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TPI Annual Conference 2025: Highlights and Recordings
Thank You for Joining Us!
This year’s event was our largest yet, with over 700 professionals in attendance—
a record-breaking milestone. It was a pleasure to welcome professionals from across the property management sector and to facilitate a day of insightful discussions and meaningful engagement.
For those who were unable to attend, missed a session, or would like to revisit any of the content, recordings are now available to view HERE
View TPI Annual Conference Photo Gallery HERE
Your feedback is highly appreciated. If you haven’t already done so, please take a few moments to complete our survey HERE. Your input is invaluable as we plan for future events.
Finally, a sincere thank you to our generous sponsors, whose support was instrumental in making the day possible.
TPI Team look forward to welcoming you again in 2026. Further details, including the date, will be shared in due course.
Awaab’s Law: What It Means for Managing Agents
Awaab’s Law — named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who tragically died in 2020 from prolonged exposure to mould in his social housing flat — came into force on 27 October 2025. The new legislation requires social housing landlords to address reported hazards such as damp and mould within strict timeframes, ensuring that homes are safe and fit to live in.
While the law is aimed primarily at social landlords, there are likely to be knock-on effects for managing agents and management companies involved in mixed-tenure developments, especially where social housing units sit within blocks managed by resident management companies (RMCs) or right to manage (RTM) companies.
Key requirements and timeframes for social housing managers:
After an investigation, social landlords must also provide tenants with a written summary of findings and actions within 3 working days of investigation.
Failure to meet these timeframes could result in legal action for breach of contract, though landlords have a defence if they can demonstrate they took all reasonable steps to comply.
Implications for Managing Agents
While social landlords carry the main legal responsibility, managing agents in mixed-tenure blocks may become involved if rectifying works are needed in the common areas, or if disrepair in shared or external areas prevents social tenants from safely occupying their homes. In addition, works required within a home may require permission from the building’s landlord.
What Managing Agents Should Do Now
To prepare, agents should:
- Act quickly on any repair or disrepair reports — particularly those affecting social tenants.
- Monitor and log all maintenance requests, including those relating to external and communal areas.
- Communicate well with housing association and social landlords where they have stock in your estate.
- Clarify responsibilities with the housing association or social landlord, RMC or RTM clients to avoid confusion about who is accountable for what.
- Keep comprehensive records of reports, inspections, communications, and actions taken.
New Venture Launches with Familiar Expertise
A new name has entered the property management space, but it comes backed by trusted experience and a clear vision. JMJ Asset Management officially launched this autumn, founded by industry professionals Jodie Fraser, Mark Briggs, and Jamie Treweke. The company is set to deliver asset management with a fresh perspective and one that blends professionalism with clarity, care, and long-term thinking.
The new venture forms part of a wider collective of property companies, bringing together respected individuals and businesses that are aligned in their values and ambition for quality.
For Jodie Fraser, the appointment as Managing Director of JMJ Asset Management is both a professional milestone and a natural evolution after nearly twenty years in the industry.
“This is a joint venture that allows me to take everything I’ve learned and build something meaningful with people who truly share the same values,” says Jodie. “From day one, JMJ has felt collaborative, positive, and full of possibility and I’m incredibly proud of what we’re creating.”
JMJ Asset Management offers a wide range of services across block and estate management, financial and company secretarial services, commercial property, and build to rent. The company’s approach is built on three core pillars – clear communication, compliance without confusion, and a commitment to treating every property like it’s their own.
Covering areas such as Bristol, Cheltenham and across the South West, JMJ works with Resident Management Companies, freeholders, developers, and leaseholders alike, tailoring services to meet the real-world needs of each property, not just ticking boxes.
With rising expectations in the sector and continued legislative reform, JMJ enters the market at a crucial time. The team is already being recognised for their clear, calm, and confident style, especially by clients looking for greater transparency and a more proactive service.
The business also places people at the heart of its work for both residents and the wider community. JMJ’s chosen charity partner is The Hollie Gazzard Trust, whose personal safety app ‘Hollie Guard’ supports lone workers and residents alike.
For more information about JMJ Asset Management or to request a management proposal, visit www.jmj-am.co.uk
Commonhold, AI and the Future of Leasehold Reform
Dominate discussion at ALEP annual conference
ALEP (the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners) held its annual conference on 15 October, attracting more than 240 professionals from across the leasehold sector. The high attendance reflected the continued importance of leasehold reform to solicitors, valuers, managing agents and other professionals attending.
Replacement of leasehold by commonhold
There was a tangible air of anticipation in the conference room. While the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act (LAFRA) is yet to be fully enacted, the draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill is expected shortly, resulting in considerable imminent change.
The future adoption of commonhold proved a particularly lively topic, dividing opinion between those who view it as inevitable and those who regard it as unproven. Speakers James Fieldsend (Tanfield Chambers) and Mari Knowles (Commonhold and Leasehold Experts Ltd) explored how the proposed “acquire and convert” process might work in practice, using ALEP’s fictional apartment scheme, Hague House, to illustrate both its potential and its complexity.
While there was broad recognition that ALEP’s expertise could help shape a viable model, many cautioned against imposing commonhold on existing buildings. Most agreed that any move to universal adoption must be gradual, starting with new developments and supported by practitioner training and robust consumer education.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): evolution or extinction?
Equally engaging was Mike Somekh of The Freehold Collective, whose presentation “Leasehold enfranchisement just got (artificially) intelligent – evolve or be automated” inspired some lively lunchtime conversation.
Somekh described AI as “a colleague who never needs a coffee break”, capable of analysing documents, drafting client care letters, producing valuations and identifying precedents with increasing accuracy. He quoted a poll revealing 61% of lawyers and 38% of valuers had already used AI tools in leasehold enfranchisement.
While, as Mike said, AI was found to outperform humans in tasks such as document summarisation and due diligence, delegates were reminded of the risks. Fabricated case citations and data privacy issues support the continuing need for professional oversight.
“The challenge and the opportunity is to evolve alongside AI rather than be replaced by it,” he said, urging practitioners to, “Invest time, upskill, collaborate and differentiate”.
Best practice and legal updates
The conference also featured informative and thought-provoking sessions on company law for Right to Enfranchise and Right to Manage companies (Louise Park, Virtual Company Secretary), tribunal preparation (Henrietta Hammonds, Beckett & Kay), and an update on the Building Safety Act from Simon Allison KC of Landmark Chambers. Mark Loveday and Robyn Cunningham (Tanfield Chambers) discussed ongoing human rights challenges to LAFRA, while Piers Harrison (Tanfield Chambers) provided his ever-popular case update.
Looking ahead
Conference chair and ALEP Director Mark Chick comments, “The government’s forthcoming draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill presents both an opportunity and a challenge. The increased use of commonhold is a certainty. The uncertainty is in how it is to be introduced, and this will determine its success. We see ALEP as having an important role in working with government and practitioners to ensure the transition is workable, proportionate and beneficial.
“Similarly, AI is no longer optional; it’s here to stay. Our task is to understand it, regulate it, and use it responsibly to improve our practice.
“We approached this year’s conference knowing that the draft Commonhold Bill was not yet available to discuss. But the pace of both political and technological change has given us more than enough to consider. The context for leasehold reform has never been more challenging, and that makes ALEP’s role all the more important. Our members’ expertise will be crucial in ensuring that reform, through commonhold and through the implementation of the remaining provisions of LAFRA, strengthens rather than destabilises the system.
“As ALEP enters another year representing over 1,200 professionals across 260 organisations, its focus remains on being at the forefront of Leasehold and Commonhold Reform.”