Answers · UK 2025/26

What is Right to Manage and how do leaseholders use it?

Right to Manage lets qualifying leaseholders in a block of flats take over management of the building (maintenance, service charge administration, insurance arranging) from the freeholder or their managing agent, without having to prove any fault or mismanagement, by forming a company and following a statutory notice process -- it does not transfer ownership of the freehold itself.

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Right to Manage (RTM) gives leaseholders a practical route to take control of building management decisions, which is often the most direct way to address poor service, high charges, or unresponsive freeholders without the cost and complexity of buying the freehold outright. **What Right to Manage actually transfers** RTM transfers the MANAGEMENT functions of the building -- arranging maintenance and repairs, collecting and administering service charges, arranging buildings insurance, and enforcing lease terms relating to these matters -- from the freeholder (or their appointed managing agent) to an RTM company controlled by participating leaseholders; it does NOT transfer ownership of the freehold itself, which remains with the original freeholder, nor does it typically transfer the right to collect ground rent. **No need to prove fault** A significant advantage of RTM over other routes (such as applying to a tribunal to appoint a new manager for cause) is that leaseholders do not need to prove the freeholder or existing managing agent has done anything wrong -- RTM is available as a right, provided the qualifying conditions relating to the building and the leaseholders exercising it are met. **Qualifying conditions** Generally, the building must be a self-contained block of flats where at least a set proportion of flats are held on long leases, with commercial/non-residential space within specified limits, and a minimum proportion of qualifying leaseholders must participate in the RTM claim -- the specific thresholds should be checked against current legislation, as leasehold reform has adjusted some qualifying criteria. **The process** Participating leaseholders form an RTM company, serve formal notices on the freeholder and any other qualifying leaseholders, and after a statutory notice period (during which the freeholder can only object on limited legal grounds, not simply because they disagree), management responsibility transfers to the RTM company on the agreed date. **Worked example** Leaseholders in a block of 20 flats are unhappy with rising service charges and poor communication from their freeholder's managing agent. Rather than attempting to buy the freehold (which can be expensive and requires freeholder cooperation or a formal collective enfranchisement process), a sufficient proportion of qualifying leaseholders form an RTM company, serve the required statutory notices, and after the process completes, take over appointing their own managing agent and controlling maintenance and service charge decisions directly. **Costs involved** Leaseholders exercising RTM are generally required to pay the freeholder's reasonable costs of the process, plus their own legal and administrative costs of setting up and running the RTM company, so while RTM does not involve buying the freehold itself, it is not entirely without cost. **Practical tip** RTM works best where there is strong leaseholder engagement and willingness to take on ongoing management responsibility (even if a professional managing agent is then appointed by the RTM company) -- get specialist leasehold advice on current qualifying thresholds and the notice process before starting, since procedural errors can delay or invalidate a claim.