RTM Company Management - London & Essex
Independent managing agent for Right to Manage companies across London and Essex. Transparent fees, no commissions and direct support for resident directors, with long-standing experience in East London - Havering, Redbridge, Newham, Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Barking and Dagenham - and nearby Essex, including Romford and Brentwood.
This page is primarily for RTM companies that already hold the Right to Manage, are approaching their acquisition date, currently self-manage but want professional support, want to replace their existing managing agent, or need help taking over from the landlord's agent.
If you have not acquired Right to Manage yet, start with our Right to Manage guide or the Funded Right to Manage option. Professional block management for RTM companies across East London and the wider London area - East Valley is Romford-based and manages residential developments across East London, Greater London and Essex.
A Right to Manage (RTM) company is a leaseholder-owned company that takes over the management of a residential block from the freeholder without having to prove fault. Established under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, RTM gives leaseholders direct control over how their building is run, who manages it, and how their service charge money is spent.
Once an RTM Company is incorporated and the acquisition date passes, it becomes legally responsible for service charges, compliance, repairs and major works. Most RTM Companies appoint a professional managing agent to handle these obligations day-to-day, while strategic decisions stay with the resident directors.
For background on the process itself see our Right to Manage page.
RTM directors are volunteers - usually leaseholders with full-time jobs. The legal, financial and compliance workload of running a residential block is substantial: statutory service charge demands, Section 20 timelines, fire safety regulations, Building Safety Act duties, insurance procurement, contractor oversight and year-end accounts.
A professional managing agent gives directors back their evenings and weekends while protecting them from personal exposure to procedural mistakes. The right agent provides structure, transparent reporting and the back-office capacity directors simply cannot build alone.
We work as an extension of the RTM board. Directors set the direction; we deliver the management. That includes a named property manager who knows the building, monthly arrears reports, transparent year-end accounts and quarterly director meetings.
Because we are fully independent and take no commissions on insurance, contractors or utilities, every quote we present is the genuine market price. If your board is running a competitive selection process, you can invite East Valley to tender for the management contract.
Some RTM companies prefer to stay self-managed but want professional input on specific tasks - service charge accounts, a Section 20 consultation, a compliance review or a major-works programme. We support directors on an ongoing or project basis, depending on what the company actually needs.
Directors staying self-managed can also use our self-managed block fire safety checklist to organise the recurring checks and records, and our Expert Answer on whether an RTM company can manage the building itself sets out the practical workload.
The service is built around what an RTM company actually becomes responsible for on the acquisition date, rather than generic block-management wording.
Where a specialist discipline is involved - fire engineering, surveying, structural or other regulated work - we appoint and coordinate competent specialists rather than carrying out that work ourselves.
Appointing a managing agent does not mean the directors surrender control of the RTM company. We handle agreed day-to-day management within a delegated authority, while the board keeps oversight of the decisions that matter: budget approval, contractor selection, expenditure limits, major works, reserve-fund strategy, significant contracts and service priorities.
The precise approval process and expenditure limits are agreed with each RTM company as part of the management arrangements. For background on where an agent's authority ends, see can a managing agent spend without director approval.
Once management transfers, the RTM company is responsible for the service-charge cycle. Our role is practical: reviewing the lease and its apportionment and timing provisions, preparing the annual budget, issuing valid demands with the required summary of rights and obligations, collecting contributions, monitoring arrears, keeping the accounting in order and coordinating year-end accounts with independent accountants.
Reserve funds are identified and accounted for separately, with balances visible to directors and future expenditure planned against them. What may be collected into a reserve fund, and what it may be spent on, depends on the terms of the individual lease. More detail sits on our service charge management page and in the Expert Answer on who owns the reserve fund.
Taking over management usually means inheriting a mixed picture: existing fire risk assessments, overdue actions, fire-door reports, lift records, insurance information, contractor contracts, water-hygiene records, health and safety assessments, maintenance schedules and, often, incomplete documentation.
Our role is to establish what already exists, identify the outstanding management actions and coordinate appropriate competent contractors and specialists - fire risk assessors, external wall and EWS1 specialists where relevant, communal electrical (EICR), lift LOLER, water hygiene (L8), lightning protection and emergency lighting. Not every development needs every item; the schedule is built around the building. Building Safety Act duties for higher-risk buildings are tracked on a single compliance schedule with director sign-off.
Once an RTM company assumes management responsibility, qualifying major works and long-term agreements may require statutory consultation where the relevant requirements are met. Within our agreed scope we support the administrative and management side: planning the process, coordinating specifications and surveyors where appropriate, preparing and issuing consultation communications, obtaining quotations and tenders, contractor liaison, leaseholder communications and project administration.
We are not a law firm and do not provide reserved legal services; where a matter needs legal input we work alongside specialist leasehold solicitors. See Section 20 consultation support for the full process.
For blocks with communal heating, hot water, electricity or water, we operate a full rebilling service - meter reads, fair apportionment, transparent invoicing and dispute handling. More detail on our utility billing for apartment blocks page.
An RTM company may appoint a managing agent to carry out management functions on its behalf, and may change that agent, subject to its own governance, existing contracts and circumstances. Before switching, directors should consider the current management agreement and its notice provisions, board authority to make the decision, handover timing and continuity, banking and service-charge arrangements, contractor relationships and compliance records. See our changing managing agent guide and the Expert Answer on whether an RTM company can change managing agent.
Most RTM Companies switch agent shortly after acquisition, and the transition around the acquisition date is operationally important. We manage the handover end-to-end: notice service, client money transfer, document and key collection, contractor novation, insurance, building manual and full leaseholder communications.
Records typically requested include service-charge accounts, bank statements, reserve-fund balances, debtor and creditor information, supplier contracts, insurance documents, fire risk assessments and other compliance reports, maintenance records, leaseholder information, Section 20 and major-works papers, and keys or access information.
Our managing-agent handover checklist sets out the full list, and the Expert Answers on outgoing agent handover documents, reserve-fund handover and handover timing cover the common sticking points. You can also request a free block review.
We do not take commissions on contractor invoices, building insurance or communal utilities. Management fees are agreed transparently in writing, and any additional charges are identified where they apply. Section 20 and major-works administration may attract a separately agreed fee.
Published block-management pricing starts from £1,995 per year, with the annual fee increasing according to the number of flats. Not every RTM development will be quoted at the minimum: the proposal depends on the number of units, lifts, communal facilities, any staffing or caretaking, building complexity, compliance requirements and overall management workload. Full detail is on our block management pricing page.
East Valley is based in Romford, on the London and Essex border, and manages residential developments across East London, Greater London and nearby parts of Essex. Being local matters for this work: site visits, contractor supervision and meeting directors in person are practical rather than occasional.
In Romford alone we currently manage four developments comprising 145 homes and one commercial unit, working with resident directors and taking over from previous managing agents where a handover has been needed.
For local detail, see block management in Romford, property management across Essex and our full areas we cover page.
Anonymised examples of recent management work. Not every example below is an RTM company, but each shows the kind of issue resident-controlled boards ask us to take on.
At a 10-unit East London development, we inherited unresolved external-wall and balcony fire-safety questions during the management handover. We reviewed the existing information, established the next steps and commissioned appropriate specialist assessment, including an FRAEW, so the client could move the issue forward on an informed basis.
At another residential development, cleaning the upper windows had proved difficult because of the building's access arrangements. We investigated the available options and sourced a suitable contractor, helping the client move forward with a maintenance problem that had previously been difficult to resolve.
At a recently appointed East London RTM development, we are reviewing an inherited programme involving roof and external works alongside a substantial proposed reserve-fund contribution. This includes establishing the professional reports, specifications, costings, proposed timing, sums already collected and any existing contractual commitments so the directors can understand the position before making future management decisions.
Documented examples are set out in our case studies, including an RTM transition for a 32-unit new-build in Stratford, compliance and cost work on a 24-unit East London block and a managing agent change for an RTM company.
Tell us about your development, how many units you manage and whether you already have RTM or are approaching your acquisition date. We can review the position and explain how we would manage the handover and ongoing service.
If leaseholders are still considering acquiring Right to Manage, we also offer a separate Funded Right to Manage option for eligible developments, where our RTM fee is funded in exchange for a management appointment. If you would rather understand the statutory process first, start with our Right to Manage guide.
RTM directors typically also want an overview of our Right to Manage service, our ground rent collection work for freeholders who still handle rent, and our local Hornchurch, Dagenham, Chadwell Heath, Upminster and Harold Hill teams for buildings on the Havering/East London border.
Fixed fees, plain-English reporting and a named manager for your block. We typically respond within one working day.
An anonymised example of how we supported an incoming RTM company between a successful Right to Manage claim and its acquisition date, including disputed reserve contributions of around £100,000 and the handover of records and funds.
Read the RTM handover case studyCase studies
Real results for RTM companies and resident-controlled blocks across London and Essex.
An RTM company in East London moved to East Valley after years of poor service. We managed the handover, recovered arrears, re-let a vacant commercial unit and rebuilt the service charge budget on a fully transparent basis.
Read More
A 60-flat development was losing thousands to unbilled communal heating and unregistered accounts. We rebuilt the rebilling system, introduced flexible payment options and brought arrears under control.
Read MoreRequest a free initial budget and management health check before deciding whether to change agents.
Request a Free Budget Health CheckPreliminary document review only. Not a statutory audit, legal opinion or certification of the service-charge accounts.