Leasehold Management
Most disputes in a block are not really about money. They are about what the lease actually says, and about whether anybody has read it recently.
What Leasehold Management Actually Is
Block management is the physical building. Leasehold management is the legal relationship underneath it: what the lease obliges the landlord to do, what it obliges each leaseholder to contribute, what needs consent, and what happens when one side does not perform.
The two are done by the same people and they are not the same job. A building can be immaculately maintained and still be badly managed, if the demands are invalid, the consultation was skipped, or the apportionment does not match the lease.
Reading the Lease Before Acting on It
Every development we take on starts with the governing documents: the lease, the transfer, and anything varying either. That is where the apportionment comes from, where the landlord's repairing obligation stops and the leaseholder's begins, what the service charge may lawfully be spent on, and whether there is a reserve fund provision at all.
Getting this wrong is expensive in one direction only. A cost recovered outside the lease is a cost the landlord funds personally once a leaseholder challenges it, and section 27A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 lets any leaseholder ask the First-tier Tribunal to decide whether a service charge is payable at all.
Demands, Consultation and the Statutory Machinery
A service charge demand has to be accompanied by the summary of rights and obligations the law requires, and money collected has to be held on trust under section 42 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. Works above the statutory threshold need Section 20 consultation before the cost can be recovered in full.
None of that is optional and none of it is discretionary. It is the part of the job that gets skipped by agents who treat a block as a maintenance contract with paperwork attached, and it is the part that costs a resident management company real money when it is skipped.
Where the Money Sits
Client funds are held in named, designated client accounts with Lloyds Bank Plc, one account for each property we manage rather than pooled across developments. The accounts are interest-bearing and the client keeps the interest.
The management fee is a fixed annual amount agreed in advance, so it appears as an identifiable line in the budget rather than a moving figure. We take no commission on contractor work.
Where We Do This
From our Plymouth office, across Devon, Cornwall and the wider South West. Each area page sets out the authority, the fire and rescue service and the local building stock.
Common Questions
Is Leasehold Management Different from Block Management?
They are done together but they are not the same thing. Block management is the building: repairs, maintenance, contractors, compliance. Leasehold management is the legal relationship: what the lease obliges each party to do, what needs consent, how the service charge is apportioned, and what happens when an obligation is not met.
Who Is Our Leasehold Manager Accountable To?
To the client, which is normally the resident management company, the RTM company or the freeholder. Leaseholders have their own statutory rights against the landlord, including the right to a summary of costs under section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the right to challenge reasonableness at the First-tier Tribunal.
What Happens If the Lease Is Defective?
It depends what is wrong with it. An apportionment that does not add up to 100 per cent, or a missing reserve fund provision, can sometimes be corrected by a deed of variation agreed between the parties. Where agreement is not possible, an application to the First-tier Tribunal under section 35 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 is the route.
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