Industry News

Title: ARMA ANNOUNCES NEW INSURANCE PARTNERSHIP WITH INSURETY

Description:

ARMA has announced a new insurance partnership with Insurety Limited, effective from 8^th January 2020. Through this exciting partnership, Insurety is offering a unique range of insurance products specially designed for ARMA Members.

Insurety was selected as the ARMA INSURE partner through a tender process due its expertise and fresh approach to insurance and risk management in the residential leasehold sector.

The partnership will offer excellent claims handling for the benefit of property managers, leaseholders and residents alike, and access to unique products only available via Insurety.

Dr Nigel Glen, CEO of ARMA, said: “We are delighted to have secured Insurety as our new ARMA INSURE partner, as we believe this will allow us to bring a wealth of benefits to our members. We are always looking for ways we can innovate and features, such as an improved claims management process that takes away the headache of having to keep a handle on the progress of claims, will help drive value for money for ARMA Members and their clients.”

Rob Mayo, CEO and Co-founder of Insurety said: “The team and I are extremely proud and excited to be working with ARMA as its selected broker partner for insurance. Our business has been founded on the principle of working in partnership with members, in order to improve their experiences of dealing with insurance, through the use of technology and genuine expertise.”

Title: ARMA response to cladding confusion for leaseholders

Description:

In December 2018, the Government issued Advice Note 14 (AN14) for anyone responsible for, or advising on, the fire safety of external wall cladding systems on residential buildings over 18m in height that do not incorporate Aluminium Composite Material (ACM), such as that found in Grenfell.  The emphasis was on combustible systems such as wood and High-Pressure Laminate (HPL) installations.  Although only an Advice Note this document is causing issues in the sale and re-mortgage of leasehold flats in affected buildings as some valuers are returning a £0 value on flats, thereby holding up sales.

ARMA has been very active on the matter, taking the issue up with the Prime Minister’s Special Adviser, MP’s and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).  It is a member of the cross industry working group on valuations set up by RICS to address the matter.

Dr Nigel Glen, CEO of ARMA, said: “The unfortunate and unintended consequence of Advice Note 14 has meant that people trying to sell or re-mortgage their flats are finding that it is impossible to do so.  This obviously causes a great deal of heartache and anguish to people.  As the first point of contact with leaseholders managing agents are finding themselves blamed for matters that are not their fault, dating back, as they do, to when the building was first constructed.”

“There is a huge cross-industry effort in collaboration with the Government to unblock the valuations process.  This week’s release of the External Wall System (EWS1) form will serve to help unblock the sales process.”

“It may be some small comfort for people to realise that the valuer putting a £0 value on a home doesn’t necessarily mean that a property is considered worthless - it is simply a technique used by valuers to place a hold on a valuation pending further information.  Not all valuers and lenders are taking this approach and people trying to sell or re-mortgage would be advised to shop around.”

Title: ARMA CONFERENCE 2019 wrap up, what we heard and what comes next

Description:

The following article appeared in News on the Block on 23rd October: 

We know a thing or two about moving at News On The Block - so when we heard about the ARMA Conference moving to a brand new etc.venues location in Houndsditch in the heart of the city, we couldn’t help but get excited.

The venue was not the only change, ARMA has built upon its history of serving our industry and rejuvenated its flagship conference with a new format and an ever-more engaging list of speakers, sponsors and partners.

With over 550 industry professionals in attendance, delegates heard what was to come from moderator, 4-5 Greys Inn Square’s Property Law specialist, Ayesha Omar, and ARMA’s Chairman Tony Hymers. Sticking to this year’s theme, Tomorrow’s World, they explored some of today’s challenges for the property management world, setting both the context for change and the tempo for the day.

To move forwards, it’s good recap on what came before. ARMA CEO, Dr Nigel Glen balanced the introductions with insights from the past year and announced a host of new initiatives. It is worth noting, thanks in part to initiatives like the ARMA Crisis and Legal helplines, its series of Partner Tech Talks and ARMA Energy, the number of leasehold properties managed by ARMA members has increased by almost a million since 2007 to 1.24m homes. An impressive feat in a competitive market. ARMA and its members, by those numbers, are doing all the right things as they push on with a single voice representing the sector.

But it wasn’t all about ARMA. What makes this event tick is the collection of experts and leaders present. Few industry events have ARMA’s draw for speakers and attendees ready to listen, learn, network and debate. Throughout the day delegates learned from industry stalwarts such as Lord Richard Best, discussing that most debated of leasehold topic: the statutory regulation of property agents. Both individuals and firms will be licensed, there will be a detailed code of practice and training programmes implemented for property professionals. Regulation will happen, but change won’t be quick but hopefully the ARMA Conference in 2021 will be discussing the new legislation. The debate will grow until then - one to watch. Lord Best shared a well-rounded view on the regulation on the horizon, inspiring healthy discussion during the refreshment and lunch breaks.

That was just one of the keynote talks, others included;

Impact of regulation on the property sector in Ireland; a look at transformations in the property services sector following the introduction of regulation in 2012 on the other side of the Irish Sea, one of our closest neighbours both geographically and regulatory. Maeve Hogan, CEO of the PSRA, shared excellent learnings for us to take onboard as our space changes at home.

There followed an enlightening expert panel discussion on Improving Building Regulations and the Residents’ Voice. Hosted by ARMA’s Glen, the panel featured Jonathan Bramhall (MHCLG), Dr Ed Kirton-Darling (Kent Law School), Brent O’Halloran (Hyde Housing) and Gary Strong (Global Building Standards Director, RICS).

Change Management Expert Alan O’Neill explained not only why there are elements in our businesses we should change but highlighting why daring to change will help us grow.

Further to the talks, ARMA organised some first-class breakout sessions with:

• Lucian Cook’s update on the UK Housing Market
• Simon Palmer’s session on Getting the Basics Right to Drive Future Value
• Cassandra Zanelli’s and Justin Bates’ Legal Update head-to-head
• Tom Shrive and Colin Stokes discussing the changing face of PropTech and AI
• David Hurren advising best practice for onsite staff performance to meet modern service demands

Business Expert Hubs included Abbatt Property Recruitment, BDO, Full Power Utilities, Metro Bank, MRI Software and PIB Risk Management providing 1-to-1 business sessions, whilst the Technical Hub offered sessions with 4site Consulting, Cardinus Risk Management, Façade Remedial Consultants, Future Group, Michael R Lee Chartered Surveyors, PM Legal Services and Stackhouse Poland.

Safe to say, before even mentioning the drinks reception to round it off, #ARMAConf2019 was a success with numerous connections made, a chance to talk to some great old friends and so much to learn about Tomorrow’s World. Many thanks to the organisers and we, for one, can’t wait for next year’s.

To read the article in full, please click here.