record Flat Living Onthe what’s happenIng In the leasehold sector LeasehoLd review
LeasehoLdsector underscrutiny fromoft
TheOfficeofFairTrading (OFT) announced in December that it intended to launch areviewof theresidential leaseholdproperty management sector. The market studywillcover areassuchas maintenance, cleaning and building work carried outinand on blocks of lfats. The aim is to
identify: nwhetherleaseholders feel they have enough involvementinappointing managing agents and if they find it difficult to establish whetherornot they are
getting value formoney; nwhetherpropertymanagers and freeholders have the sameinterest as leaseholders in keeping downthe cost of
LegaL
Leaveto appeaL grantedin phiLLipsv francis
Leave to appeal last December’s High Court decision in the case of Phillips vFrancis wasgranted on 18 November in the Court of Appeal, together with an extension of time. This hasimportantimplications
forthe leaseholdsectorwhich wasthrownintoconfusion by the Chancellor’s2012judgment. This has caused confusionfor
landlords, leaseholders and their managingagents as towhen notices should be served andwhat
for.TheAssociation of Residential ManagingAgents (ARMA) and theRoyal InstitutionofChartered Surveyors(RICS)togetherwitha number ofmajorlandlordsvoiced theirconcernsovertheChancellor’s decision andbackedcalls to grant permissionfor an appealwhichis nowscheduled for 14/15May.
Flat Living Issue 17 maintenanceand buildings
insurance; nwhetherthere is effective
competitionamongproviders; nwhether it is easy to switch
providers; nwhetherresidents arereceiving
a good quality of service; and nhowmuchtime, effortand resource is required tomake and follow-up complaints. Themanagementofretirement
properties will comein for particular scrutiny as the OFT is concernedtoexaminewhether vulnerable elderlypeopleare being treated fairly. The OFT has called for
interested parties to put forward their own suggestions as to priority areasofconcern in
arMa-Q
signupforaccreditation urgesarmachairman
arMachairmanBenJordanhasurgedmemberstostepupto theplateandsignupforarMa-Qasthenewself-regulatory schemeforarMamembersopenedforaccreditationfrom1
november.From1January2015,allexistingcorporatemembers ofarMamustbeaccreditedortheywilllosetheir righttousethe
arMadesignation.Tobecomeaccreditedunderthenewscheme, propertymanagersmustdemonstratethattheir firmcomplies withthearMa-Qstandards,theprinciplesofthecustomercharter andtherulesofarMamembership. accordingtoanarMaspokesman,morethan70%corporate
arMamembershadsubmittedtheir intentiontoapplyfor
arMa-Qbythe31december2013deadline.support isavailable formembersgoingthroughthe accreditationprocessbytelephone,emailandvia surgeriesrunbyatechnical officer. Formoreinformationonaccreditationandwhat
itwillmeanformanagingagentsand flatowners,
gotowww.arma.
org.uk
Maintenanceand
buildingworkunder scrutinybythe oFT
themarket. TheAssociation of ResidentialManaging Agents (ARMA) responded earlier in January, setting outits top priorities foraction. These
include: nAwareness-raisingand education, to help freeholders/ leaseholders becomebetter informed consumers;
nTransparency, so that landlords and leaseholders are property informed as to howmanaging
agent services are provided; and nValueformoney,sothat leaseholders pay a reasonable fee for the services they receive.
Formoreonthis storyandto readARMA’s fullresponse,goto
www.flat-living.co.uk/news
conveyancing
Questionnaire wiLLspeedup homesaLes
Anew standardised questionnaire aimed at speedingupthe flatsales processbyasmuchas10days, has been launched by theAssociation of ResidentialManagingAgents (ARMA) in conjunction with other keyindustrybodies, including The LawSociety and the Royal InstitutionofChartered Surveyors (RICS). Facilitated by property specialistsMove with Us, the questionnaire can nowbe used by anyone selling a leasehold property. By creating an approved set
of enquiries, landlords and managing agents can collate theinformation,confident that both the buyer’s and seller’s conveyancers will accept it. This will notonlysavetimebut consumers will also savemoney as additionalrequestsfor information will only be neededwhere an issue requires further investigation. Download the newLeasehold
Property Enquiries Form LPE1 at
www.arma.org.uk.
9
Leaseholdreform 10 Council crackdown 11 ARMA-QAwards 12
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