Right to Manage | Commonhold & Leasehold Reform Act 2002

Under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, the leaseholders of a block of flats have the right to take over the management of their building from their landlord. This is called the “Right to Manage”. This can be more affordable than buying the freehold under the right to Collective Enfranchisement, as the leaseholders will not have to pay a purchase price.

Acquiring the Right to Manage can be complex. It's a specialist discipline that requires expert knowledge and experience, to avoid the pitfalls that could result in the leaseholders failing to acquire the Right to Manage, or the landlord being unable to successfully resist the leaseholders acquiring the Right to Manage.

Morr & Co's experienced Leasehold Enfranchisement lawyers are experts at guiding our clients through the process, from the initial advice through to our specialist advocates representing our clients at the First-Tier Tribunal.

If you are considering starting the Right to Manage process, it’s important to understand the steps and the process it involves.

The Right to Manage – Preliminary Steps

Before starting the process, the leaseholders must first incorporate a special “RTM Company” which will manage the block on behalf of the tenants. Once the RTM Company is incorporated, it will need to serve a notice on all of the leaseholders in the block who are not already members of the RTM Company, inviting them to participate in the claim to acquire the Right to Manage.

The Process

Once the preliminaries are complete, and if the RTM Company has at least half of the eligible leaseholders in the block as members, the RTM Company may serve a Notice of Claim stating that, on behalf of the majority of the leaseholders, the RTM Company will acquire the Right to Manage after a period of at least three months from the date on which the Notice of Claim is served.

The landlord must serve a counter-notice within one month of receiving the Notice of Claim, indicating whether or not they accept that the leaseholders have acquired the Right to Manage. If the landlord disputes that the Right to Manage has been acquired, then the RTM company may apply to the First-Tier Tribunal to determine whether the Right to Manage has been acquired.