The property world can be a daunting prospect without access to specialist advice. The Ethical Property Foundation's Property Advice Service provides free, and low cost, property advice for charities and community groups across London and Bristol. Our aim is to help you spend less time, money and worry on property problems; and to support you to achieve premises that are a real asset to your charity's work.

We provide information, advice, expertise from the property sector , training and events, and consultancy services.

Click here to download our Service Statement which sets out the Property Advice Service offered by the Ethical Property Foundation.  It explains who the Service is for, what the Service offers, where the Service is available, and how to access the Service.  It also sets out what you can expect from the Foundation when you use the Service, and what we will ask of you as a Service user.

Information

Our website is packed with jargon-free information on finding, renting, buying and managing premises - from a charity perspective. You will also find information on funding for premises projects and getting the best from property professionals. We ask you to register to access the property advice pages the first time you use the site.

Advice

You can contact one of our property advisers in London (020 7065 0760) or Bristol (0117 916 6455) for one-to-one advice on your premises queries. The property adviser will discuss your query and provide initial assistance. If you query is more complex, the property adviser might suggest a meeting at your premises.

The property adviser will help you clarify your options for resolving your property issue and provide you with information, further support or a referral to a property professional for specialist advice. Initial support from our property advisers is free of charge.

Expertise from the property sector

The Ethical Property Foundation manages a Register of Property Professionals including solicitors, surveyors, property agents, developers, relocation consultants and space planners who are committed to sharing their skills with charities and community groups. If you need specialist advice, your property adviser will refer you to an appropriate member of the Register. Register members provide initial advice free of charge and discount their feees for any on-going work.

If you are a property professional, and would like to enquire about joining the Register, please contact Victoria Howse on 020 7065 0760 or email victoriahowse@ethicalproperty.org.uk

Training and events

The Foundation delivers training for charities and community groups on a wide range of property issues. Recent courses have included 'relocation' (finding premises), 'co-location' (sharing premises), ' greening your workpace' and 'property management'. For details of forthcoming courses click here.

The Foundation can run in-house training courses for your staff, or deliver courses as part of any training programmes you offer. We can provide speakers, run workshops or 'property clinics' ; or provide information for stands at your events. Do contact us to discuss your requirements.

Consultancy

The Foundation offers two types of consultancy. Our 'health checks' are designed to get charities quickly up to speed on key property issues - your lease and your property practices.

• Lease healthcheck - get to grips with your rights and obligations. Popular with organisations in the last 18 months of a lease.
• Property management healthcheck - expert advice on health and safety, fire, accessibility, security, building systems, repairs and maintenance and reducing environmental impact.
• Asset performance healthcheck - our focused performance review helps to reduce costs and increase income.

For charities needing more in-depthor longer term support around a specific property issue, we can put together a consultancy package to meet your needs. Recent consultancy work has included premises strategies and feasibility studies, environmental audits, and researching and writing property information for websites and publications. Consultancy clients include charities, grant makers and government departments. Please contact us to discuss your needs.

Lease healthcheck

The answer to many questions regarding your rights as a tenant is “it depends on your lease”. Can the landlord increase our rent? Should the landlord provide us with an estimate of our service charge? Are we responsible for replacing the windows? The provisions set out in your lease should provide guidance on all of these issues.

Understanding your lease is key to understanding your position as a tenant. However, given that leases can be long and involved documents, its understandable if reading your lease has not hit the top of your priority list.

The Foundation’s lease healthcheck service is a shortcut to understanding the key points in your lease. The healthcheck report is a concise summary of your liabilities. We also provide a list of prioritised, costed action points for you to consider that will minimise your risks as a tenant.

Organisations who have piloted this service have found that it considerably improves their understanding of their lease. On average, they rate the understanding of their lease before the healthcheck 2.5/5, and after the healthcheck 4/5.

The lease healthcheck covers an overview of:

• Key dates in your lease – expiry, break clauses, rent reviews
• The range of activities for which you can use the premises
• Your obligations to repair and maintain the premises
• Your options to assign (transfer the lease) or sublet
• What can be included in your service charge, and whether your landlord needs to provide you with service charge estimates and accounts
• Your options to alter the premises
• Who insures the premises and what the insurance covers
• Whether the landlord has reserved the right to ‘opt to tax’ the building (and therefore charge VAT on rent).
• What happens if the premises are destroyed or damaged
• Under what conditions the landlord can forfeit (terminate) the lease.
• The service of notices
• Whether the lease (if in England or Wales) has security of tenure (the right to renew the lease on essentially the same terms)
• Any rent deposits or guarantees to which you have committed
  

The lease healthcheck is designed to help you clarify your position. You should however take professionals legal advice before taking further action as a result of the healthcheck.

A lease healthcheck costs between £165 and £430 depending on the type of lease and the turnover of the organisation. For more information or to request a quote contact us.

Property management healthcheck

If you have queries relating to health and safety, fire, building systems, security, reducing environmental impact, accessibility or repairs and maintenance – a property healthcheck will put you on the right track to get them sorted.

The healthcheck consists of a site visit from a Property Manager from our sister company who will conduct a ‘walk and talk’ audit. They will tour the premises with you, discussing the issues you have raised and how they might be resolved. They can spend up to two hours with you. After the visit, you will receive a report with a concise list of suggested prioritised actions for you to consider.

Organisations who have taken up a property management healthcheck say they would recommend the service to others and that the healthcheck helped them to acheive a number of outcomes including reduced running costs, improved safety of their premises and reducing the environmental impact of their buildings.

For more information or to book a healthcheck contact us.

Asset performance healthcheck

This is a new service being developed by the Foundation to help organisations take a strategic look at their current property position and explore ways in which their premises can 'work harder' by reducing costs and increasing income. For more information about this healthcheck contact us.

The small print
Please note that information on this website relating to leases applies to commerical leases in England, Wales and Scotland only.
The information provided on this website is necessarily brief. You should always take professional advice before signing any document or handing over money.

Credits
The Foundation would like to thank the Centre for Accessible Environments, Stephanie Nedas and Lindsays Solicitors, Edinburgh for assistance in producing this website.