Freehold Management Services in Plymouth
Our freehold management services cover the day-to-day running of a leasehold building on the freeholder's behalf: budgets, service charge accounts, statutory notices, insurance and repairs. One missed notice can stop a freeholder recovering money already spent. We run the statutory notices, consultation and accounts so that does not happen.
Proposals are for developments of 50 or more units. Smaller building? Talk to our team.
Last updated by the Plymouth Block Management team.
We manage buildings for freeholders and landlords across Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, Bath, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire from our Plymouth office, from listed buildings to large modern mixed-use developments. The freeholder keeps ownership; we carry out the obligations the leases place on it.
The freeholder gets budgets, accounts and statutory notices prepared so that each charge can be traced to the lease if a leaseholder challenges it.
What a Freeholder Is Responsible For
A freeholder's obligations are set by the leases they granted. Typically that means insuring the building, maintaining the structure, common parts and services, and collecting a service charge to fund it. Those duties do not lapse because a building is small or because the freeholder lives elsewhere.
The statutory obligations sit on top. Service charge demands must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations, money must be held on trust under section 42 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, and works above the section 20 thresholds require formal consultation before the cost can be recovered in full. Getting the consultation wrong is the single most common way a freeholder loses the right to recover the money they have already spent.
What’s Included in Our Freehold Management Services
Professional freehold management is the day-to-day delivery of the obligations the leases place on the freeholder. Our freehold management services include:
- Service charge budgets and year-end accounts prepared to the lease
- Service charge demands issued with the statutory summary of rights and obligations, and arrears chased
- Section 20 consultation for major works, run properly and on time
- Statutory notices, including the landlord's name and address on every demand and ground rent notices in the prescribed form
- Buildings insurance placed through brokers, and claims for the common parts handled
- Fire risk assessments and other compliance evidence kept current
- Repairs specified, tendered and supervised
- Service charge money held on trust in designated client accounts
The freeholder keeps ownership and the decisions that go with it. What changes is that the administration, the statutory deadlines and the contractor management stop being their problem, and the leaseholders get a named contact who is accountable for the building.
Where Freehold Management Differs from Block Management
The work overlaps, but the client is not the same and neither is the risk. In block management the client is usually a resident management company or an RTM company, and the directors are leaseholders themselves. In freehold management the client is the owner of the reversion, and the leaseholders are the people the obligations are owed to.
That changes the emphasis. A freeholder carries the liability if consultation is missed or insurance lapses, so the priority is evidence: demands served correctly, money held on trust and reconciled, statutory notices issued on time, and a record that stands up if a service charge is later challenged at the First-tier Tribunal.
How Freehold Management Supports Leaseholders
Freehold management supports leaseholders by making the freeholder's obligations visible and checkable: every charge can be traced to the lease, major works are consulted on before their cost is recovered in full, and service charge money is held on trust. Leaseholders are owed most of the following by their leases and by statute, whoever manages the building; where we manage for a freeholder, our job is to see that each one is delivered:
- A budget and year-end accounts that show what the service charge pays for
- A summary of their rights and obligations with every service charge demand
- Formal section 20 consultation before the cost of major works is recovered in full
- Service charge money held on trust under section 42 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987
- A written summary of the insurance cover on request, and the right to inspect the policy
- In most cases, first refusal under Part 1 of the 1987 Act if the freehold is sold
- A named contact who is accountable for the building
Notices a Freeholder Cannot Skip
Every demand for rent or service charge must state the landlord's name and address under section 47 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, and leaseholders must have been given an address in England and Wales for serving notices under section 48. Until both are in place the amounts demanded are not treated as due.
Ground rent has its own rule. Under section 166 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 it is not payable unless the leaseholder has been sent a notice in the prescribed form between 30 and 60 days before the date it falls due. A freeholder who simply invoices, or relies on the leaseholders remembering, has no enforceable ground rent for that period.
Selling the Freehold
Leaseholders of flats usually have a right of first refusal when the freehold is sold. Part 1 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires the freeholder to offer the building to the qualifying leaseholders on the same terms before selling elsewhere, and failing to serve that offer notice without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence.
If a sale is being considered, the notices, the timetable and the response period need to be planned before the building is marketed, not after an offer has been accepted. We work with the freeholder's solicitor so the management records, accounts and compliance history are ready for the buyer's enquiries.
Lease Extension Support Alongside Freehold Management
When a leaseholder asks to extend their lease, or the leaseholders set out to buy the freehold together, the valuation belongs with a valuer and the legal work with solicitors, rather than with us as managing agent. Alongside freehold management, our part is administrative: we supply what those advisers need from the building's records, deal with the notices and consents that come through the management, and keep the freeholder, the leaseholders and their advisers in step. Our page on lease extension and freehold purchase support sets out where we fit and what we charge for our part, and our guide to the lease extension process explains the steps and what drives the cost.
Insurance and What Leaseholders Can Ask For
Most leases make the freeholder responsible for insuring the building and recovering the premium through the service charge. Leaseholders have a statutory right to a written summary of the cover and to inspect the policy, and they can challenge a premium that has not been reasonably incurred. Since 31 December 2024 FCA rules also require insurers and brokers of multi-occupancy buildings insurance to treat leaseholders as customers and to give them information about the policy on request, including any commission paid.
We place cover through brokers, keep the schedule and the claims history on the building's record, and handle claims for the common parts. Insurance broking is an FCA-regulated activity that we are not authorised to advise on, which is why the broker, not us, advises on the policy itself.
Choosing a Freehold Management Company
A freehold management company carries out the obligations the leases place on a freeholder, so the test of one is whether it can show the work was done properly. Before appointing one, ask how it prepares budgets and accounts to the lease, how it runs section 20 consultation, how it serves the notices required by sections 47 and 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 and section 166 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, and where the service charge money is held.
For freeholders, we prepare budgets and service charge accounts to the lease, run the statutory consultation, place insurance through brokers and handle claims for the common parts, keep compliance evidence current, and specify, tender and supervise repairs. Service charge money is held in designated client accounts, our management fee is a fixed annual amount agreed in advance, and we take no commission on contractor work. Plymouth Block Management is a member of The Property Ombudsman and holds ISO 9001:2015 certification, certificate FS 685565, audited by BSI.
Some freeholds are owned by the leaseholders themselves through a company. The service is the same: that company becomes our client and we report to its directors. Our list of questions to ask a managing agent sets out what to compare between firms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions freeholders and leaseholders often ask about freehold management.
What Does a Freehold Managing Agent Do?
It carries out the obligations the leases place on the freeholder: budgets and service charge accounting prepared to the lease, statutory consultation run properly and on time, insurance placed and claims handled, compliance evidence kept current, and repairs specified, tendered and supervised. The freeholder keeps ownership of the building and the decisions that go with it.
Which Notices Must a Freeholder Get Right?
Every demand for rent or service charge must state the landlord's name and address under section 47 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, and leaseholders must have an address in England and Wales for serving notices under section 48. Ground rent is not payable unless a notice in the prescribed form has been sent under section 166 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002.
Do Leaseholders Have First Refusal If the Freehold Is Sold?
Usually, yes. Part 1 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires the freeholder to offer the building to the qualifying leaseholders on the same terms before selling elsewhere, and failing to serve that offer notice without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence. The notices and the timetable should be planned before the building is marketed.
What Is a Freehold Management Company?
The phrase is used in two ways. It can mean a managing agent that carries out the freeholder's obligations under the leases, which is the service on this page. It can also mean a company that owns and runs the shared parts of a development, such as a block owned by its leaseholders or a new-build estate of freehold houses that pay an estate charge.
Is There a Service Charge on a Freehold House?
Not under a lease, but many newer estates require freehold owners to pay an estate charge for roads, open space or drainage the council has not adopted, usually set out in the transfer deed. These homes are sometimes called fleecehold, and our fleecehold guide explains how the charges work and what Part 5 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will change once it is in force.
How Do Freehold Management Services Support Leaseholders?
They give leaseholders a building run to the lease, with a named contact accountable for it. Demands arrive with the statutory summary of rights, service charge money is held on trust, major works above the section 20 thresholds are consulted on first, and leaseholders can ask for a summary of costs and a written summary of the insurance cover.
Sources
Everything above is taken from these, not from a summary of them:
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, section 42 legislation.gov.uk
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, section 47 legislation.gov.uk
- Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, section 166 legislation.gov.uk
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, Part 1 (right of first refusal) legislation.gov.uk
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 20 (consultation requirements) legislation.gov.uk
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Schedule (rights of tenants with respect to insurance) legislation.gov.uk
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