The inaugural ALEP conference last week was a huge success and we hope that you will consider attending one of our future events. Follow the link below to see some pictures from the day.

To give you a flavour of the day, below are some notes about the talks and discussions:

The inaugural ALEP conference on 1 November 2007 concluded that flat owners were not being well served by some professionals despite the rigourous codes of conduct and ethics of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and the Law Society. The call went out for higher standards, and ALEP was to blaze the trail.

Over 50 delegates debated the three provocative presentations made by the speakers. And the delegates then broke up into two syndicate groups, returning with a series of actions points.

Andrew Pridell of Andrew Pridell Associates is a valuer and surveyor renowned for his outspoken opinions and entertaining delivery. In his analysis of the Leasehold Valuation Tribunals, he criticised the members of LVTs for often not being familiar with the issues being presented: "Some members of the LVT should not be sitting there," he claimed. He also criticised the process for being opaque. Often determinations from LVTs came with no substantiation to the members' decisions. This was unfair on both parties, he suggested. Andrew also called "nonsense" the supposition that members of the LVT should not use their previous experience when making determinations, as they are required to do. He called for a review on the way the LVTs worked and were constituted. For example, panels are sometimes drafted in from other areas if there would otherwise be a conflict of interest, and so are not familiar with the area concerned.

Chris Sykes of Sykes Anderson LLP is a solicitor and the author of the seminal 'Leasehold Enfranchisement and the Right to Manage - A Practical Guide', published by the Law Society. In his presentation he explained how freeholder rights had been gradually eroded by legislation and that there was more power in the hands of the leaseholder. He explained that the "freeholders have struck back" with their financial muscle, technical challenges such as Cadogan v Morris and that the frontline was with valuations, namely the recently rejected appeal in the Sportelli case.

Chris referred to marriage value as the battleground, but not before questionning its very existence. He even described it as "double counting", effectively compensating the freeholder twice for their loss of the freehold. While the balance of power may be swinging to the flat owner, Chris suggested that major reform - if not abolition of marriage value - should be considered.

Most provocative was Nicholas Kissen of the Leasehold Advisory Service, standing in for the former Chief Executive Peter Haler, who was unwell. Nicholas laid out ten common failings among professionals in leasehold enfranchisement and urged them to improve standards. Among the shortfalls that LEASE regularly had to deal with when receiving complaints from the public were professionals missing deadlines, failure to maintain momentum in freehold acquisitions or multiple lease extensions, and failing to supply the the correct signature on notices. Nicholas believed that there were "too many people dipping their toes into the water" of leasehold enfranchisement. He asked the conference to crystallise the aims of its members democratically and ensure that membership criteria were monitored so that the ALEP logo becomes a "matter of prestige".