Leasehold Property law. Personally delivered.
Leasehold Property law. Personally delivered.
Take over the running of your building from your landlord, without buying the freehold and without having to prove anything has gone wrong. We guide leaseholders through every notice and deadline so the claim is made correctly and the handover is orderly.
Acting for leaseholders · ALEP member · Regulated by the SRA · London and nationwide
The right to manage is a statutory right, under Part 2 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, for the leaseholders of a building of flats to take over its management from the landlord, through a company they own and control. It is a no-fault right: you do not have to show that the landlord or its managing agent has done anything wrong, and no premium is paid.
The landlord keeps the freehold and the ground rent. What changes is who decides how the building is looked after: who manages it, which contractors are used, how the service charge budget is set and how the reserve fund is built up.
On the acquisition date, the landlord’s management functions under the leases pass to the RTM company. The company then answers to the leaseholders rather than to the landlord.
Repairs, maintenance and cleaning of the building and its common parts; insurance; setting the service charge budget, issuing demands and collecting service charges; appointing and replacing the managing agent; the reserve fund; and most consents under the leases, such as licences to assign or to alter, subject to notice to the landlord.
Ownership of the freehold; the ground rent; the right to forfeit a lease; functions relating only to a flat or unit not held by a qualifying leaseholder, such as a shop; facilities shared with other buildings; and the right to be told of, and sometimes to object to, consents the RTM company proposes to give.
You set the budget, compare quotations and decide what work is done and when.
The agent answers to the leaseholders through the RTM company, not to the landlord.
Accounts, contracts and the reserve fund are overseen by people who own flats in the building.
Unlike a freehold purchase, there is nothing to pay the landlord for the right itself.
Organising the leaseholders and running the building together often lays the groundwork for buying the freehold later.
The company takes on the landlord’s management obligations and its directors must run it properly. We explain what that involves before you commit.
Most purpose-built blocks and many converted houses qualify. The building, or the part of it claimed, must meet all four conditions, and none of the exclusions can apply.
Structurally detached, or a vertical division that could be redeveloped on its own, with services that are independent or could be separated.
Held by qualifying leaseholders, meaning tenants of flats on long leases, generally granted for more than 21 years.
At least two thirds of all the flats in the building must be held by qualifying leaseholders.
Non-residential parts must be no more than half the internal floor area, ignoring the common parts. The limit was 25% until 3 March 2025.
Where a local housing authority is the immediate landlord of any qualifying leaseholder, which usually rules out ex-council blocks where the council still owns the freehold. Where there is a resident landlord in a building that is not purpose-built, with no more than four units. Where the right was exercised and ended in the last four years. And where different parts of the building have different freeholders and any part is itself self-contained.
Shared ownership leaseholders count only once they have staircased to 100%, and flats let on business leases do not count. There is no minimum period of ownership. One RTM company can claim only one building, so on an estate each block needs its own company and claim, and gardens, car parks and other facilities shared with other buildings stay with the landlord.
Not sure? Send us the address. We will obtain the title and lease documents from HM Land Registry, check the numbers and tell you whether the building qualifies before you commit to anything further.
In many buildings the leaseholders could either claim the right to manage or buy the freehold through collective enfranchisement. They achieve different things, at very different cost.
For many groups the right to manage is the practical starting point: it puts the leaseholders in charge quickly and at modest cost, and leaves the door open to buying the freehold when the group is ready. It does not affect anyone’s right to extend their lease or to buy the freehold later. When that time comes, we act on the purchase and our sister firm, Blakes Chartered Surveyors, can value the premium. Read more on our collective enfranchisement page.
The statutory procedure is short, but it is precise. Most of the work that decides whether a claim goes smoothly happens before the claim notice is served.
We check the title, the leases and the layout of the building to confirm that it qualifies, and identify everyone who must be served, including any head leaseholder, intermediate landlord or management company that is party to the leases. Missing someone here is one of the most common reasons claims run into difficulty.
A private company limited by guarantee, using the articles of association prescribed by law, with a name ending RTM Company Limited. The leaseholders who will act as directors are appointed.
A notice inviting participation is served on every qualifying leaseholder who has not already joined.
Served on the landlord, any other party to the leases and any tribunal-appointed manager, with a copy to every qualifying leaseholder. It sets a date for the landlord’s response at least one month ahead, and an acquisition date at least three months after that.
The landlord may serve a counter-notice admitting or disputing the claim. If it disputes the claim, the RTM company has two months to apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), which decides whether the right has been acquired. We prepare and run that application.
We serve the notices that bring existing contracts into the picture and request the information the company needs. The company appoints a managing agent, arranges buildings insurance from the acquisition date and opens a client account for service charges.
Management transfers to the RTM company. Service charge money held by the landlord that is not committed to existing costs must be paid over on that date or as soon as reasonably practicable afterwards.
How long does it take? Where the landlord does not dispute the claim, most buildings move from instruction to handover in around five to six months. The statutory timetable alone runs to about four months from the claim notice. A dispute at the tribunal adds time, often several months.
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 made five changes to the right to manage. All of them came into force on 3 March 2025 and apply to every claim made since.
The non-residential limit rose from 25% to 50% of the internal floor area, so many blocks above shops and restaurants can now claim.
The RTM company and its members are generally not liable for them, and lease terms that say otherwise have no effect. The tribunal can order costs only if the claim ends and the company has acted unreasonably.
A landlord cannot put its non-litigation costs of a claim onto the service charges of leaseholders who never joined the RTM company.
The prescribed articles now cap the votes a landlord can hold as a member of the RTM company.
Applications to enforce either side’s obligations now go to the First-tier Tribunal rather than the county court.
Further changes recommended by the Law Commission are expected in separate legislation; they are not in the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill. There is no reason to wait.
The courts have taken a practical line too. In August 2026, in Avon Freeholds v Cresta Court E RTM Company, the Supreme Court confirmed that failing to send a notice inviting participation to a leaseholder, or failing to wait the 14 days, does not of itself invalidate the claim. We still serve every notice carefully, because a clean claim is the quickest one, but a minor slip is less likely to be fatal than landlords have sometimes argued.
We act on a fixed fee basis, agreed before any work starts.
What the fixed fee covers: the eligibility review, identifying everyone who must be served, the notices inviting participation, the claim notice, reviewing the landlord’s counter-notice, the handover notices and information requests, and our support through to the acquisition date.
Disbursements are charged at cost and typically include HM Land Registry official copies at £7 per document, recorded or special delivery postage for statutory notices, and identity checks. The landlord’s costs: since March 2025 you will not normally have to pay them. Several buildings on one estate? Each needs its own claim; ask us for a combined quotation.
The acquisition date is when the real work begins. A well-planned handover avoids gaps in insurance, unpaid contractors and confusion over who holds the money.
Uncommitted money held by the landlord must be paid over. If the amount is disputed, either side can ask the tribunal to decide it.
The RTM company can require the landlord and any manager to provide the documents it reasonably needs within 28 days of a notice.
Existing contracts are identified so the company can decide what to keep or retender, and cover must be in place from the acquisition date.
Major works and section 20 consultations already under way need a plan for how they carry forward.
Fire risk assessments, asbestos registers and similar documents should pass across promptly.
Before approving an assignment, underletting or alteration, the RTM company must give the landlord 30 days’ notice (14 days for other approvals), and the landlord may object.
There is no legal requirement to appoint a managing agent, but most RTM companies do. Some agents offer to run a claim free of charge if they are appointed to manage the building afterwards. That can suit some buildings, but it ties the choice of agent to the claim itself. We are independent of managing agents, so the leaseholders choose once the right has been acquired. If it would help, we can introduce you to suitable block management companies, chosen for the size, location and complexity of your building, with no obligation to appoint any of them.
Directors are drawn from the members and owe the normal duties of company directors, and directors’ and officers’ insurance is advisable. Every qualifying leaseholder may join at any time, and from the acquisition date the landlord may also join, with capped votes. The company files an annual confirmation statement and accounts, and service charge law, including section 20 consultation, applies to it as it did to the landlord.
Higher-risk buildings. A building at least 18 metres or seven storeys high with at least two residential units is a higher-risk building under the Building Safety Act 2022. Where the RTM company takes on the repairing obligations for the common parts, it can become an accountable person with significant duties. We flag this at the outset. Once the company is running, our block and estate management and landlords and management companies teams can support it.
Lease extensions, freehold purchases, rights of first refusal and the legal side of running a building are what we do every day.
On the right to manage, we act for leaseholders.
We are not a managing agent, and the claim is never conditional on a management contract.
Every claim is supervised by a senior solicitor, with routine notices handled by our paralegal team under that supervision.
Blocks above shops, mansion blocks, ex-council blocks, multi-block estates and head lease structures across all 32 London boroughs, and for leaseholders nationwide.
With Blakes Chartered Surveyors and extension.lease, we can take you on to a freehold purchase and longer leases when you are ready.
Our client guides cover these subjects in more depth than a web page can, and are free to download from our Knowledge Centre.
Client Guide 16Qualification, the claim, the 2025 reforms, the handover and running your RTM company.
Download this guide (PDF) →
Client Guide 02Qualification, the premium, the group, the timetable and the complications, in full.
Download this guide (PDF) →
Client Guide 03What follows completion: the company, new leases, insurance, filings and the four-owner alternative.
Download this guide (PDF) →No. Leaseholders of at least half of the flats must be members of the RTM company when the claim is made. In a building with only two flats, both must take part. Leaseholders who do not join cannot block the claim, and they can join later.
No. The right to manage is a no-fault right. You do not need to give reasons or show that anything has gone wrong.
Only if the building does not qualify or the claim has not been made properly. The landlord can dispute the claim in a counter-notice, and the tribunal then decides. A careful initial review is the best protection against a dispute.
Not normally, for claims made since 3 March 2025. The tribunal can order costs against the RTM company only if the claim is withdrawn or otherwise ends and the company has acted unreasonably. The company does pay the landlord’s reasonable costs of providing information it asks for before the claim.
From the acquisition date, management passes to the RTM company. The company can appoint a new managing agent or, if it wishes, retain the existing one on new terms. We can introduce you to suitable block management companies if that would help.
No. Each leaseholder keeps the right to extend their lease, and the leaseholders keep the right to buy the freehold. Many groups use the right to manage as a first step towards a freehold purchase.
Very possibly. Since 3 March 2025 a building qualifies if its non-residential parts are no more than 50% of the internal floor area, ignoring the common parts. Functions relating only to the commercial units stay with the landlord.
Typically five to six months from instruction to handover where the claim is not disputed. A disputed claim takes longer, depending on the tribunal’s timetable.
There is no legal requirement to, but the notices are technical, everyone entitled to be served must be identified and the timetable is fixed by statute. Mistakes can lead to delay, a dispute at the tribunal or having to start again.
A building of at least 18 metres or seven storeys with at least two residential units is a higher-risk building under the Building Safety Act 2022, and the RTM company may then take on duties as an accountable person. We flag this at the outset so the leaseholders can plan for it.
This page gives general information about the law in England as at October 2026 and is not legal advice. Different rules and forms apply in Wales.
Tell us about your building and we will confirm whether it qualifies and send you a fixed fee quotation.
