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As from 1 June 2007, homeowners will be required to provide a Home Information Pack when marketing their homes for sale throughout England and Wales. There is less than a year to go until HIPs become mandatory across England and Wales. Long called for by consumer groups, HIPs are being introduced to address the serious problems and delays experienced by homebuyers and sellers when they can’t get early reliable information about a property they wish to purchase. The Government’s mission is that HIPs will

Often called private sheltered housing in the past, retirement housing is leasehold residential property specifically designed and designated for sale to older people with a package of estate management services. The market for retirement housing has good prospects. There are about 110,000 managed retirement homes in the U.K. (about 2,750 schemes). The demographics show increasing number of older people, living longer and healthier lives. Government reports have demonstrated the requirement for small p

This government has never been brilliant at the detail of legislation. Take Home Information Packs. Come next June, every seller must have a HIP before they can market their home. The pack, which must include searches and a Home Condition Report, has been through various pilots since 2000. But has the government ever looked specifically at its impact on leaseholders? According to DCLG, a HIP will cost around £600-£700. But, even if you accept this figure, which most in the industry don’t, that’s the cost

DTZ Residential's Spring Central London Prime Report shows that prices have risen for new build apartments over the year. DTZ Residential expects the trend to continue through 2006, with more peripheral areas such as Elephant and Castle, Bermondsey, East London (Stratford and Barking), Vauxhall and Croydon experiencing above-average growth.

As the university year draws to a close, the next generation of students - and their parents - can benefit from investing in student property. Dedicated student halls of residence are permitted in Self-Invested Personal Pensions, SIPPs. The average student debt rose to £12,640 in 2005, according to Natwest, and looks set to continue. Parents who are in a position to help their children financially are also feeling the strain of student rents, which have risen by 10% annually for three years. By purchasing

In today’s competitive market property companies can no longer compete on price alone and an organisation’s best assets are the staff it employs and their individual skills, knowledge and expertise. To address skills issues and plan for the future, Asset Skills, the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for the places where we live and work, is running a series of breakfast sessions designed to garner your views and experience to assist in building a strategy to take skills and training for property into the future

The landlords were the freehold owners of a building. The ground floor flat was leased to the tenants under a long lease. The landlords occupied the remainder of the building. At some time prior to the landlord or tenant obtaining their respective interests, someone had removed a length of wall from the ground floor flat and had erected a stud partition wall. Both of these works were at variance with the plans of the flats. It seemed clear that the then tenant had not obtained the necessary consent from t

The applicant leaseholder was dissatisfied with the decision of the respondent freeholder to carry out works to his property. He contended that no works were necessary, only maintenance. The Council responded by setting out it’s cyclical maintenance scheme – works would be done, even if not strictly necessary, in accordance with a pre-determined schedule. The Council had some 18,500 properties to service and simply could not deal with repairs on a reactive basis, but had to undertaken maintenance based on

One of the most immediate concerns of a residents’ board when a block goes self-managed is to keep leaseholders’ money safe. The second is to invest it prudently. By James Thomson The annual service charge budget at Bankside Lofts is £500,000 including insurance and water charges. This is an average of £4,000 per flat. These are invoiced and payable half-yearly in advance so that, together with accumulated building reserves, peak bank balances are also of the order of £500,000.   At Bankside Lofts

So much of what we read and hear about block management relates to the ever increasing complexities of regulation, compliance, lessees rights and the legal framework within which block managers must operate. It is too easy to forget that the commercial role of the modern block manager is a service provider to add value to their clients. As with any other service business in the world, acquisition and retention of clients is largely based on the perception of the delivery of value for money and customer

In 2008 the switch off of analogue TV begins and this means that all viewers will need equipment or systems that are digitally enabled in order to watch television. For residents of flats and apartments, the landlord or management company needs to consider now if any changes need to be made to ensure tenants aren’t faced with a blank screen in the future.   Digital television was launched in the UK during 1998 and has enabled broadcasters to vastly increase the choice of programmes available to viewers. T

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG - formerly ODPM) has created a dedicated website - www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk - for those involved in the industry.  The site provides detailed, up-to-date information, including case studies, FAQs, leaflets, regular e-newsletters, event details and other useful links. From 1 June 2007, homeowners will be required to provide a Home Information Pack when marketing their homes for sale throughout England and Wales. The Packs are designed to remo