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This year is a crunch year for the rental market, as it must implement the requirements of the Housing Act and the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and, at the Annual Conference of the Association of Residential Letting Agents, ARLA, in London recently delegates were asked if they are ready. Officials from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Disability Rights Commission asked delegates to consider, "2006 is crunch time. Can you cope with the new regulatory regimes coming into force

Sir, Much has been said about the introduction of home information packs in June 2007. Critics have pointed out that they could cause additional unwanted expenses for sellers and distort the market by leading to a surplus of sales before the deadline. The other view is that they could help to boost standards within the industry by reassuring buyers that they are moving into properties of a decent standard. My point is that although the packs are a useful initiative, they should be applied to a different

The ability to sub-let is often one of the prime attractions of buying a Lease in a block of flats. Sometimes it is the sole object of the purchase. Difficulties with sub-letting can seriously affect the value of the investment so it pays to read the terms of the Lease very carefully to find out whether sub-letting is permitted and, if it is, whether there are any restrictions on how the sub-letting should be arranged. There has to be an express provision restricting sub-letting in the Lease and if there

The Government’s recently announced plans to relax the laws on prostitution could have far–reaching effects on blocks of flats. By James Rawes   In an effort to get prostitutes off the street into the more secure surrounds of a flat or dwelling, it appears the Government have not thought through the impact this will have on clean living flat owners or residents who have, until now, enjoyed the protection of their leases to drive immoral tenants from their building. Currently, a prostitute working alone fr

In my opinion, in all but the smallest blocks, i.e. less than 10 units, self-management is not an option unless the board is willing not only to invest a substantial amount of time in day-to-day management, but also they must be willing to invest money in computer software to manage the accounts. In addition, there must be a member of the board with sufficient legal experience to understand the lease, the Landlord and Tenant Acts, and the host of legislation, including health and safety, which governs the

Do it yourselfSelf-management: the experience at Bankside Lofts      Why did the directors at Bankside Lofts Management go down the self-management path? What has been the experience of self-management so far? Will they stick with it? Can directors of other RMCs draw lessons from Bankside Lofts’ experience? By James Thomson The directors of Bankside Lofts Management Limited terminated the contract with their property managers in mid-2004 and went self-managed from the end of September that year. Re

Property managers frequently complain that they would be able to manage their properties far more efficiently if only lessees would pay their service charges on time. Getting lessees to pay what is due is for some property managers a full time job, leaving little time to spend actually doing what they do best (i.e. manage properties). By Shaun Jardine   Services charges usually encompass a variety of headings but generally will include: - Costs of management Maintenance Insurance Improvements

The Association of Retirement Housing Managers (ARHM) formally launched its new code of practice at a reception at the House Of Commons on the 8th of February. Baroness Greengross was the keynote speaker. The Government has approved an updated version of the code of practice for private and leasehold retirement housing issued by the ARHM. The code applies to the management of what is sometimes called leasehold sheltered housing or leasehold schemes for the elderly, terms which the ARHM believes are out of

Each year, on average, poor housing conditions are implicated in up to 50,000 deaths and around 0.5 million illnesses. To combat this on the 6th April 2006, The Housing Act 2004 implements the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), to replace the old fitness standard with a risk assessment method. Asset Skills, the sector skills council for the places in which we live and work, has combined with the professional bodies, trade associations and landlords’ groups to produce for their members free p

This year is a crunch year for the rental market, as it must implement the requirements of the Housing Act and the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and, at the Annual Conference of the Association of Residential Letting Agents, ARLA, in London recently delegates were asked if they are ready. Officials from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Disability Rights Commission asked delegates to consider, "2006 is crunch time. Can you cope with the new regulatory regimes coming into force

We’ve a tendency to delude ourselves that what we do in this country sets a paradigm for the rest of the world. But our leasehold system is uniquely British. And the rest of the world does not envy it. Regarding ourselves as a property-owning democracy, we're puzzled that so many Europeans still rent their flats. But if you're a leaseholder, you're a tenant too - you just pay all your rent up-front. And, once your 99-year tenancy expires, your flat goes back to the landlord so he can let it to someone els

Another string to Chainbow Residential property manager Chainbow has launched a revolutionary new website for residents. The site is designed to address the lack of information typically available to tenants by providing transparent, easily accessible data and resources. The website's secure residents' portal includes information such as minutes from residents' meetings and accounts, outlining how the service charge is being spent. It also provides residents with a generic copy of their lease for referen