Featured Articles

Get the answers to your questions and stay up to date about apartment building management with our featured articles and NOTB guides, on topics such as service charges, right to manage, buying your freehold, major works, building insurance and other issues about blocks of flats.

Jason Webb Elevated to Managing Director of Future Fire Systems

Future Group are thrilled to announce that Jason Webb has been promoted to Managing Director of Future Fire Systems, a recognition of his exceptional contributions and unwavering dedication. Jason joined Future Group in 2020 as a Senior Fire Systems Engineer, bringing with him a wealth of experience and expertise in the field of active fire protection. Over the past four years, Jason’s relentless hard work and innovative thinking have driven significant growth within the department. Under his leadership,

Why are fees charged by agents to landlords so high? Asks Roger Southam

Despite the many positive developments in modern residential management, a major and long-term industry issue remains largely unaddressed. Today, residential landlords are still having to pay exorbitant lettings fees charged by many property agents. These can be as high as twenty percent once tenant finding, management, contract and referencing fees are taken into account. It is time to champion the needs of the landlord in a market where many high street agents are still hiding their fees and often doubl

Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act Q&As

What is in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024? Essentially, all of the much talked about changes are there including the 990-year lease extension, abolition of the two-year rule and the change in qualification criteria for mixed use buildings. In addition, we will see the end of marriage value for leases under 80 years and the end of the ability for the landlord to recover their costs from the tenant under a standard statutory claim. There are also changes that relate to property management. The v

Wimbledon Chase to get new £1.8m airspace development at Vision House

Castlemere Developments is committing more than £1.8m to a new five-apartment airspace development in Wimbledon Chase. The Windsor-based property developer has already invested more than £400,000 to purchase Vision House, an art deco building located on Kingston Road. The scheme at Vision House will feature one three-bedroom, two two-bedroom apartments and two one-bedroom apartments. The apartments will cost from £385,000 up to £650,000 once on the market. Having completed the purchase of property on Augu

The deadly invasive plant that's currently infesting UK property and land

The deadly invasive plant that's currently infesting UK property and land. Learn why this 'living fossil' is one to look out for! Now is the season for Horsetail (or Field horsetail), a highly vigorous growing invasive plant that can ruin lawns, devastate fields, kill animals if ingested and threaten biodiversity. It only takes 2 or 3 small shoots to create a dense carpet that is very difficult to get rid of. What is Field horsetail? Horsetail is derived from huge, tree-like plants that thrived 400 millio

MEES compliance - building controls can make it easy

As we enter the final stretch before the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) regulations likely come into effect in 2030, it is clear that this piece of legislation is going to have a significant impact on both landlords and tenants across the UK. While the goal of MEES – to improve the energy efficiency of the nation’s building stock and drive down emissions towards our net zero goals – is an important one, the reality is that many landlords are feeling the pressure to get their properties up to t

Two significant apartment building fires over the bank holiday weekend

This bank holiday weekend, two significant fires broke out in apartment buildings in Dagenham, Essex, and Blackwall, East London. In Dagenham, a fire erupted early on Monday, severely damaging a block of flats in Dagenham, Essex. Over 100 firefighters responded, rescuing 20 residents. The building required a full evacuation. Four people were treated, with two hospitalised.  The fire, which heavily damaged the building, has raised concerns over existing fire safety issues. An investigation is underway to d

Cosmic Charging launches to transform EV charging solutions for the residential block management and property management industry

Cosmic Charging is proud to announce its official launch. Focussed specifically on providing funded EV solutions to the residential block management and property management industry, Cosmic Charging is committed to delivering the most advanced technical and commercial solutions to meet the growing resident demand for EV infrastructure. As the shift towards electric vehicles accelerates, the need for accessible, reliable, and efficient charging solutions within residential properties has never been more cr

FOLK CO-LIVING ANNOUNCES BRENT CROSS’ FIRST CO-LIVING DEVELOPMENT

Brent Cross Town, the £8bn, 180-acre mixed use park town being delivered in partnership by Related Argent and Barnet Council, has partnered with leading co-living developers Halcyon Development Partners (‘Halcyon’) to deliver the town’s first co-living development. The development will be funded by DTZ Investors and will operate under its renowned Folk Co-living brand. The development will provide over 300 co-living units alongside a range of exciting indoor and outdoor communal spaces. Located close to t

‘Work with industry on EPC targets for tenants' sake,’ says expert

With Labour’s election victory, a new EPC target has been announced. In mid-July, the new Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, announced that landlords will need to raise the standard of their accommodation to an EPC standard C by 2030. Understanding the cost implications would be significant, our team got to work, calculating that it would take just over £24 billion to retrofit all PRS properties across England, Scotland and Wales to an EPC C. Whichever way you look at it, £2

7 reasons why BTL investments can fail - and how to avoid them

The financial success of your buy-to-let depends on the investment making a profit, and both the property value and your profits at least keeping up with inflation. So, before buying, it’s essential to carry out extensive research on prices, trends and demand in your area, and ‘stress test’ your figures for rental income, expenditure and capital growth, to be as sure as you can that your investment will be a long-term success. Here are 7 of the most common reasons why buy-to-let investments fail, and what

Five postcodes that offer landlords huge yields for an initial investment of below £100K

The latest market analysis by Inventory Base, the UK's market leading Property Inventory Specialists, reveals the five UK postcodes where buy-to-let investors can generate the highest yields with an initial investment cost of below £100,000. Inventory Base analysed average rental yield data* in the UK to highlight which postcodes offer the highest yields for buy-to-let landlords who don’t want to break the bank on the initial purchase of a property. The analysis by Inventory Base shows that the average re

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