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As Keir Starmer addressed the Labour party conference today, Claire Petricca-Riding Head of Planning & Environment at Irwin Mitchell made the following comments : “What the country needs is a vision, a strategy showing a new direction after the cancelling of HS2 or what some have described as ‘cancelling the future’. What Labour says it will provide is the framework to build a new Britain and at the heart of it will be the increase in housing  - providing a safe home for all generations – to get Britain b

Research conducted by communications consultancy, Cavendish Consulting and YouGov, reveals that just 11% of UK MPs would prioritise the development of new Build-to-Rent (BTR) homes in their constituencies - despite the demand for rental properties being high. The research asked MPs across all parties about their constituency housing focuses and most strikingly, BTR homes ranked only 7th out of eight listed housing options in terms of priority. 63% of Conservative MPs prioritised private sale housing with

HMRC has warned landlords against a tax avoidance scheme that claims to reduce their tax liability. The scheme involves transferring properties to a limited liability partnership (LLP) with a corporate member. The LLP then allocates profits on a discretionary basis to members. HMRC says that the scheme does not work and that landlords who use it may have to pay more tax than they tried to avoid. The scheme is also caught by a number of anti-avoidance rules. HMRC is urging landlords who are using the schem

London law firm Bishop & Sewell LLP has promoted two talented lawyers, in a move which significantly strengthens the firms’ dispute resolution and residential property teams.   Associate Charles Jamieson has been promoted to Senior Associate in the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution team. A highly experienced dispute resolution specialist, Charles handles a mixed Chancery practice focusing on business, property and contentious probate matters, including breaches of contract, partnership and share

The prospect of managing agents facing multiple group actions from leaseholders, resulting in their paying out significant, potentially ruinous damages, grows ever nearer, as new legislation outlaws the historic practices of managing agents in relation to insurance commissions.  opens the floodgates for historic claims. Indeed for some managing agents, the prospect of heading to court is already a reality. “We are already seeing some claims being pursued by leaseholders following Michael Gove’s recent foc

Residential property management company, Encore, has announced its membership of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM). The move will see Encore’s facilities management leaders and site teams, including Head Concierges and Building Managers, provided with IWFM training, qualifications, and individual memberships.  Few other leading estate management companies are members of the IWFM or offer employees its comprehensive range of courses and qualifications.  Encore considers the IWFM m

Retirement property management company and freeholder ELM Group announces the appointment of Stephen Darling as its new Director of Service Improvement. Stephen, who joined ELM Group earlier this month, will step into the newly created role which will be pivotal in supporting the company’s significant growth plans, set to take effect towards the end of the year. He will be working closely with the company’s Chief Executive Lorraine Collis and other members of the Executive Team, ensuring that team structu

Cannon Jones provides a full range of residential property management services, managing developments of all sizes from ten unit apartments to large complex, mixed use residential developments and housing estates throughout the Warwickshire and Midland regions.  Based in Henley-in-Arden, they have been trading for the past 9 months and have established a service charge and ground rent portfolio of 66 developments, totalling 2062 residential units and employ a team of 9 staff including 3 site-based Estate

Issue 127 of News on the Block has now been published and is available for subscribers to read online now. This issue includes a special PropTech and Security feature and includes some of the following articles. Firm ceases trading as financial probe begins Members approve merger of two property organisations Do you know risks of asbestos exposure? Don’t get into a knot about invasive plants Continuity and happy homes... What now for responsible persons? Three reasons why business partnerships reall

The site of an old brewery in Bristol that has been transformed into more than 100 new homes, co-working space and retail units is to be looked after by Principle Estate Management. The contract to manage the 107 residential units and 18,000 sq ft of commercial areas at The Old Brewery on North Street, Southville has come from Abri Housing Association, one of the south’s largest housing providers. Joe Jobson, joint managing director of Principle, explained how the development had been created in a joint v

Peabody, Kestrix and United Living Property Services have been awarded £240,000 by Innovate UK, the UK’s Innovation Agency, to develop ‘game changing’ technology that could transform the way the retrofit industry measures the energy efficiency of buildings.   The funding - announced today (Wednesday 4 October) at UK construction week in Birmingham - is intended to address the urgent need for more scalable, accurate and cost-effective surveying and modelling techniques.   The three organisations will work

The latest rankings for the Legal 500 have been released and once again Liverpool’s specialist property law firm JB Leitch hold a high position amongst the region’s leading legal experts.  Acknowledged as the world’s largest independent legal referral guide, the rankings for 2024 are based on a broad series of criteria, including strong technical ability available for the most complex and innovative work, client recommendation and results. JB Leitch has retained Tier 3 ranking in the field of property lit