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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

Nick Sanderson, CEO of retirement developer, Audley, recently spoke to delegates at the Retirement Housing conference about specification and services that cater for the different demographics of the elderly. Drawing on more than 25 years experience in the development and management of retirement properties, Audley has a reputation for taking important, listed buildings, and turning them into retirement villages. Sanderson said: “There are three distinct demographics within the over 55s: the 55-75 year ol

So, there I was on holiday lying on the beach minding my own business, when all of a sudden I found an old tin lamp lying in the sand. While trying to clean it up I thought a sand storm had erupted. Out of the dust and smoke a big blue figure stood in front of me. My first thought was l shouldn’t have had that third bottle of ouzo! But then it spoke. “I am the genie of the lamp and l can grant you any wish you like”. As a winner of the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys ‘Prize for Public Spirit’, I im

You have agreement all round to major works on the building. Now all you have to do is find contractors and ensure that, in line with your Section 20 obligations, their estimates for the work will not meet with any objections from leaseholders. Steve Thorpe, MD of DML Contracting, explains what he would do in your shoes and how you should go about the process of hiring a contractor. Section 20 consultation: a reminder Remember that the ‘Section 20’ provisions of the Commonhold & Leasehold Reform Act r

A: A Residents’ Management Company (“RMC”) is a formal legal entity registered at Companies House, and has all the rights and obligations of any other UK incorporated company. As a company itself, it requires people to run it and take decisions on its behalf. These people are the directors. A private limited company only requires one person to be a director, though it is common (and prudent!) for an RMC to have several directors to share the burden of responsibility. Once you become a director of the

QUESTION I’ve been hearing a lot in the news recently about something called commonhold - what is it? ANSWER Historically, there have been two ways for people to own property in this country – freehold and leasehold (also known as “tenures”). A freehold property is owned in its entirety by the “freeholder” for an indefinite length of time. By contrast, a leasehold property is owned for a definite amount of time. Commonly, in a block of flats the freeholder will own the building itself (ie the common

QUESTION Can I put wooden floors in my apartment? ANSWER  Wooden flooring in apartment blocks is a significant issue at the moment as they have become a desirable feature for style-conscious apartment residents. It is very important that you check the lease for your apartment as an initial step. Normally, it is common to find a clause in the lease which forbids wooden flooring altogether except for the bathroom and kitchen areas. The reason for this is to protect your neighbours from excess