NEWSbeat
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Urban Splash appoints RMG
Award-winning property developer, Urban Splash, responsible for iconic
buildings including The Rotunda in Birmingham City Centre, has appointed Residential Management Group to oversee twelve buildings in its property portfolio. Nick Johnson, Deputy Chief
Executive of Urban Splash, says, “Prior to appointing RMG, we have always self- managed our sites. However, with a rapidly growing portfolio, which amounts to 10 Management Companies with 1600 units across the UK, we made the decision to concentrate on our core business and put the property management function out to tender.” According to RMG’s
Operations Director, Justin Herbert, the property management specialist was successful in its bid for the prestigious business for a number of reasons. “With its on-going plans to create sustainable communities, Urban Splash was very interested in the fact that we have social housing accreditation.”
LAND & NEW HOMES
LSL Land & New Homes expands
With growing confidence in construction levels, LSL is launching a new land and
STANDARDS
RICS VR Scheme now mandatory
The RICS Valuer Registration Scheme, which reinforces quality and accuracy of valuations while raising consumer confidence in the profession, became mandatory in the UK from 30 April 2011. The scheme was developed
after RICS members deemed it appropriate to achieve proportionate and better regulation in the marketplace. So far, over 11,000 UK valuers
have signed up, with many more expected to do so.
The scheme (VRS), launched in October 2010 ensures that RICS members adhere to and can be monitored on practising the professional standards contained in the RICS Valuation Standards (also known as the Red Book
http://www.rics.org/redbook) when undertaking valuations. Now all valuers undertaking
HOMELESS Big Issue vendors smarten up
Homeless people who sell the Big Issue street newspaper are to be equipped with new
smartphones, enabling them to go beyond being ‘mere street vendors’, to become gatherers of news on the street – just like newspaper and TV journalists. Big Issue vendors will be blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking and snapping digital images and audio of the action on the streets all over the country after the
6 JUNE 2011 PROPERTYdrum
launch of the iPhone 5, according to John Bird, MBE, the entrepreneur who founded the Big Issue, which aimed to put the homeless back on track. It’s all in line with latest media policy. This week the BBC announced its journalists are to be issued with smartphones – including iPhones – so that staff can send live and recorded audio, video and stills back to newsrooms from out in the field. “The Big Issue vendors are all
over our streets, selling the five editions of the magazine which cover all the regions of the UK – so it makes sense to use them as the eyes and ears of the nation, on the spot, as the news happens,” said Mr Bird. The vendors, who buy and sell the Big Issue newspaper in a scheme designed to instil self- confidence and raise self-esteem, are keen to become a potentially powerful network of online “smarties.”
these valuations in the UK need to have registered with the VRS in order to continue to provide Red Book valuations. David Rushholme, RICS Director
of Valuation, commented, “The Valuer Registration Scheme helps to further establish the credibility, skills and professionalism of RICS members among clients and public authorities. It also demonstrates RICS’ focus on continuous enhancement to its regulatory approach and operations. We are delighted with the number of members signing up to this scheme which clearly reinforces the importance of chartered surveyors as the leading valuation professional, providing sound, independent and consistent advice delivered to globally accepted standards.’’
new homes website and increased its spending on this division by 60 per cent. It is now trebling the division’s workforce to service the demand for undeveloped plots and new-build properties. David Newnes, Estate
Agency MD of LSL Property Services, says, “We are committed to growing this part of our business because it’s already showing signs of recovery. 2010 was the first year since 2005 when homebuilding starts increased. Berkeley Group is predicting a five per cent rise in property prices as a result of short supply of new-builds, which indicates the market is set for healthy growth in the coming months and years.” “While many companies
have scaled back their land and new homes operations, we believe the short supply of housing in England and Wales, will drive demand for new build housing and make this a potentially lucrative area for both buyers and sellers. “We’ve already quadrupled the size of our team in the south of England and hired three new regional MD’s there to deal with strong demand for new build properties and undeveloped plots there.”
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