Right to Manage gives leaseholders in England the legal power to take over the management of their building. You do not have to prove the freeholder did anything wrong — you simply have to qualify and follow the process. Here is what it means in practice, who it works best for, and what to think through before you begin.
What does Right to Manage actually give you?
When leaseholders exercise the Right to Manage, they take over the management functions of their block — deciding who maintains the building, setting service charge budgets, choosing a managing agent, and controlling how the communal areas are run. The freeholder keeps ownership of the building, but the day-to-day decisions move to an RTM company formed and run by the leaseholders themselves.
That shift matters. Instead of accepting whatever managing agent the freeholder appoints, you choose your own. Instead of waiting for repairs to be logged and actioned by someone with no accountability to you, your RTM company instructs the work directly. The money still comes from service charges, but the leaseholders control how it is spent.
Do you need to prove the freeholder did something wrong?
No — and this is what makes the Right to Manage different from most legal routes available to leaseholders. You do not need evidence of neglect, overcharging or mismanagement. You do not need to go to a tribunal, and you do not need to negotiate. If your building qualifies and enough leaseholders are on board, the right exists and the freeholder cannot block it.
This is sometimes a surprise to leaseholders who have spent months trying to resolve problems through correspondence. The RTM process does not depend on the strength of your case — it depends on whether you meet the eligibility criteria.
What is the shape of the Right to Manage process?
The process follows a fixed sequence. First, leaseholders check whether the building qualifies — there are rules about the proportion of long leases, the use of the building and its structure. Then a formal RTM company is incorporated at Companies House. The company serves a series of statutory notices: an invitation notice to all qualifying leaseholders, and then a claim notice to the freeholder. The freeholder has the right to contest the claim, but if the building qualifies and the notices are correct, the claim succeeds. The "acquisition date" — the day the RTM company formally takes over management — follows three months after the claim notice.
That sequence has strict requirements on timing, wording and service. Getting a notice wrong can derail a claim entirely. Our step-by-step guide to how Right to Manage works covers each stage in detail and is the best place to go once you understand the basics.
Who does Right to Manage suit?
RTM works best for blocks where a critical mass of leaseholders are motivated to take action — and where at least one person is willing to take on the role of RTM company director. You do not need legal training or property management experience, but you do need to be organised and prepared to stay involved once the claim succeeds.
It suits blocks where the problems are structural rather than personal — where the managing agent is consistently unresponsive, where service charges feel disconnected from the work being done, or where residents simply want control over decisions that affect their homes and their money. It is less suited to situations where one or two residents have a dispute that others do not share, since the process requires the collective.
Before anything else, check whether your building is eligible. The RTM Eligibility Checker gives you a quick answer based on the key qualifying criteria.
What should you weigh before you start a claim?
Taking over management is not the end of the story — it is the beginning of a different responsibility. Once the RTM company acquires management, the directors become responsible for commissioning insurance, managing contractors, holding service charge funds, filing accounts and meeting statutory obligations. That is not a reason not to proceed, but it is a reason to go in with your eyes open.
The most common fear among leaseholders considering RTM is trading one problem for another: swapping an unresponsive freeholder for an underfunded, understaffed RTM company. That fear is understandable. The way to address it is to plan the post-acquisition structure before you serve the claim notice — deciding whether to self-manage, appoint a new managing agent, or use a combination of both. Our guide to managing your RTM company after the claim covers what that looks like in practice.
Cost is also worth thinking through early. There are legal costs in serving the notices correctly, and the freeholder can recover some of their costs from the RTM company. What those costs look like per leaseholder depends on the size of the block and how the claim is run. See our breakdown of Right to Manage costs per leaseholder for a realistic picture.
Is it the right move for your block?
If your building qualifies, if enough leaseholders are willing, and if at least one person is ready to step into a director role, the Right to Manage is one of the most effective tools available to residential leaseholders in England. It does not require a solicitor to start, it does not require proof of wrongdoing, and it puts the decisions back in the hands of the people who live there.
The process is real — it has timelines, legal notices and obligations that deserve respect. But it is a well-trodden path, and with the right guidance it is manageable. The first step is simply to find out whether your block qualifies.
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