TPI Annual Conference 2024

The Property Institute (TPI) hosted their Annual Conference on Thursday 24 October.

Nkosana Kumwenda and Steven Lucy represented Kingston at the TPI Annual Conference in London – a fantastic and well organised event.

They attended numerous insightful sessions with inspiring speakers from within the industry. Several important topics were covered in the sessions that Nkosana and Steven attended, with key takeaways regarding insurance premiums, compliance, and legal scenarios.

Current trends regarding insurance premiums

• Premiums in the property sector have increased significantly over the last year.
• The increase is largely attributed to fire risk following the Grenfell disaster.
• However, the biggest risk is water, which is consistent throughout the year rather than a winter phenomenon.
• Insurance Premium tax is forecast to rise by 20% in the Autumn budget.

TPI Compliance Review

• Switching from current Audit format to a Review carried out remotely.
• The three aims of the Compliance Review:
  • Ensure member firm standards remain high.
  • Supporting member firms – any firms deemed non-compliant provided with guidance.
  • Make sure members are prepared when regulation is implemented.
• Areas subject to review:
  • Instructing managing agents
  • Client matters
  • Financial
  • Legal
  • Disputes and terminations

Examples of complex legal scenarios

• Section 116 and 117 of the Building Safety Act 2022 – remediation of fire defects and the definition of relevant buildings.
• “Waterfall structure” (chain of liability) – developers pay first, followed by freeholders, then leaseholders.
• Case studies demonstrated scenarios with varying obligations for Freeholders, Developers and RMC Directors.

To learn more about all topics covered at the conference, session recordings and speaker slides are available on the TPI website.