Featured Articles

When I bought my first flat only one of the 30 flats in the building was sublet and that was because the leaseholder was temporarily working in the US. But then came buy-to-let. Thirty per cent of my former mansion block is now sublet. In my current block, half of the 32 flats are owned by absentee leaseholders. In some new-build Docklands developments that figure can rise to 80 per cent. Buy-to-let has hit London like an epidemic. And it’s having far-reaching consequences, not just for flat-dwellers but

Jane Bayliss continues her fascinating series of articles about life in a seaside block of flats – this month the residents are up in arms about subletting. (To avoid embarrassment, all names have been changed.) I didn’t read my lease when I bought my flat – what are solicitors for, after all? I was in a hurry to buy and when my solicitor remarked that the lease was short, on the verge of being unmortgageable, but that with a share of the freehold this was not a major obstacle, I hardly paid attention.

October 1, 2007 is a date all leaseholders should have in their diary. From this date, you will be legally entitled to withhold your service and administration charges from your landlord if he or she fails to provide you with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of these demands. In other words: no summary of rights and obligations, no service and administration payments.   Furthermore, a landlord will not be able to apply to a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) to dispense with the requireme

Enfranchisement is a group (or collective) right for leaseholders of flats to buy the freehold of the building they live in. Leaseholders have this right even if the freeholder or landlord does not wish to sell and the process must be exercised through a nominee purchaser. Qualification To exercise the right to enfranchise, you must be a qualifying tenant. In general terms this means your lease was originally granted for a term of 21 years or longer; it does not matter if the lease has less than 21 ye

In this case summary Mira Bar-Hillel explains how leaseholders in a block of flats in London won a crucial LVT hearing to replace the management company running their building after years of swinging charges and neglect. News on the Block readers may remember the story of how I began the leasehold campaign in the Evening Standard in October 1995, which resulted in the 1996 and 2002 Acts. More than 11 years on and with so much water under the bridge, imagine my surprise when I was contacted by a leasehol

Small is beautiful. Well, at least that is the mantra I use as the founder of a small business located in the cut and thrust of the central London block management market. The world of the managing agent has changed enormously during the past five years, due to both legislative changes and market forces. The house-building boom has been a major factor in the growth of the super agent (the word super referring to size and not necessarily ability). As managing agents grew on the back of this boom so the po

With a booming flat living market, coupled with a greater choice of high-quality urban flats – residents have come to expect a high level of quality and service from their home, reports Michael Deighton. The UK housing market has seen many changes in recent years, as have individual needs and requirements. With people working harder and longer than ever before, our living spaces should be an oasis of calm relaxation, a nice thought, but the reality is that most residents couple this ideal of tranquillit

John Mills of the Association of Retirement Housing Managers despairs at this latest Government debacle. The Home Information Pack (HIP) saga limps along. As you recall anyone putting their flat up for sale after June 1, 2007 was to be required to have a HIP available before marketing commenced. But on the May 22 the Government announced a series of changes and a delay until August 1, 2007. This was after the Minister responsible had argued for and won a vote to implement HIPs. So this is how it stands:

Buy-to-let has never been more popular: there are more than a million buy-to-let properties in the UK, and buy-to-let mortgages total over £85bn. News on the Block recently met two investors who are breaking new ground in this area. Buy-to-let mortgages have been around since 1996, but have dramatically changed the shape of residential property investment. They have provided the man in the street easier access to property investments than ever before and these days it’s not unusual for people to own a se

Property management issues will be addressed in a special breakout session at Property Week’s RESI 07 conference for which the full programme has now been unveiled. Improvement in property management is seen as vital in attracting more institutional investment into the sector. Howard Morgan, managing director of the Real Service Group, will lead the workshop on ‘Modernising Management’ that features Nicolas Shulman, founder of News on the Block, Roger Southam, MD of Chainbow and Liz McAllum, director of

The residents of a block of flats in Bayswater are celebrating the successful recovery of commercial rates amounting to a staggering £86,414.80. County Estate Management (CEM) was appointed as the managing agent of the building in July 2004. Having reviewed the budgets and expenditure, CEM queried with the residents why commercial rates were being applied and paid for in respect of the health club situated at 50 Kensington Garden Square (50 KGS). In conjunction with Nick Clabbon and Company, a specialist

Peverel OM’s interactive customer website, Avenue, has won this year’s RICS Award for Property Management Strategy and Delivery – Private Sector. Managing director at Peverel, Lee Middleburgh said: “As a leading agent in the property management field, it is important we look for new and innovative ways in which to deliver quality management services to our residents and clients. Avenue has been so well received that we are already developing the site to offer even greater functionality.” Adam Cooper at