propertytalk Live!

The Law Society is urging landlords and homeowners to follow the correct legal procedures if they wish to evict squatters from their property or run the risk of prosecution themselves.

The law surrounding the rights of squatters and property owners can seem complex, therefore, it is very important to be aware what you can and cannot do within the confines of the law.

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is launching a Planning Mediation Service which can reduce the deadlock between conflicting parties, alleviate the strain on the appeal process and help save money both for public authorities and applicants.

Led by RICS Dispute Resolution Services, planning mediation will give people access to professional mediators in the planning system. It has been developed in response to recommendations in the Killian Pretty Review, to use mediation as a tool to speed up the planning process by resolving disputes quickly and amicably, and by encouraging dialogue and discouraging entrenched positioning.

"I personally pay the managing agent of the block of leasehold flats where I live an £1800 management fee each year – isn’t this excessive? What do they do for such a fee?" This is a real question put to the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) and one which it receives many times each year.

ARMA said the initial answer was the £1800 was not the management fee but the service charge which lessees were committed to pay under the terms of the lease they entered into when they bought the flat.

Noisy neighbours are a nightmare.

So too are barking dogs, abandoned vehicles and harassment.

A pensioner is reportedly furious after one of her neighbours allowed their garden to be used as a helicopter landing pad.

Pam Pringle, 79, claims the noise of the chopper which lands next door up to twice a week is deafening.

What was once a bit of fun for generations of children now looks to be a legal nightmare after law changes mean parents must apply for planning permission to put up TREE HOUSES.

It might sound straight from the Ministry Of Mad Ideas but, according to the Telegraph, senior planning officers have confirmed all tree houses now need full planning permission.

No-one wants strangers wandering around their homes or gardens. However, if you are buying a property or own a property which you think may have or be subject to rights of way, there are the important things to understand about how it may affect your enjoyment of the property.

Many rights of way were originally set out in property deeds and the details of those will be logged at the Land Registry.