Right to Manage and RMCs: Taking Control of Your Block

More leaseholders than ever are taking control of their buildings, either through Right to Manage (RTM) or by running a Resident Management Company (RMC). It can mean lower costs, better-maintained buildings and decisions made by the people who actually live there — but it also means real responsibility.

What is Right to Manage?

Right to Manage is a statutory right that lets qualifying leaseholders take over management of their building from the freeholder, without having to prove any fault and without buying the freehold. You set up an RTM company, follow the formal process, and take on responsibility for services, repairs and the service charge.

What is an RMC?

A Resident Management Company is a company, usually owned by the leaseholders, that is responsible for managing the building — often written into the leases from the start. Directors are typically residents who volunteer their time.

The hidden challenge: communication

The legal and financial sides of running a block are well documented. What catches new directors out is the sheer amount of communication involved: announcements, decisions, document-sharing, chasing approvals, and keeping records that hold up later.

• Every resident needs to actually receive important notices.
• Decisions need a clear, recorded outcome.
• Documents need to live somewhere permanent, not in someone's inbox.
• Handover to the next director should not lose all the history.

Set yourselves up to succeed

Volunteer directors are doing this on top of full-time jobs. The right tools make the difference between a smooth-running building and burnout. A single calm place for announcements, votes and documents means less time firefighting and more confidence that nothing important slipped through.