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articulated the “customer first” message whilst being clear that property management “is a bloody hard job”. Towards the end of the day, health and fire safety experts, Dr Sean Lundy and Mark Varley from the IRPMs Health and Safety Working Group looked in detail at the aims of the Building a Safer Future consultation published in June. Finally, FirstPort’s Nigel Howell gave an honest appraisal of turning around a failing business and illustrated how to reclaim a reputation for excellence in the sector. At the end of the event approximately 400 delegates participated in a well-earned drinks reception! Brethertons CEO Alison McCormack summed up the event quite succinctly. She confirmed “To be honest it was almost a no-brainer to get involved with the IRPM to sponsor this event. We knew the event was at a great location. It was. We knew the IRPM would attract great speakers. They did. We knew the IRPM would organise an event to be proud of. They did. The IRPM is leading the way in setting the professional standards of the individual property manager. The quality of the speakers at the event is testament to that. As a law firm, Brethertons are specialists in the property management sector and our mission statement is to share “The Knowledge Within” - what better opportunity to receive and share knowledge than at the industry’s leading event for individual property managers.”
should know.” Brethertons initially prepared a list of what they thought to be the top twenty cases that property managers should know were and then distributed the list to many leading barristers in the sector. The outcome was… that no one agreed! Leading barristers were asked to prepare their own rankings. The responses were scored and collated. The majority of lawyers agreed the top case was Daejan v Benson and to read why and learn the other top cases, NOTB readers can download their copy of the white paper from the Brethertons Knowledge Hub at www.brethertons.co.uk Head of Residential Leasehold Law at Brethertons, Roger Hardwick, confirmed “Creating and researching the White Paper was extremely interesting, controversial at times and enlightening. Presenting the findings in the form of a White Paper at the IRPM Annual Seminar seemed to be the perfect occasion to reveal the top 10 cases.” The legal update theme continued when the delegates heard from Law Commissioner Professor, Nick Hopkins, Commonhold reviews. Delegates were informed that reports on all three consultations should be expected at the end of this year or the beginning of 2020. provided the audience with food for thought as they were asked to consider their own attitudes and practices around diversity and mental health. Martin Boyd of LKP strongly who gave an update on the RTM, Enfranchisement and A session on inclusion and wellbeing in practice then
qualifications that are targeted and proportionate. If Lord Best’s announcement was not enough for the delegates to consider, the Property Ombudsman Katrine Sporle CBE, then demonstrated that claims tend to be about communication rather than technical competence, confirming that agents need to continue to develop their “culture of customer care”. Guddy Burnett from the Domestic Abuse in Housing Alliance (DAHA) concluded the morning session, highlighting how block managers can support residents and staff facing domestic abuse. Nick Whitten, Head of UK Living Research at JLL delivered a top class economic update with a mass of hard data. RESEARCH After the networking lunch, Brethertons Partners, Bukola Obadun-Craigs and Roger Hardwick took to the stage to present the results of a novel piece of thought leadership, “The Top 10 Legal Cases Every Property Manager
the lead in setting standards and calling for change.” The significant news of the day was delivered by Lord Best, Chair of the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group, who told the audience that a new Regulator and mandatory qualifications are on their way. The new regime will apply to property managers, letting and estate agents, to international property agents with reference to UK sales and property guardians. IRPM,
who are on Lord Best’s working group, support mandatory regulation
and
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