Appointment of a manager
About appointment of a manager
As a leaseholder, if your landlord (freeholder) is not meeting their obligations under the lease, you have a right to apply to a tribunal to appoint a new manager, who will take over management of your building.
You can apply on your own, or as a group working with other leaseholders in your building.
The tribunal will decide on the new manager, but you can nominate your preferred person or company.
The tribunal will appoint a new manager for a specified length of time such as 2 years.
The manager appointed by the tribunal will take over the landlord’s right to manage the building. They will be given directions by the tribunal, such as carrying out repairs and maintenance, and be expected to follow professional codes of best practice to manage the building in the interests of all the residents and the landlord.
The appointed manager will receive all the income from the property for use in managing the block in accordance with the terms of the order of appointment. The manager carries out their functions as a tribunal appointed official and not as the manager of the landlord or the landlord’s obligations under the lease. Their powers derive exclusively from the management order.
The tribunal can go beyond the lease in terms of the powers they give the manager. For example, if the lease does not allow for the recovery of service charges in advance the tribunal might actually permit the new manager to demand money in advance. It depends on the circumstances.
The relevant legislation is Section 24 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987.
- Last updated:
- 30 November 2023
- Next review:
- 12 December 2026
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