Our RTM company took over management of our block last year and we are unhappy with the agent we inherited. Can the RTM company change managing agent, and does the freeholder have any say in who we appoint?
Generally yes. Once an RTM company has acquired the right to manage, the relevant management functions sit with the company, and employing or replacing a managing agent is one of the ways it discharges them. The freeholder does not ordinarily choose the RTM company's agent. The directors must still act properly: check the articles and take a minuted board decision, read the existing management agreement for minimum term, notice, termination and payment provisions, and plan a controlled handover of funds, records and compliance documents. Delegating the work to an agent does not remove the RTM company's own responsibility for oversight.
Once the right to manage has been acquired under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, the relevant management functions transfer from the landlord to the RTM company. Employing a managing agent is a way of discharging those functions, not a separate permission that has to be granted by anyone else. In the ordinary case the freeholder does not choose the RTM company's agent after acquisition, and does not have a veto over a change of agent.
That does not make the decision informal. The RTM company is a company, and the appointment or replacement of an agent is a board decision that should be taken and recorded properly.
The single most common cause of difficulty is not the law, it is the contract. Before giving notice, read the signed management agreement and identify:
If the agreement is with the freeholder rather than the RTM company, the position is different again: the RTM company may simply need to appoint its own agent and let the old arrangement fall away, but it should confirm in writing who is responsible for what during the changeover.
Check the articles of association and any shareholders' agreement. Most RTM company articles adopt the prescribed form, under which the directors manage the company's business, so a board resolution is usually sufficient. Some boards prefer to consult members first, particularly where fees will change. Whichever route is chosen, minute the decision, the reasons for it and the alternatives considered. Directors who can show a reasoned, minuted decision are in a far stronger position if the change is later questioned by a member.
Changing agent is an operational exercise as much as a legal one. Continuity matters more than speed. Before the outgoing agent's access is switched off, the incoming agent should have the insurance policy and claims history, service charge accounts and budgets, arrears schedules, bank mandates and reconciliations, contractor contracts, keys and alarm codes, fire risk assessments and remedial action trackers, asbestos and water hygiene records, lift and equipment servicing records, section 20 consultations in progress, and the leases themselves.
Set a written handover timetable with dates, and keep the emergency out-of-hours arrangements live throughout. Residents should be told in advance who to call from the changeover date. We cover the detail in our managing agent handover checklist and in the guidance on changing managing agent. For blocks in East London or Essex, our block management service in Romford shows how we run that timetable in practice.
Delegating the day-to-day work does not delegate responsibility. The RTM company remains accountable to leaseholders for the standard of management, for compliance, and for how service charge money is demanded and spent. A good agent will report in a way that lets directors exercise that oversight; a change of agent is a good moment to agree what reporting the board actually wants.
Directors who would rather not run the appointment and handover process themselves can instruct a professional agent. Our RTM company management service explains how we support directors through appointment, handover and day-to-day management.
Changing agent is mostly a contract and handover exercise. The legal right is rarely the obstacle; the paperwork and continuity usually are.
Serving notice before reading the agreement
Notice served in the wrong form, to the wrong address or outside the notice window is often ineffective and delays the change by months.
Treating the change as purely administrative
Insurance, fire safety actions and contractor cover can lapse in the gap between agents if nobody owns the handover timetable.
Assuming the freeholder must approve the new agent
After a valid RTM acquisition the choice of agent is normally the RTM company''s, and asking for approval can create confusion about who holds the management functions.
Not minuting the decision
Without a record of the reasons, directors are exposed if a member later challenges the cost or timing of the change.
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.
The statutory framework for acquiring and exercising the right to manage.
Government-funded plain English guidance for RTM companies.
What appointing an agent does and does not delegate.
We handle the notice periods, handover of funds and records, and the transfer of compliance documents. Start with a free review of how your block is currently managed.
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 · Updated
Based on the legislation and official guidance cited on this page.
General property management information, not legal or professional advice. Where a decision depends on an individual lease, building, dispute or technical assessment, obtain specialist advice. See our editorial standards.
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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