A guide to who’s who for leaseholders

As a leaseholder living in a flat within a block it is often hard to know who to approach when there is a problem. Here’s a quick guide to who’s who for leaseholders:

Freeholder:

The individual or company that owns the entire building within which you live. The freeholder is responsible for looking after the structure of the building (walls, roofs etc) and is also responsible for the grounds and common areas such as gardens, corridors and staircases etc.

Residents Management Company:

They are usually a party to the lease from the outset and have a legal obligation to the leaseholders to provide certain services.  All owners/residents have equal voting rights. It is non-profit company which manages the building on behalf of all residents. Responsibilities would typically include looking after the structure, common areas, gardens, managing staff and services (such as caretakers).  They may also deal with complaints, non-payment of service charges, maintenance etc.  The RMC is the link between the leaseholders and the freeholder.

Right to Manage Company:

This can be setup by the leaseholders where there is not Residents Management Company in place so that residents can take control of their building, organising insurance, carrying out repairs.  There are criteria which must be met in order to setup such a company with one of those being that at least 50% of the leaseholders must be willing to become members of the Right to Manage Company.

Property Managing Agent:

A person or a specialist company appointed by the freeholder (landlord), right to manage company or the residents’ management company of a property to manage the property on their behalf  Responsibilities are to manage the property as per the specified terms of the lease. They can provide services such as day to day running and maintenance of the property, collecting service charge and ground rent payments.

Contact us

If you need support when resolving a dispute, contact Louise Mackay with our Dispute Resolution team, via e. LouiseMackay@rixandkay.co.uk or t. 01273 766 923