reasonableness in refusing consent to an assignment (Landlord and Tenant Act 1988). But what is reasonable is decided by the courts. Two recent cases have established new and helpful principles. First: the landlord must not threaten refusal to improve his position under the lease. This was the point argued (unsuccessfully by the landlord) in Landlord Protect

A notice served under a s.13 or s. 42 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 ("LRHUDA") by a company must comply with s. 44 of the Companies Act 2006. Under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 ("LRHUDA") both a s.13 notice (an initial notice used to start collective enfranchisement proceedings) and a s.42 notice (the tenant's notice used to start a claim for lease extension) have to be signed personally by "each of the tenants, or (as the case may be) by t

The city centre of Leeds has had its fair share of largescale residential developments over the past few years; some of them successful, some of them not. The regeneration of key locations has been a double-edged sword for Leeds; the enormous size of the Brownfield sites paved the way for rapid development, but the sheer scale left many people feeling uneasy about the imposing nature of such schemes. One inner-city site that seems to have bucked the trend is Granary Wharf. Located next to Leeds Railway St

As spring is now with us, soon the trees will all be in leaf. When a tree is in full leaf it can disguise quite large sections that have died in the previous year, known as "deadwood". Deadwood must be taken seriously; sections of deadwood weighing several hundred kilograms can fall from a tree. So Spring is a good time to carry out a health check. A section of branch, or even the whole tree, failing to come into leaf can also be the sign of a bigger problem such as fungal infections or obscured breaks

Leading Solicitor, Damian Greenish, of solicitors Pemberton Greenish LLP has been appointed Honorary President of the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners.  The former Honorary President, Peter Haler MBE, the former Chief Executive of the Leasehold Advisory Service, has stepped down. The appointment was made at the recent ALEP Spring Conference, where delegates were also addressed by speakers including Siobhan McGrath, Senior President of the Residential Property Tribunal Services, and A

Unfair letting agent renewal fees should be scrapped, according to the National Landlords Association (NLA) as it welcomed a court order secured by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) against Foxtons. Following a landmark judgment last summer when the High Court ruled that Foxtons commission charges were "severely camouflaged" and represented "a ‘trap' or ‘timebomb' for consumers," (as previously reported in News on the Block) the OFT has been pursuing a court order to protect landlords. Jason Freeman, Legal

Peverel Property Management,  the national property group, has signed up to the property services ombudsman formerly known as the Surveyor's Ombudsman Service (SOS). This means Residents will have access to a free and independent mediation service. Lee Middleburgh, Group Managing Director of Peverel Property Management, comments: "By joining the ombudsman scheme we have provided our customers with another way of resolving an issue if they feel we have not resolved it to their satisfaction."