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The Institute of Residential Property Management is celebrating as Gemma Tracey (Marr-Johnson & Stevens) became the Institute’s 2,000th member. Anthony Essien, Chief Executive of LEASE said “the IRPM have played a major role in raising standards within the property management profession.  I congratulate them in achieving this significant membership milestone”. Landlords and Residents’ Management Companies are increasingly expecting their managing agents to demonstrate that they employ appropriately qual

Specialist service charge and ground rent recovery solicitors, J B Leitch LLP has celebrated the opening of their new office in Liverpool City Centre. The firm recently purchased an additional 3,000 sq ft of lower ground floor office space on Kent Street, close to their existing offices in the Ropewalks district of Liverpool. Jonathan Leitch, managing partner of the firm said: “On top of the £250,000 investment in the refurbishment, we are also planning a further IT investment to ensure our IT infrastr

ONE of the North West’s largest independent corporate insurance brokers, Bridge Insurance Brokers Limited, has announced the launch of a London office. Well established as a national and international broker and risk adviser, Bridge is capitalising on 40 years of success in the industry. The Award winning firm have recently designed an exclusive and specialist insurance facility for blocks of flats, called FlatGuard. FlatGuard provides an all round insurance solution incorporating wide-ranging bespoke

The FPRA and The Leasehold Advisory Service teamed up for a Leaseholder Residents Rights Workshop organised and chaired by local Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy. Stella Creasy said: ‘Over the course of the last few months a number of subjects relating to leases have been raised with me by local residents. These include increases in Service Charges, the poor performance of management companies, the requirement to take insurance cover with the management companies preferred insurer, and most recently increas

Over the last 6 months of reported cases, the Ombudsman Services: Property has investigated 9 cases of complaint against managing agents. In reaching its final decision, the Ombudsman required the managing agent to apologise (in three cases), to pay compensation of between £50-100 (in three cases), to take remedial action (in eight cases) and to take no further action (in one case). The complaints presented included: failure to provide a service charge certificate with the accounts, failure to upkeep the

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12 Property Managers at the Residential Management Group have passed the final examination to become full members of the IRPM. This represents 10% of the total number of all examinees, and means the candidates can now utilise the designatory letters MIRPM. Special mention goes to Charlotte Howlings who completed both Parts 1 and 2 of the examination within a few months of each other. In addition, Alex Mawson-Murphy achieved 88% which was the highest mark of the 12 RMG employees.

Last year The Federation of Private Residents’ Association (FPRA) responded to the Law Reform Consultation expressing concerns over a variety of areas of leasehold law requiring urgent reform to protect private sector leaseholders in a largely unregulated property management industry. In a letter signed by Law Commissioner, Professor Elizabeth Cooke she confirmed discussions with Government had indicated that other projects were considered to be of more pressing concern at present than the protection of

Many former military personnel can be found on-site managing apartment blocks as the front line in estate management. News on the Block interviewed three estate managers with military backgrounds. Paul Harrison, Development Manager, West End Quay Walter Arciaga, House Manager, River Gardens Morris Dickson, Estate Manager, Holborough Lakes [extra:quotes:boxoutcopy=1] NOTB: Why do ex-military personnel make good estate managers? PH: Although people might not realise it, being a Development

[extra:quotes:boxoutcopy=1] The West Sussex Flats Insulation Project In 2008 a Partnership of 6 adjoining Local Authorities formed the West Sussex Partnership, and won a bid for 3 years of funding from the Regional Housing Board to help fund any excess payments required for Warm Front grant applicants. When the Warm Front Grant maximum was increased at the start of 2009, demand for ‘top-up’ funding was greatly reduced and the Government Office for the South East (GOSE) permitted the West Sussex Partne

In a case brought against the Swedish Government, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that preventing people from using a satellite dish is a breach of human rights such as the right to freedom of expression and the right to practice religion. Many blocks of flats in the UK have clauses in their leases which prevent the installation of satellite dishes by individual leaseholders, and consequently communal tv systems are often provided. Bob Smytherman, Chairman of the FPRA, said: “...this decision

Auditioning for a replacement managing agent can feel like a time-consuming gamble, and it’s not a process you want to keep repeating. With numerous managing agents to choose from, how do you differentiate between the many hopefuls and make sure you find the one who is exactly right? The standard procedure is to find companies which are members of the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) or the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), invite a selection of firms to tender, listen to