Nicolas Shulman has joined the committee of the Federation of Private Residents Associations as an Honorary Consultant. As a leaseholder, solicitor and publisher of information about leasehold property he can make a valuable contribution to the work of the FPRA.

In 1999, whilst living in an apartment in the United States, Nicolas realised that flat owners did not always have ready access to some of the most important information they needed about their rights - e.g. the identity of committee members on their residents association, what to do with a noisy neighbour or leaky pipe and understanding service charge payments. Consequently, Nicolas pioneered the launch of "News on the Block" and was the first in the UK to offer residents associations and flat owners their own, dedicated website to improve communication within a block of flats entirely free of charge. Each website is individual to each building and enables residents associations to share information about the building with the other flat owners. Now branded as "Your Block Online" (www.yourblockonline.com), the website facility is still the only independently run website for blocks of flats that is offered without charge to the residents. The popularity of this innovative facility led to the creation of News on the Block magazine (www.newsontheblock.com), a bi-monthly magazine for flat owners, managing agents and others working in the leasehold sector.

Since then Nicolas has also launched The Housing Ombudsman Bulletin (for housing association flats) and The LVT Bulletin (www.lvtbulletin.com). The LVT Bulletin is a popular web-based subscription service which provides summaries and analysis of the most important decisions affecting flats from the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal and other courts. The decisions are edited in co-operation with Justin Bates, a leading leasehold barrister practising at Arden Chambers. Recently, Nicolas authored the book, "Being a Leaseholder - The Essential Guide to Owning a Flat", a handy explanatory guide to the complexities of leasehold law. Nicolas has appeared on radio, television and in the national press providing comment and analysis on issues affecting leasehold property.

The depth of Nicolas' experience in leasehold matters will strengthen the FPRA and he has kindly offered to be available to answer questions from member associations.