For a decade, residential property lawyer Anna Favre worked in fashion journalism. But after reading a book on civil liberties, she was inspired to make a change of career. A period of part-time study followed, before she qualified as a lawyer and specialised in property.
Hear Anna discuss with EG's professional and legal editor, Sarah Jackman, how she effected that change, why there are benefits to entering a career with some work experience already on your CV and why ultimately property has proved to be the ideal sector to practice in.
Counsellors and supervisors have a critical role to play in supporting candidates through the APC process. That support can take many forms, from providing regular feedback on their work and testing them on their competency and ethics knowledge to recommending when they're ready for final assessment.
To explain how the relationship works on a practical level, the structured RICS guidance that governs it and who is best placed to assume the two roles, Rachel Saint - co-founder of Property Elite - joins Sarah Jackman in the EG studio for the latest episode of Bricks & Mortar.
Rachel draws on her extensive experience of providing training support to APC candidates and suggests how they can get the most out of the relationship to ensure that they pass the APC the first time around.
APC assessment is often the culmination of several years hard work and intensive study. So it inevitably comes as a huge disappointment for a candidate to receive a referral.
Ralph Charlwood, DeLever APC expert coach, mock interview assessor, RICS chair and APC assessor tells Sarah Jackman why candidates might be referred, what they need to do to prepare for a resit and how, ultimately, they should aim to turn a negative experience into a positive.
As he reflects: "Those around you are likely to judge how you deal with it rather than the referral itself. Try and reframe this as an opportunity to demonstrate maturity and grow as a professional. In the years to come you will look back and see it - in the context of other challenges that you will have faced - as a minor setback and hopefully one that you successfully overcame."
For many of those developing a career in property, part-time study is a must. It allows financial freedom and the ability to get established in the industry while qualifying for the next steps of the journey.
Inevitably it's not without its challenges and the ability to self motivate and effectively balance the demands of work and study is key.
To discuss how it all works in practice are Peter Escreet, MBA Construction and Real Estate Programme Leader at the University College of Estate Management and Sara Williams - a recent graduate of the university.
The commercial lease will be familiar to all property professionals. Yet there are many questions to consider when negotiating one. "Which standard lease should I use?" "Should I take a lease with or without 1954 Act protection?" "What is an FRI lease?"
Professional support lawyer, Katharine Fenn, answers these questions - as well as discussing the key sections that make up the lease and the things to keep in mind in relation to notices, break clauses, service charges and, importantly, repair.
She leaves listeners with her top tips for ensuring an efficient and effective negotiation and stresses the importance of agreeing heads of terms at the outset.
Securing planning permission is a key initial stage of any development scheme. But how best to do this?
Planning lawyer, Jay Das, offers listeners five top tips for securing a permission based on her experience of navigating the planning process. She discusses the need to keep it professional, listen carefully to what planning officers say and how ultimately persistence pays.
“I remember walking out of my APC the first time around and phoning my dad. I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t think about where I was. In that moment I knew that I needed to sort myself out and get some help.”
Natasha Collins had been working at a frenetic pace – juggling the demands of a busy job in asset management with the academic rigor of her APC and a lively social life – when she began to experience symptoms of burnout.
A call to LionHeart helped her to regain her perspective and to make the necessary adjustments to her work / life balance. She now works as an ambassador for the charity, alongside managing a property investment business and lecturing for UCEM.
Hear her discuss the highs and lows of her career in property and how, ultimately, that telephone call was transformative in helping her to adopt a more sustainable approach to work.
Katharine Fenn returns as this week’s guest on Bricks & Mortar for the third and final instalment of her series on the basics of the conveyancing process.
In this episode she discusses what needs to be registered; how to record transactions with the Land Registry; title deeds and what might crop up on them; and covenants in their various forms.
She also talks listeners through preliminary enquiries and the various searches available as part of the due diligence process. She concludes with a look at the tax and lender positions.
EG's professional and legal editor, Sarah Jackman, is again joined by Katharine Fenn, professional support lawyer at City Law firm FieldFisher, to discuss the key concepts involved in the conveyancing process.
In this episode, Katharine delves into more detail on the steps involved in the process, forms of tenure, the difference between registered and unregistered land and how to identify if land is registered.
The conveyancing process involves many concepts and key steps. In the first of a three-part series, professional support lawyer, Katharine Fenn, joins EG's professional and legal editor, Sarah Jackman, to discuss the basic first steps in the process.
In this episode, Katharine talks listeners through the key terminology, who's involved in a conveyancing transaction and the key legal principles that underpin the process.
