Featured Articles

Daren Wood, Northern Regional general manager at the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), looks at the ways that homeowners can protect their flats and why resident groups should be taking a holistic approach to security. The security of our homes and the environment in which we live is important to us all. If a person’s home is broken into, it is often emotional trauma, rather than material loss, that causes most harm. Few things receive the personal effort and loving care that we put into our

Continuing on in our series of meeting people on the front line of property management, this month we talk to Mark Perkins, who manages the exclusive Kings Chelsea development in West London. Mark Perkins is the building manager of Kings Chelsea, a highly impressive development situated in the heart of the fashionable Kings Road. The gated community is home to a wide variety of professionals ranging from lawyers and doctors to Premiership footballers. Mark is the man charged with ensuring everybody is ke

The debate over whether mobile phones and the masts that transmit signals to them are safe has been wrangling for years; however a recent report concluded they cause no ill-effects. Jamie Reid investigates how the new research could be good news for people living in blocks of flats. In the UK there are more mobile phones than there are people. The most recent figures show there are now in excess of 70 million active handsets in the country and in order for these to work properly; they need masts (sometim

This month, in a new series of articles ‘from the frontline’, frustrated leaseholder Antonia Adams discusses some of her experiences with ineffective managing agents and considers what needs to be done to differentiate between the good, the bad and the ugly. It might be surprising to many people that although managing agents across England and Wales control £1.5 billion pounds of leaseholders service charge monies, they do not require licensing or any formal qualifications. So, what do leaseholders do wh

The NOTB survey questioned 100 leasehold and freehold directors of resident management companies, with the aim of identifying those who benefit from the right the manage, as well as assessing and comparing the performance of managing agents. The survey was completed between December 2006 and January 2007. Two-thirds (67 per cent) of the questionnaires completed were from male respondents, while just under half (44 per cent) of all respondents were aged 65 or older. There were scarcely any leaseholders und

This month David Foster explains what you need to do to ensure your building is compliant with new smoke free legislation. There comes a time to us all when we have to take a deep breath and tackle a task so contentious and provocative that the very thought makes the knees go weak. This is my moment when I address the subject of the recent no smoking legislation and how it impacts on residential buildings. I am very aware that no topic is likely to raise emotions higher and that the opinions of the re

The average selling price of a flat has risen by 59% during the past five years, according to the latest Halifax quarterly regional house price index. During this period, the average flat price has risen from £125,587 during 2002 quarter 3 to £199,389 during 2007 quarter 3. Regionally, Northern Ireland has seen the sharpest increase in flat prices during the past five years with a rise of 106%, nearly double the UK average. Scotland (103%) and the North (94%) have recorded the next biggest increases. The

The team behind News on the Block has announced the launch of a revolutionary new service, www.yourblockonline.com This new website will offer property owners the opportunity to create their very own website, bespoke to their building or development. It will offer leaseholders, freeholders, resident associations, resident management and right to manage companies the chance to manage their property in an innovative and time-saving manner. Paperwork could soon become a thing of the past in blocks across the

Grainger keeps growing Grainger plc has bought a portfolio of 309 homes in East Dulwich, London SE22, including vacant units that will be brought back into use. Two thirds of the properties are subject to assured-shorthold tenancies and over 50 are subject to regulated or assured tenancies. The majority of properties are situated around a private garden square. Grainger intends to refurbish and let 14 vacant units on assured shorthold tenancies, putting much needed homes back into the local market. Commen

Robert Plumb, CEO of HML Holdings plc, likes to keep his property management business simple and streamlined, but always with an eye on growth and acquisition. Tell us how you came to work in property management? I started my career as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young before moving into financial services. In 2000 the company I ran was sold and I was headhunted to run a property services business called Hercules. It was the forerunner of the Erinaceous model. The management had an acquisition str

News on the Block reports on the 12th annual ARMA conference, and considers how far the event has come since the inaugural gathering in 1996. This year’s annual conference of the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) was a far cry from its first event in 1996. Twelve years ago there were a mere 75 delegates, last month there were more than 520; the first venue was a small hotel on the A1 north of London, now it is at the flagship venue of the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Central Lon

John Mills from the Association of Retirement Housing Managers (ARHM) discusses what the digital switchover means for the UK’s elderly population. The prospect of digital switchover is a major concern for managers and residents of retirement housing. With an average age of owners reaching nearly 80 and many in their 90s with no close relatives, some could be left without any TV pictures. There may be a new generation of silver surfers but many owners of retirement housing are not bothered about the multit