From listing properties and finding tenants, to screening prospective tenants and much more, the uses of social media in the rental sector are wide ranging. In the age of social media, personal information is fast becoming public property. Millions are now willingly sharing information which was previously confidential; photos, political
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP has taken a strong stance on the issue of cladding and forcing the removal and reinstatement of a safer product. For months James Brokenshire has been warning landlords of at-risk properties to get on
Construction companies big and small are set to reap the rewards of faster, more efficient ordering following the launch of a new digital purchase ordering tool. The tool – known as ONSO – promises to modernise the interaction between site, office and supplier, enabling orders to be requested, approved and
Leading rapid-build home manufacturer FastHouse has today announced the completion of its contract to provide and erect the timber frames for 466 lodges at the highly anticipated Center Parcs in Longford in under nine months. This comes as FastHouse confirms significant investment to bring its full range of services to
CONSTRUCTION of the University of Huddersfield’s new £30 million centre for the study of art, design and architecture is months ahead of schedule, and it has witnessed an unusual “topping out” ceremony conducted by the granddaughter of Dame Barbara Hepworth, the famous artist who has given the building its name,
From listing properties and finding tenants, to screening prospective tenants and much more, the uses of social media in the rental sector are wide ranging. In the age of social media, personal information is fast becoming public property. Millions are now willingly sharing information which was previously confidential; photos, political views, work history and even whereabouts can be found in a few clicks. It’s now easier than ever to build a picture of someone’s habits and tendencies with just basic information. The applicability to the rental market is obvious; 11% of landlords now routinely check social media profiles of prospective tenants as part of their screening process. While this may seem more of a personality report and cannot replace hard facts like credit checks and criminal records, it helps build an overall picture of the prospective tenant which would be impossible to glean from information provided by traditional sources. Many part-time landlords are also using social media to find new tenants, other than saving on letting agent fees, the benefits of finding a tenant in your social network, and therefore someone you implicitly trust, can be priceless. And even if you don’t know the person well, you can quickly build trust through mutual friends. Using social media in a more traditional way also has huge benefits. Facebook has an advertising feature which allows targeting ads for rental properties towards specific audiences within their 2 billion active user base. While smaller landlords may find this too expensive, the wider reach may appeal to large portfolio managers. Of course, if you do go this route, you will lose the personal touch of posting on your own timeline, etc. But social media has its risks, if you are using it to screen tenants, you should consider using it as a quick way to spot red flags, rather than relying on it to fully guide your decision making. There’s also a question of ethics, is it fair to judge someone based on the few things they share online? Do you feel comfortable looking at a stranger’s profile without their consent? What if it was the other way around? Letting the prospective tenant know they will be checked online may allay some of these concerns. However, you may feel about social media, it’s here to stay. Other than a few moral qualms, there’s no reason not to use social media as part of your screening process, indeed it is likely to become a generally accepted part of a modern landlord’s due diligence. The sooner you get onboard, the better. Arthur Online is a cloud-based platform that enables property managers to respond instantly and solve problems fast from anywhere in the world, be it with tenants, contractors, property owners or letting agents. Since launching in 2015, it has helped thousands of property managers like Marc run their portfolios in the cheapest, most efficient way possible by using the full potential of new technology and cloud computing. See how Arthur can help your business by going to https://www.arthuronline.co.uk/private-rental/?utm_source=Property%20and%20Development&utm_medium=article
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP has taken a strong stance on the issue of cladding and forcing the removal and reinstatement of a safer product. For months James Brokenshire has been warning landlords of at-risk properties to get on and remove dangerous cladding. Yesterday Brokenshire announced a change to the housing health and safety regulations to force the landlords to make good these works with no apparent financial risk to the leaseholders. The Association for Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) welcomes the move as it has been lobbying for Government intervention ever since the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Immediately after the tragic fire, ARMA flagged to Government the problem under leasehold as to who would likely pay for the cost of fire safety remedial works and that this could seriously delay remedial works. ARMA has publicly asked for Government loans to be make available and for remediation to be taken into a national programme to avoid such delays as the safety of residents must always be the uppermost concern. Dr Nigel Glen, Chief Executive Office of the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA), comments: “We congratulate the Government for taking this strong approach to ensure remedial works on affected buildings can get under way immediately. People need to know they are safe and able to live their lives. We have always said time is of essence here and work should be completed first and then worry about who pays later. The costs to cladding removal has given many residents grave anxieties and now some headway should start to be made more quickly. “The Secretary of State has said that ‘leaseholders must not pay’. We keenly await details of how that will work in practice given the structure of leasehold. For example, in the case of Citiscape in Croydon, the First tier Tribunal Property determined that the leaseholders were liable for the costs under the terms of their lease. That may well be the case across all the buildings under discussion, depending upon their leases. And where Landlords are not the guilty party re installing the cladding is it fair that they will be expected to pay? Clearly there is more work to be done but this is a welcome and significant step.”
Construction companies big and small are set to reap the rewards of faster, more efficient ordering following the launch of a new digital purchase ordering tool. The tool – known as ONSO – promises to modernise the interaction between site, office and supplier, enabling orders to be requested, approved and submitted in three easy steps using a smart phone, tablet or laptop. Short for ‘Onsite Orders’, ONSO has been designed to be easy to use and quick to set up. Chris Murphy, Managing Director of ONSO, said: “In construction, if the right part isn’t there at the right time, the job simply can’t move forward. I’ve been working on building sites for more than ten years, and in my experience the process of buying supplies and parts can often be complicated and slow. “We wanted to build something simple to use so when you’re out on site, you can place an order on your phone and have it approved and off to the supplier in seconds, with an accurate record of what the order was.” A subscription to ONSO also includes access to built-in analytics tools, which its creators say can help businesses to better understand their purchases, including recognising the source of any overspends and identifying areas for improvement. Chris adds: “In my experience, there are still areas of the British construction industry which are yet to unlock the full potential of technology. We believe that tools like ONSO have a real part to play in helping UK businesses stay competitive post-Brexit.” Tim Dawson, director of drainage company DASA, was among the site’s first users: “We were up and running in no time and are already seeing the benefits. ONSO has helped to enhance and streamline our ordering processes and the integration with Sage compliments our invoicing. DASA has had a really busy year, so it’s helped to minimise human error and ensured that projects can run smoothly. I would recommend it to businesses like ours that want to keep on top of their orders and ensure their systems are robust.” Find out more ONSO is free to use until the end of January 2019, after which users can choose the package that best suits the needs and size of their business. To find out more and get started, visit onso.co.uk.
Leading rapid-build home manufacturer FastHouse has today announced the completion of its contract to provide and erect the timber frames for 466 lodges at the highly anticipated Center Parcs in Longford in under nine months. This comes as FastHouse confirms significant investment to bring its full range of services to the Irish housebuilding market. In 2019 FastHouse will be in position to deliver 1,500 units annually with significantly lower costs and reduced construction time. The Limavady-based business, owned by Kevin Lagan, has invested heavily with the aim of becoming the largest producer of offsite panelised wall systems in Ireland and the UK. It began work at the €233m leisure attraction in January in what was the company’s first venture into the Irish market. It included the delivery of ten different types of homes, ranging in size from 865 sq ft to 2,045 sq ft – the equivalent of two to four-bedroom homes. The contract was awarded by John Sisk & Son – the main contractor of the 400-acre Longford Forest site – and saw FastHouse’s Installation Team install the lodges at a rate of three per day to the highest global standards. Typically, FastHouse homes take two days from factory production to watertight and weatherproof installation on-site. Center Parcs Longford Forest is set to open in the Summer of 2019 with capacity for 2,500 guests. It will feature 30 apartments, more than 100 indoor and outdoor family activities, state-of-the-art restaurants, shops, an award-winning Aqua Sana Spa and Center Parcs’ iconic Subtropical Swimming Paradise. Speaking after the completion of the contract Sean Fox, FastHouse Sales and Installations Director, said: “It shows the progression we have made in a short time that we are showcasing the quality of our rapid-build homes at a high-profile location like Center Parcs. It’s an attraction renowned for its high standards and thousands of holidaymakers will be able to see first-hand the first-class quality of our homes. Rapid-build, which involves bespoke precision work in the factory and less time and cost on-site, can make a huge contribution to the needs of the Irish residential market. We’re delighted to be involved in such an exciting new venture for the country.” FastHouse’s expert team was able to install 466 homes in as little as 34 weeks with the company’s factory producing an average of five houses per day. In total 14,000 wall panels were crafted for the contract with lodges taking just two weeks to produce from inception. Cormac Fitzpatrick, Sisk Senior Contracts Manager, added: “To deliver a resort of this size required strong partnerships and we’re very pleased with the completion of this phase of what will be one of Ireland’s premier destinations. With FastHouse manufacturing the lodges offsite it was a case of the panels and trusses being delivered to location and installing them in a kit format. This allowed the construction process to be lean, resulting in the productive and efficient development of the Center Parcs project.” Paul Kent, Center Parcs Construction and Development Director, said: “Our lodges are a key component of the Center Parcs experience and it is essential they are of the highest quality. FastHouse has provided top-class craftmanship that will allow thousands of families to enjoy a short break at Center Parcs Longford Forest each year.” Center Parcs is FastHouse’s largest project to date with previous work including a range of residential developments across Northern Ireland and the UK and a number of holiday lodges at the award-winning Killyhevlin Lakeside Hotel & Spa in Enniskillen. The demand has seen the company install a third production line leading it to double the size of its workforce to 100 this year.
CONSTRUCTION of the University of Huddersfield’s new £30 million centre for the study of art, design and architecture is months ahead of schedule, and it has witnessed an unusual “topping out” ceremony conducted by the granddaughter of Dame Barbara Hepworth, the famous artist who has given the building its name, in the presence of the main contractor’s MD for Construction. Dr Sophie Bowness – who is an art historian and a trustee of the world-famous Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield – was invited to turn a bolt on one of the 146 aluminium panels that will be fixed to the glazed walls of the new building. Their function will be to reduce solar glare, but architects AHR have ensured that they are also an artistic adornment. One of the great sculptors of the 20th century, Barbara Hepworth, who lived from 1903 to 1975, was born and educated in Wakefield. She was the first choice to be commemorated by the new University of Huddersfield building and at the topping out ceremony Vice-Chancellor Professor Bob Cryan thanked Dr Bowness for giving permission to use her grandmother’s name. The ceremony was attended by key figures from building firm Morgan Sindall, including its Managing Director for Construction, Pat Boyle. Morgan Sindall recently completed the University’s £28 million Oastler Building, opened in 2017, which was announced as the Best Education Building at the West Yorkshire Local Authority Building Control Awards. After Dr Bowness had carried out the ceremony, Professor Cryan said that the University’s policy of naming buildings after famous local people was designed to inspire students, and the legacy of Barbara Hepworth would be sure to do that. Professor Cryan praised the “dream team” from Morgan Sindall who had ensured that construction work was nine weeks ahead of schedule. The Barbara Hepworth Building will be completed in the spring and be ready for use at the start of the 2019 academic year. As the five-storey, 7,500 square metre Barbara Hepworth Building takes shape, the University was pleased to welcome Morgan Sindall’s MD for Construction Pat Boyle and Dr Sophie Bowness, granddaughter of Wakefield sculptor Barbara Hepworth, to the ‘topping out’ ceremony
