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How a group of retired flat owners protested against perceived leasehold injustice
The injustices of
leasehold property 
ownership are often discussed, less rarely acted
upon. On 3rd November 2009, this changed when a group of retired
leaseholders went to the House of Commons to share their frustration
and dissatisfaction about the management of their blocks. In an
emotionally charged atmosphere, 96 retired lessees made their feelings
known as Members of Parliament and the media listened intently.
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Property Management
Exclusive: The Truth about Tchenguiz
Recent media reports
have contained vociferous compaints from leaseholders in retirement
homes, with the Peverel Group being at the centre of this controversy.
As the leading independent magazine providing help and advice to
leaseholders, landlords and managing agents, News on the Block asked
for access at the highest level so we could put the flat owners case and hear from the landlord and managing agent directly.
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Are flat values relative?
Jennifer Ellis considers the new graphs of relativity. Part of a valuer’s
‘basic training’ is to derive values, wherever possible, from market
evidence. However, for Leasehold Reform Act valuation, there are at
least two obstacles. When assessing marriage value the values
needed are for the flat or house held on the current lease and the
newly extended lease or freehold. Usually all flats in a block were
sold on leases expiring on the same date. There may be no longer leases
and so no sales to draw conclusions about the extended lease value.
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Maintenance
Rats in flats
Recent press reports
of the UK rat population exceeding the human population are likely to
be gross over-estimates. More reliable estimates centre on the figure
of about 25 million. The 60 million figure,
comes from a estimate made at the turn of the last century (1900) which
related rat numbers to cultivated acreage. At that time there were 20
million acres in cultivation and an estimate was made of one rat per
acre. The human population around 1900 was about 20 million as well
which lead to the rough link of one rat per person.
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Case Study
How one of the UKs most prolific apartment blocks transformed itself into an iconic landmark
At 47 storeys high,
Manchester’s Beetham Tower is more than just the North-West of
England’s tallest building – it’s a symbol of the city’s ability to
reinvent itself from grim northern industrial town to one of Europe’s
most exciting cities. Looming above neighbouring Victorian warehouses,
this glass-fronted tower achieved iconic status within months of
construction and is now Manchester’s most sought-after residential
address. But it hasn’t all been plain-sailing.
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News
Ed Davey: Has something gone wrong in the retirement leasehold sector?
Edward Davey, MP, Liberal Democrat, Kingston and Surbiton asks: has something gone wrong in the retirement leasehold sector? Over ten years ago, my
grandmother bought a leasehold flat in a block built for retired
people. She was very happy there, as she had less to worry about, help
on hand and actually felt far more independent than before. My brother
and I looked after her financial affairs and there was never any real
problems with either of the firms who managed the block whilst she was
a resident.Click here for more
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- QUESTION We are a small group of residents with a Company Secretary and 4 Directors. We took over the management of 31 properties with shared grounds and a maintenance charge. We need advice on our duties and whether we have to intervene in every dispute eg noisy neighbours and parking.
- QUESTION I live in a block of flats. I am confused about whether we need to carry out a risk assessment on our block and if so, how to go about completing this? Any help would be appreciated.
- Jennifer Ellis considers the new graphs of relativity. Part of a valuer’s ‘basic training’ is to derive values, wherever possible, from market evidence. However, for Leasehold Reform Act valuation, there are at least two obstacles.When assessing marriage value the values needed are for the flat or house held on the current lease and the newly extended lease or freehold. Usually all flats in a block were sold on leases expiring on the same date. There may be no longer leases and so no sales to draw conclusions about the extended lease value.
- Alex Greenslade says there is safety in numbers in begotiating a lease extension instead of a freehold acquisition. What is the better option – freehold acquisition or lease extension? In principle, freehold acquisition makes sense since it gives more control of the property to the flat owners than lease extension alone and may add more value.
- As we are all aware, this has been the worst recession recorded in this country since records began and in general it has been a hard year for the majority of people. Some industries have felt it harder than others and that seems to be the case in the cleaning industry with some specialist services frozen, the frequency of cleaning services changed and contracts lost as blocks do not have the resources to pay for any contract cleaning.
- Shaun Jardine outlines 12 common problems that occur in service charge collection.
- QUESTION I have attached two photo’s of theexterior walls of our apartment blocks. The Blocks were completed about 6 years ago and as you can see are getting a little dirty. Most of this is caused by the coping stones not overhanging the wall sufficiently. We had the walls steamed cleaned last year but this was not terribly satisfactory. Is there a material that can be applied to the walls, so the dirt just runs off ? Or do we need to seal the concrete coping stones?
- I own one flat in a three-block development of 30 flats, each owner holding one share in the management company, neither of the two directors living on the premises and only one, the son, being a shareholder. The directors have proposed imminent major and costly roof repairs relying on the “experience” of one of the directors, the father and a 5 year old survey.
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