Featured Articles

If we think about all areas of our personal life, one thing tends to dominate our grievance time and again: poor service. If you’re out shopping, you expect service; if you go for a meal, you would be outraged if you weren’t looked after; you spend your hard-earned money on a holiday, you would not tolerate a hotel failing to look after you. Why, then, are the standards of management service in this sector generally so low? There is the argument that fees are not high enough to substantiate good service. 

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.

Down-sizing has been a growing phenomenon; be it among the single, rich and happy’s (‘Sarahs’), the smaller mortgage – ideal lifestyle (‘Smilers’), growing numbers of people are making the conscious decision to alter their lives, allow a better work/life balance, and insodoing are down-sizing their homes. Whether this is driven by a dream to opt out of full time work, finance a second home abroad, or by hard reality, such as a divorce, the trend is a move to smaller or less costly homes, freeing up cash f

Keith Edgar, Managing Director of Peverel Management Services Ltd, explains the management structure and facilities at a typical Peverel managed retirement development. The overwhelming majority of Peverel’s managed retirement schemes enjoy the benefits of the following. House manager At the majority of our sites a House Manager will be on duty from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, to ensure that all services and facilities run smoothly and to help you with any queries you might have regarding the deve

House prices experienced modest growth in June. London continues to be the primary driver for growth with average prices in the capital rising by 1.1% over June. Further away from the capital, growth remains more subdued. In terms of the investment market, average rents achieved on residential investment properties remain steady according Paragon Mortgages’ Buy-to-Let Index. In May, the typical landlord earned a gross rental income on each property of £10,189, or just over £849 per month, a rise of 0.8%

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