Obtaining the Right to Manage (RTM)

The Commonhold & Leasehold Reform Act 2002 provides Leaseholders the legal right to acquire management rights of their block of flats, removing management rights from the Freeholder and passing them to the Leaseholders.

 

 

WHAT IS THE RIGHT TO MANAGE?

 

The Right to Manage is available to Leaseholders of flats, not of houses.

 

The process is relatively simple. The Freeholder's consent is not required, nor is any order of the court. There is no need for the Leaseholders to show or prove bad management by the Freeholder or his Agent. 

 

The right is exercised by the service of a particular legal notice on the Freeholder. After a set period of time, the management transfers to the Right to Manage (RTM) Company which has been set up for the purpose of managing the block of flats by the Leaseholders. The Freeholder still owns the building, but management is now taken care of by the Leaseholders and the Leaseholders are free to appoint a Managing Agent of their choosing.

 

 

DOES MY BUILDING QUALIFY FOR RIGHT TO MANAGE?

 

The building must meet certain conditions and a minimum number of leaseholders is required to take part. 

 

1. The building must be self-contained (or if part of another building, be capable of being redeveloped independently). 

 

2. It must include at least 2 flats.

 

3. At least two-thirds of the flats must be held on long leases (of more than 21 years).

 

4. It can be part-commercial but the non-residential part must not exceed 25% of the total floor area.

 

The Right to Manage may only be exercised by a Right to Manage company and the members of the RTM company must comprise at least 50% of the flats in the block.

 

The right relates to a building, so, in an estate of separate blocks, each block would need to qualify separately and an individual RTM notice served.

 

 

HOW LONG DOES OBTAINING THE RIGHT TO MANAGE TAKE?

 

The Right to Manage process takes approximately 5 months from commencement, if the Freeholder contests the claim it may take a further 3–4 months for the matter to go to the Tribunal for a final determination to be made.

 

 

HOW MUCH DOES THE RIGHT TO MANAGE COST?

 

At AM Surveying & Block Management we offer some of the most competitive Right to Manage fees available in industry.

 

In most cases we are prepared to complete the Right to Manage process on a NO WIN NO FEE basis, where we are appointed as Managing Agent for the RTM Company on completion of the process.

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See our scale of fees for completing the Right to Manage process here.