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Managing agents and commercial property owners could find themselves in breach of the law following new fire rules, which came into force on October 1st. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) is the biggest shake-up of the legislation in 30 years. It signals the end of traditional fire certificates, with managing agents and owners now directly accountable for fire risk. “Far more responsibilities are being passed to managing agents and owners”, explains Peter Gallacher, Principal Fire Saf

The award - winning Thames Gateway Forum returns to the ExCel Centre on the 22nd and 23rd November. The Forum, now in its third year, is the only event of its kind to bring together all organisations involved in the regeneration of the Thames Gateway, Europe’s largest regeneration initiative. A recent survey commissioned by Davies Arnold Cooper showed that one and two bedroom homes now account for more than 80% of housing in the Thames Gateway. This has added to the growing concern regarding small spa

There are estimated to be in excess of 1.5 million leasehold units in the UK, of which approximately 40% are believed to be ‘self-managed’. Each of these leasehold properties is a substantial asset, frequently the lessee’s primary asset. More and more lessees as well as freeholders regard their home as their pension fund, a way to raise further cash and a key component of their finances. As a result the leasehold sector is an important part of the economy as a whole and affects the lives of more than thre

It is almost always worthwhile for leaseholders to buy the freehold of their block, since they can grant themselves 999-year leases, increase the value of their flats and secure ownership and control of the building. A growing number of leaseholders are learning that they have the right to compel the landlord (or freeholder) to sell to them the freehold and to do so at a fair market price within statutory deadlines, in a process known as collective enfranchisement, as long as a minimum of half of all flat

Consolidating legislation to reduce the burden on businesses is a key platform for the Government’s regulatory review. But this comes only at the expense of dealing with a large learning curve. Now is the time for block managers to understand these changes to fire safety regulations. One expert, Phil Jones, from Quantum Risk Management, explains: “From October 2006, there will be a new Order which will mean that the onus for assessing risk in the common parts of residential building falls to the owners,

The National Housing Federation represents England’s 1400 independent, non-profit housing associations, which provide two million homes for around five million people. The event confirmed that the moment is ripe for the sector to make a significant impact, forge new relationships with government and its agencies, and to liberate its capacity to contribute to the bigger picture. The Annual Conference and Social Housing Exhibition 2006 is the most important event in the social housing calendar. Housing a

Lawpack Publishing has published the fifth edition of House Buying, Selling & Conveyancing, written by Joseph Bradshaw and now revised and updated by Georgia Bedworth. Buying and selling property has become a national pre-occupation, due in no small part to the erosion of final salary pension schemes by all but a handful of firms. With increasing numbers of people investing in property, the fees generated by estate agents and solicitors can make the process unnecessarily expensive – particularly for thos

Springhill has announced the publication of Michael Fraser’s ‘How Safe is Your in which he shares his infinite knowledge of how a burglar’s mind works. Ascording to Home Office crime statistics, there were 78,000 burglaries in dwellings in England and Wales (December 2004 to March 2005). The book makes us realise how careless and neglectful we are when it comes to securing our homes. Many people will recognise Michael Fraser from BBC TV’s popular series “To Catch a Thief” and “Beat the Burglar”. Frase

The average price of a new home fell in September by £2,886, down 1.1% since August. The annual fall of 0.1% is well below falls previously experienced at this time of year and is likely to be due to August’s interest rate rise. Despite this, the price buyers are willing to pay has continued to rise, suggesting that buyers are cautious but confident in the future. Activity is predicted to pick up in the final months of 2006. The Bank of England’s decision to hold interest rates at 4.75% in September and

Facts The Leasehold Reform Acts provide various mechanisms for the holders of long leases of residential premises to enfranchise their interests by an extension of their leases or the purchase of the freehold. The purchase price in such cases depends on certain assumptions of the amount, which, at the valuation date, the freeholder’s interest might be expected to realise if sold on the open market by a willing seller. The right to receive ground rent has always been treated separately and is calculate

Firstly, let me start with a frank admission. I hate surveying newly built blocks of flats. This might be dangerous talk and I am sure that many fellow professionals would wish to take issue with me on this, but let me explain. As an experienced surveyor, what I really enjoy is inspecting and reporting on a building with a history, preferably with an interesting structural defect or two and one or two items of disrepair. New build blocks of flats are increasingly system-built in a fast track manner by ver

You rent for some years, save for a deposit and then make the all-important decision: the location and price of the flat you can afford. So far so good, but if you consider the buying process to be the most important decision of all, you’d be wrong. This was the message from the recent Annual Conference of the Association of Residential Managing Agents. Rather like the wedding and honeymoon, what seems important now is in fact the trivial preamble to the important bit – the long-term marriage. When buyin