Block management guide
Directors of RTM companies, residents management companies and freeholders are rarely comparing like with like. This guide sets out a practical due-diligence framework: the process to follow, the questions to ask, and a printable checklist you can send to every agent on your shortlist.
Choosing a block managing agent comes down to comparing the same things across every candidate. Ask each shortlisted agent identical written questions covering comparable building experience, who your named property manager will be and what else they handle, professional indemnity cover and redress scheme membership, in whose name service-charge money will be held, how repairs and inspections are handled, the complete fee schedule including Section 20 and major works, whether commissions are taken from contractors or insurance, and the terms of the management agreement. Then meet the proposed manager, take references from genuinely comparable developments, and read the agreement before you commit. The lowest headline fee is not the same as the lowest cost to the building.
Only the party with the management obligation can appoint. That is usually the RTM company, the RMC, the freeholder, or in some share-of-freehold buildings the freehold-owning company. Individual leaseholders without management control cannot appoint an agent directly.
Unit count, tenure structure, plant, lifts, communal heating, grounds, known defects, building-safety status, outstanding major works and how your service-charge year runs. Two agents cannot be compared until the requirement is the same.
More than four produces proposals nobody reads. Look for agents already managing buildings like yours in your area, rather than the largest names available.
Use the comparison checklist below. Identical questions produce answers you can actually place side by side, and the quality of the written response is itself evidence.
Ask the person who would run your building how they would handle a specific recent problem at your development.
A reference from a 12-flat block tells you little about managing a 145-home estate, and vice versa.
Scope, exclusions, delegated authority, fees, term and termination. Take professional advice if anything is unclear.
Who obtains the records, who reconciles the funds, what the first 90 days look like, and what directors will receive at the end of it.
If your development is large enough that directors are running a formal procurement exercise with a written specification and scored submissions, see our guidance on running a block management tender in London. If you already have an agent and the question is how to move, the process for changing managing agent covers notice, timing and handover.
Twenty-two areas to put to every agent on your shortlist. Nothing here is behind a form - print it, or copy it into your own comparison sheet.
| Area | What to ask | What a strong answer looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Comparable building experience | Which developments of a similar size, age and construction do you currently manage? | Named, verifiable examples with a similar unit count and similar plant - lifts, communal heating, gated grounds, cladding or balcony issues where relevant. |
| RTM / RMC experience | How many RTM companies and resident-controlled RMCs do you act for, and for how long? | Clear understanding that the client is the company and its directors, not the freeholder, and experience of working to directors' decisions. |
| Named property manager | Who will be our property manager, and will we meet them before appointment? | A named individual, introduced during the selection process, with a named deputy for absence and a defined escalation route. |
| Property-manager workload | How many other developments will that person manage, and what support do they have? | An honest figure set against complexity, plus described administrative, accounting and compliance support - not a bare headline number. |
| Professional credentials | What professional body membership and individual qualifications do your staff hold? | Accurate, current information the agent is willing to evidence, and relevant to the person actually managing your building. |
| Professional indemnity insurance | What level of professional indemnity cover do you hold? Please provide evidence. | A written confirmation or certificate showing the limit of indemnity and that cover is current. |
| Property Redress Scheme membership | Which government-approved redress scheme are you a member of, and what is your membership number? | A scheme name and membership number you can verify on the scheme's own register, plus a published complaints procedure. |
| Service-charge banking | In whose name will the service-charge and reserve-fund accounts be held, and who can view them? | A clear written answer on account structure, statutory trust treatment of service-charge money, and what visibility directors get. |
| Inspection arrangements | How often will the building be inspected, by whom, and what report do directors receive? | A stated frequency with a written inspection report and a follow-up action list that is tracked to completion. |
| Maintenance approach | How are repairs reported, triaged, authorised and closed out? | A described reporting route, response targets, contractor selection process, and evidence that jobs are checked before invoices are paid. |
| Core management fee | What is the annual management fee, and what does it include? | A single figure with a written scope of included services, and whether VAT applies. |
| Additional fees | What is charged outside the core fee, and at what rate? | A published or written schedule covering accounts, company secretarial, leaseholder sales enquiries, out-of-hours and onboarding or exit work. |
| Contractor commissions | Do you receive any commission, rebate or mark-up from contractors? | A direct yes or no. If yes, the amount, how it is calculated and how it is disclosed to leaseholders. |
| Insurance commissions | Do you or any associated company receive commission from the buildings insurance placement? | A direct answer with figures, plus willingness to show the insurer's documentation and to market-test the premium. |
| Section 20 fees | How do you charge for statutory consultation under Section 20? | A stated basis - fixed fee, banded or percentage - with an explanation of what the fee covers and how it interacts with surveyor fees. |
| Major works fees | How are major works project fees calculated, and who supervises the contract? | A clear split between management administration and professional supervision, and clarity on whether an external surveyor is required. |
| Reporting and transparency | What will directors and leaseholders see, and how often? | Regular financial reporting, access to invoices and compliance status, and year-end accounts produced within the timetable the lease requires. |
| References | Can we speak to directors at two developments comparable to ours? | Contact details offered without hesitation, from buildings genuinely similar to yours rather than the agent's easiest client. |
| Management agreement | Can we see the management agreement you would ask us to sign, before we decide? | The actual draft agreement, provided early, with scope, exclusions and delegated authority clearly written. |
| Contract length | What is the initial term, and does it renew automatically? | A term the directors are comfortable with and an explicit statement of how and when renewal happens. |
| Termination provisions | How can either party end the agreement, and what notice applies? | A workable notice provision that does not depend on fault, with any exit charges stated in figures. |
| Handover support | What will you do to obtain records and funds from the outgoing agent? | A described handover process with a document schedule, a reconciliation of funds and a named person accountable for chasing it. |
There is no single statutory licensing regime for residential managing agents in England. What does apply is membership of a government-approved redress scheme, and, for agents that hold client money, membership of an approved client money protection scheme. Ask for the scheme name and membership number and check it on the scheme's own register.
Beyond that, professional body membership is voluntary. The Property Institute (TPI) is the professional body for the residential leasehold management sector, formed from the merger of ARMA and the IRPM; individual staff may hold TPI qualifications at various levels, and some managers hold RICS membership. These are useful indicators of training and continuing professional development. They are not a substitute for relevant experience of buildings like yours, and it is not realistic to expect every competent agent to hold every credential.
Professional indemnity insurance matters because it is what stands behind a professional error. Ask any agent to evidence that cover is in force and at what limit, and consider whether the level is appropriate for the size and complexity of your development and the value of the service-charge budget they will administer.
Finally, ask for the firm's written complaints procedure. How a firm handles a complaint is a better guide to service culture than a sales meeting.
East Valley Block Management Ltd is a member of the Property Redress Scheme, membership number PRS054254, and carries £1 million of professional indemnity cover. We publish a complaints procedure setting out how to escalate an issue, including to the redress scheme. We say what our cover is so directors can compare it against other proposals; it does not follow that the same level is right for every agent or every development.
More detail: what qualifications should a block managing agent have?
The single largest determinant of how management feels day to day is the person doing it and how much else they are carrying. Ask to meet them before you appoint, and ask directly:
"How many other developments will the person responsible for our building be managing, and what support do they have?"
There is no defensible universal maximum, and any agent quoting one as an industry standard should be asked where it comes from. A sensible workload depends on the number of developments, the total number of units, the complexity of each building, whether major works or building-safety work is live, whether there is on-site staff, the administrative and accounting support behind the manager, and how geographically concentrated the portfolio is.
Twenty small, simple, local blocks with strong back-office support may be entirely manageable. Eight complex buildings spread across the region, two of them mid-remediation, may not be.
Ask, in writing, in whose name the service-charge and reserve-fund accounts will be held, who has visibility of the balances, how often directors receive statements, and what happens to the money if the agent is replaced. Service-charge contributions are subject to the statutory trust provisions in section 42 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, and reserve funds are frequently the hardest thing to recover from an outgoing agent.
For blocks we manage, service-charge banking is generally established in the name of the relevant RTM company, RMC or freeholder rather than retained within East Valley Block Management. Directors can see the account and the money stays identifiably with the building.
Headline fees are the least useful part of a proposal on their own. Build a single sheet with a column per agent, and fill in every line below before comparing totals:
Also confirm whether VAT applies, and how and when fees are reviewed. Our own published figures are set out on the block management pricing page rather than repeated here, so there is one place to check them.
Commission income can exceed the management fee itself. The three places to check are contractor work, buildings insurance placement and communal utility supply. Ask whether the agent, or any company connected to it, receives any commission, rebate, mark-up or introducer payment from any of them, and if so how much and how it is disclosed to leaseholders.
Disclosure is the minimum. It is a reasonable question to ask whether the payment exists at all, because it affects who the agent is really buying for.
East Valley does not take commissions from contractors, building insurance or communal utility supply.
Ask for the draft agreement early, not after you have chosen. The points that matter most in practice are the scope of services and what sits outside it, the level of expenditure the agent may commit without directors' approval, what reporting directors receive, the full fee position, the term, and how either side ends the arrangement and on what notice. Notice periods vary between firms, so check the actual wording rather than assuming a standard.
This is general information rather than legal advice. Directors should take appropriate professional or legal advice before signing a management agreement.
A reference is only informative if it comes from a development that resembles yours in size, structure and complexity. Ask for two, and put the same questions to each:
More on choosing which references to ask for: what references should you ask a managing agent for?
Mobilisation and handover from the previous agent dominate the first months, and the division of responsibility with the landlord needs to be understood. What RTM companies should look for.
Board oversight, authority levels, budget approval and company administration shape the working relationship. What an RMC should ask before appointing.
Recoverability under the leases, ground rent administration and consistency across a portfolio come to the front. See share of freehold management.
For the qualitative side of this - what good management actually looks like once an agent is in place, and the warning signs of a poor one - read what makes a good block managing agent.
Send every shortlisted agent the same written questions, covering experience, staffing, credentials, banking, service delivery, the full fee structure and the management agreement. Score the written answers, then meet the proposed property manager and take references from comparable developments. Comparing headline fees alone is the most common cause of a poor appointment.
Three or four is usually enough for a residential block. Fewer than three gives you no benchmark; more than four generates proposals directors do not have time to assess properly. If you are running a formal procurement exercise for a larger development, a structured tender is a better format.
Price matters, but the core fee is only part of the cost. Compare it alongside accounts fees, company secretarial charges, Section 20 and major works fees, leaseholder transaction charges and any commissions the agent receives from contractors or insurance. A low core fee with commission income attached can cost the building more overall.
Who our named property manager will be and what else they manage; what professional indemnity cover and redress scheme membership the firm holds; in whose name service-charge money will be held; how repairs are authorised and reported; the complete fee schedule; whether any commissions are taken; and the term and termination provisions of the management agreement.
There is no single statutory licensing regime for residential managing agents in England. Membership of a government-approved redress scheme is a legal requirement for property agents, and agents holding client money are required to belong to an approved client money protection scheme. Professional body membership and individual qualifications are voluntary and should be assessed alongside relevant experience of buildings like yours.
For most small and mid-sized blocks, six to twelve weeks from shortlisting to handover is realistic: two to three weeks for written proposals, two weeks for meetings and references, then notice to the outgoing agent and mobilisation. Handover of records and funds from an outgoing agent frequently takes longer than the appointment itself.
We are happy to answer the checklist in writing so you can compare us properly against whoever else you are speaking to.