Right to Manage: taking control of your building, with your eyes open

Matt Kirk, Property Director for the North West  at Principle, explains why Right to Manage can be a good answer for many leaseholders, but not a cure for every building management problem.

More leaseholders than ever are choosing to take over the management of their own buildings.

Recent analysis of Companies House data, reported by the i, found that the number of new RTM companies across England and Wales rose from 552 in 2019 to 986 in 2025, with 578 more formed by the middle of 2026.

It isn't hard to see why. Service charges have climbed, the cost of living is squeezing households, and many leaseholders feel they have little say over how their money is spent or who is spending it.

Right to Manage (RTM) gives them a way to change that, and I think that is broadly a good thing. As a managing agent, we work with Resident Management Companies and RTM companies as well as freeholders, and I've seen at first hand how much better a building can run when the people who live there are engaged in its management.

But it's important to be honest. RTM is a good answer for some people. It is not a panacea for every problem a building faces, and the leaseholders who get the most from it are the ones who go in knowing what they are taking on.

What Right to Manage actually is

RTM was introduced under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002. It lets leaseholders take over the landlord's management functions without buying the freehold, and it is a 'no-fault' right, so they don't need to prove a complaint against the landlord or agent.

There are criteria to meet. Broadly, the building needs two or more flats, no more than half of it can be non-residential, at least two thirds of the flats must be leasehold, and at least half of the flats must be represented in the RTM company before it can take over. Recent reforms have also made the process easier for many buildings.

Where RTM works well

1. Control at relatively little cost

Buying the freehold means paying the freeholder for its value. RTM, by contrast, is not expensive to set up for individual leaseholders, and the RTM company will not usually be liable for the landlord's costs. For many blocks, it offers a real say in how the building is run without the heavy upfront cost of collective enfranchisement.

2. Setting the budget and the priorities

Once the RTM company takes over, the directors set the service charge budget and agree what the building needs, and when. Should the lift refurbishment come before the roof? Is the cleaning contract good value? Those decisions sit with the people who live with the consequences.

3. A different relationship with your managing agent

This is the part I think is often overlooked. Most RTM companies appoint a managing agent to handle the day-to-day work, and in doing so the RTM company becomes the agent's client. That changes the dynamic. The agent reports to the board, works to the board's priorities and, if the relationship isn't working, the board can change agent.

One leaseholder featured in the i described exactly this. Her block in Warrington moved to RTM with a new, smaller managing agent, and having a say in which firm arranged the building's insurance saved the leaseholders £10,000 in the first year.

The 'howevers'

None of what follows is a reason not to pursue RTM. But these are the things I'd want any group of leaseholders to understand before they start.

1. The buck stops with the board

When the RTM company takes over, responsibility moves with it. It is no longer the freeholder or the agent who is ultimately accountable; it is the RTM board. Directors take on duties to maintain the building, meet legal obligations and act in the interests of every leaseholder, including the ones who disagree with them. Most are volunteers with jobs and families, and the role can take up more time than people expect.

2. Higher-risk buildings bring serious fire safety duties

For higher-risk buildings, those at least 18 metres or seven storeys high with at least two homes, the Building Safety Act 2022 places significant responsibilities on whoever is accountable for the structure and exterior. In many cases that will be the RTM company. That brings real duties to the Building Safety Regulator, from registering the building to assessing and managing its safety risks and keeping residents informed. A good managing agent can help enormously here, but the accountability sits with the board.

3. Changing agent doesn't make problems disappear

Many RTM companies change managing agent as one of their first decisions. Sometimes that is exactly the right call. But in my experience, a new agent does not magically make long-standing problems go away. Defects, historic underinvestment and difficult neighbour disputes will still be there on day one.

Many agents, us included, are doing their best in a challenging job, and the inflationary pressures on insurance, energy, contractors and compliance affect every building regardless of who is managing it.

4. Savings may be smaller than you think

Service charge reductions are possible, and they can be noticeable. But much of a typical service charge is made up of costs that don't go away under RTM, such as buildings insurance, utilities, maintenance contracts, fire safety compliance and contributions to a reserve fund for future major works. The management fee itself is usually a relatively small part of the total.

It is also worth remembering that the RTM company must act in the best interests of the property, even if that sometimes means an increase in costs. Cutting back on maintenance to save money now tends to cost far more later.

So, is it worth it?

On balance, I believe control and direct management are probably preferable for many buildings. Leaseholders who are involved in how their building is run tend to understand the decisions being made, and an engaged board working alongside a good agent is usually a recipe for a better-run building.

But it comes with real responsibility and some genuine work. The RTM companies I've seen succeed are those with committed directors, clear communication with the rest of the building and realistic expectations from the outset about what will change and what won't.

My advice to anyone considering RTM is to start with a simple question: what are we trying to achieve? If the answer is a greater say, better value and a management relationship you can hold to account, RTM may well be the right route. If the hope is that every problem will go away, it is worth taking a closer look first.

At Principle, we work with RTM companies and Resident Management Companies across the UK, from early conversations about whether RTM is right for a building through to day-to-day management once the board is in place. If you're thinking about RTM for your building, we're always happy to talk it through.