This month Jane Bayliss tackles the permanently contentious issue of common parts in blocks of flats, and of course the dreaded c-word…clutter!

WARNING from Mira Bar-Hillel: The heading above is probably misleading. I am not proposing to write a users’ manual for sellers. What I will attempt to do is explain the dramatic change that has transformed the property market during the past few months and the implications for sellers and buyers in general – and owners of leasehold flats in particular.

Antonia Adams returns to the frontline team – this month the issue is HIPs…do they deserve all the criticism or do they favour the everyday leaseholder?

News on the Block caught up with Chainbow’s enigmatic chairman to discuss tower block management and some of the issues associated with maintaining large developments

This month we are with Carl Warland, a senior property manager at Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward. From dealing with consequences of thunderstorms to visits of new residential developments and responding to reports of a possible moth sighting, Carl shows that no two days are the same in this game!

I Does your home look like the unwanted end of season sale just about to reach the skip? NOTB met Alan Williamson of Regalty Estates to discuss the signs.

Landlords across London with budget one-bed and studio properties are now being given the option to lease thanks to a service being offered by an innovative social enterprise.

Blake Lapthorn Tarlo Lyons is pleased to announce that it successfully represented Hamptons International and Mrs Treld Bicknell in the Court of Appeal in a case which is now the leading authority on estate agents' commission. The judgment was handed down on Wednesday 23 April 2008...

For 15 years Mira Bar-Hillel has been pushing for financial institutions to invest in the rented sector and adopt a build-to-let policy. There has been some progress made in this area but now, she argues, the time may be right for a major push in this area.

In the second edition of her series of articles from the front line, Antonia Adams considers whether the amalgamation of local authorities and private developments is a match made in heaven or hell...

In the second instalment to the day in the life series, Jamie Reid travelled to north London to spend a busy day with John Ward of Crabtree Property – a day that would take him all over London…

Last spring John Peartree, chief executive officer of the Federation of Private Residents’ Associations (FPRA), and his committee members, wrote to Tony Blair about the lack of consideration by government of the impact on leaseholders and residents of new legislation. Please see a copy of his letter below, with responses overleaf...

I Parking abuse in residential developments is probably the most emotive of the problems that managing agents have to address. NOTB interviewed Chris March of Countrywide Property Management...

I Following on from the British Security Industry Association’s (BSIA) article in the last edition of NOTB, the BSIA Police and Public Services Section Chairman, Mick Lee, examines the role that wardens are playing in securing blocks of flats and looks at the other security measures that resident associations should be considering.

Peter Moore of Tetra Consulting discusses the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002, which came into force in 2004, and the impact it has had on organisations in the UK...

This month Jane Bayliss recalls some of the trials and tribulations her block managers have faced in the past when it comes to carrying out refurbishments (and justifying the fees) in her seaside block of flats.

Mira Bar-Hillel reports on the concern that a growing number of landlords are all too easily able to take commission for simply arranging building insurance for their block, and asks what’s being done to prevent this.

You will be pleased to know you are not the only people who find dealing with health & safety (H&S) issues time consuming and occasionally irritating. Anyone who manages any type of property has to deal with the issues you are facing; whether it is commercial property, offices, shops, hospitals or councils, you have to comply.

Daren Wood, Northern Regional general manager at the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), looks at the ways that homeowners can protect their flats and why resident groups should be taking a holistic approach to security...

Continuing on in our series of meeting people on the front line of property management, this month we talk to Mark Perkins, who manages the exclusive Kings Chelsea development in West London.