The managing agent keeps telling me it acts for the RTM company and cannot deal with my requests. Is that right, and what am I entitled to ask for?
Yes, an individual leaseholder can contact the managing agent about repairs, safety and day to day building matters, and a well run agent will respond. What a leaseholder cannot usually do is instruct the agent on behalf of the RTM company or require the release of confidential company records without the company's authority. Statutory service charge information rights operate separately and are not affected by that distinction.
Managing agents deal with residents every day. Reporting a repair, raising a safety concern, asking who the contractor is, querying a service charge demand or asking how to report an out of hours emergency are all ordinary resident communications, and an agent that refuses to engage at all is not doing its job well.
The agent is appointed by the right to manage (RTM) company under a management agreement and acts on the company's instructions. That has three consequences worth understanding:
Our hub answer on concerns about how an RTM company is being run explains how these roles fit together.
Nothing above removes a leaseholder's statutory rights. A request for a summary of relevant costs under section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and inspection of the supporting documents under section 22, operates against the party entitled to enforce payment of the service charge. That is a legal route, not a favour, and it is explained in our answer on inspecting an RTM company's accounts and invoices.
If the agent's service is poor, use its written complaints procedure first, and then any redress scheme it belongs to. Concerns about decisions taken by the company, rather than the agent's handling, should go to the RTM directors. Where the underlying problem is the agent's performance, the remedy usually sits with the board: see whether an RTM company can change managing agent and our guide to changing managing agent.
Report anything involving fire safety, structural risk, gas, water ingress or electrical danger immediately, using the emergency contact route, and follow it up in writing. Do not wait for a governance dispute to be resolved before reporting a hazard.
This page provides general information about property management in England and is not legal advice. The appropriate steps will depend on the lease, the RTM company's articles, company membership, the available evidence and the circumstances of the building.
Knowing which questions belong to the agent and which belong to the board avoids a lot of wasted correspondence.
Trying to instruct the agent personally
Only the RTM company can instruct its agent. Individual instructions will normally be declined.
Treating a referral to the board as obstruction
Some decisions genuinely are not the agent's to take.
Holding back an urgent safety report during a dispute
Safety issues should always be reported immediately, whatever else is unresolved.
Most questions on this topic are management questions rather than legal ones, and the two are worth separating. A managing agent can tell you how something works day to day and what it will cost. A solicitor tells you what your rights are and how a Tribunal is likely to view them.
East Valley Properties provides management expertise, not legal advice. Where a matter turns on the wording of your lease or on formal proceedings, we will say so and work alongside your solicitor.
The official material behind this guide. We summarise it in plain English rather than reproducing it.
Service charge summary and inspection rights.
The management functions an RTM company acquires.
Official overview of leaseholder rights and responsibilities.
We manage small and medium residential blocks across Greater London and Essex from our Romford office. Fixed fees, no insurance commissions, and directors deal with us directly.
Answered by Romain Maillard - Director, East Valley Properties
Romain manages residential blocks and estates for RTM companies, residents' management companies, share of freehold developments and freeholders across East London and Essex.
Published
This answer has been anonymised. Personal details, addresses and company names have been removed. Guidance is general and does not replace advice from a solicitor or surveyor on your specific block. East Valley Properties is a managing agent, not a firm of solicitors or legal advisers.
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