Our RTM company publishes very little. Am I entitled to see the accounts and the actual invoices behind the service charge, and how do I ask?
A leaseholder can normally obtain a summary of relevant costs under section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and then inspect the supporting documents under section 22. That is separate from the company accounts an RTM company files at Companies House, which are publicly available. Neither route gives an unrestricted right to every board minute, bank statement or item of correspondence, and personal data and commercial confidentiality can limit what is disclosed.
Leaseholders often ask for "the accounts" and receive something they did not expect, because two separate documents exist.
Statutory company accounts are prepared under the Companies Act 2006 and filed at Companies House. They describe the company as a legal entity. For a small RTM company they are often brief and tell you little about how the building is run. Anyone can view them, free, on the Companies House register.
Service charge accounts describe what was spent on the building and how it was apportioned. These are the accounts that actually answer most leaseholder questions, and they are governed by landlord and tenant legislation rather than company law.
Section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 allows a tenant, or the secretary of a recognised tenants' association, to request a written summary of the relevant costs for the relevant period. Section 22 then allows the tenant, once a summary has been obtained, to require facilities to inspect the accounts, receipts and other documents supporting that summary, and to take copies.
The sequence matters. A request to inspect under section 22 normally follows a section 21 summary. Both sections contain procedural requirements and time periods, and the statutory wording should be checked before a request is made, since these provisions have been amended over time. Our related answer on inspecting service charge invoices sets out how the inspection itself usually works in practice.
These rights operate against the person entitled to enforce payment of the service charge under the lease. Where an RTM company has acquired the management functions, it will usually be the body dealing with service charge demands and therefore the right recipient, but the position depends on the lease and on what transferred. Sending the request to the wrong party is a frequent cause of delay.
The right is to the documents supporting the summary of costs. It is not a general right to the company's internal papers. Requests for all board minutes, all bank statements or all correspondence are commonly refused, and often lawfully so. Documents may also be redacted where they contain personal data about other residents, or where genuinely confidential commercial terms are involved.
Keep the request and any reply. Escalate in writing to the RTM directors, and read our hub answer on concerns about how an RTM company is being run for the wider sequence. Persistent failure to account properly can be relevant evidence if serious management failures are later alleged, but a single unanswered request is not, by itself, a reason to apply for Tribunal appointed management.
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.
Service charge transparency is usually about sequence and specificity rather than confrontation.
Asking to inspect before requesting a summary
Inspection under section 22 normally follows a section 21 request. Skipping the first step invites a refusal.
Confusing company accounts with service charge accounts
The filed company accounts rarely explain building expenditure. Ask for the service charge information instead.
Demanding every internal document
There is no general right to all board minutes, bank statements or correspondence.
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.
Summary of relevant costs.
Inspection of supporting accounts, receipts and documents.
Company accounts obligations, separate from service charge accounts.
Free access to an RTM company's filed accounts and officers.
Clear budgets, designated client accounts and year-end accounts leaseholders can actually follow. We can review your current arrangement at no cost.
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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