Category: Property Management

Most people who buy an apartment in a managed block quickly learn the true meaning of the word “managed.” Yes, the block has a managing agent. Yes, a service charge is issued once or twice a year. In reality, there is often a huge disconnect between the managing agent’s interpretation of the lease and what the leasers expect. Leaseholders pay for services that are never rendered, deal with long delays for necessary repairs, and receive service charge accounts that are more like a work of art than a statement of financial activity.

Property management in the UK is much broader than most people realize. In one of its many aspects, property management encompasses the operational management of a block of flats which includes the cleaning, grounds maintenance, the servicing of lifts, the management of the communal boiler, and the renewal of insurance which, for no reason that the management is aware of, has increased by 28%. On the other end of the spectrum, property management encompasses the legal aspects of leasehold and freehold property, which includes the management of Section 20 consultations, the collection of ground rents, Building Safety Act compliance for building management for any building over 11 meters, and Right to Manage applications. While property management encompasses many facets, letting agencies are an area of property management that differ greatly. A letting agency finds tenants for a rental property and collects rental payments, while a property management agency manages a property. Some agencies do both, while most do one poorly and the other not at all.

Where managing agents earn their fees.

A good agent performs unglamorous tasks with no prompting. They keep gas safety certificates up to date, run fire risk assessments at the appropriate intervals (which are now annual for higher-risk buildings, as per the Fire Safety Regulations 2022), maintain the asbestos register for older buildings as needed, and keep track of EICR renewals to ensure they are completed before they expire, rather than after. They know which contractors will show up on a bank holiday and which contractors will quote and then disappear.

Typically, block management fees cost between £200 to £400 per unit per year, with prices higher in central London and for buildings with a concierge, gym, or basement parking. It is not the advertised fee that counts, but rather the fee that is in line with what the lease requires, and whether the agent earns their income through more kickbacks from insurance, which you will never see itemized.

Section 20: the one that challenges most agents.

If a managing agent wants to spend more than £250 per leaseholder on a single piece of work, or sign you up to a long-term contract at more than £100 per leaseholder per year, they must properly consult you under Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. This consultation involves a three-stage process with set notice periods and a genuine outcome if ignored — the agent cannot recover more than the £250 cap per leaseholder, regardless of the cost of the work.

Many agents dismiss Section 20, but this is a dangerous attitude. If you’re a leaseholder and a £40,000 roof bill arrives that no one consulted you about, you have actual rights, as well as a tribunal to enforce them.

RTM, RMC, and the Important Distinction

As leaseholders, the right to manage means you are entitled to take control away from the freeholder and grant management to yourself. To qualify, at least 66.66% of the flats must be booked on a long term lease, at least 50% of the qualifying leaseholders must take part, and the maximum of non-residential space must be 25% or less.

A Residents’ Management Company (RMC) is the company, usually containing leaseholders as shareholders, that holds management responsibility under the lease.

Management companies (both RTM and RMC) are often confused by agents, and even management companies themselves. If you manage either, you have serious responsibilities under the Companies Act and the Building Safety Act, as well as direct commitments under your lease and the Building Safety Act.

What freeholders tend to ignore

If you own a freehold house, you often ignore the issues in the previous sections. You shouldn’t — particularly if you are on a managed estate (increasingly typical with new-build estates) where you will pay an estate rentcharge or estate management fee with very little of the leasehold protection below it. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 has only started to address this issue, slowly, and most of the homeowners on these estates are still ignorant of what they have signed up to until the first substantial bill lands on their doormat.

The reality is that in the UK, property management is one of those areas where the laws have developed much more quickly than the management industry, and where a lot of agents are still operating on a 2015 playbook with a 2026 statute book. When you select an agent, ask them about the Building Safety Act. If they have no idea, then you should get a different agent.