Appointing a manager

These rights are set out in Section 24 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987.

If you are not satisfied with how your landlord is managing the building you live in, you can apply to the tribunal to appoint a manager.

If an RTM company has the right to manage the building under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, you (or your landlord) can apply to the tribunal to appoint a manager if you (or they) are not satisfied with the way the company is managing it. If the tribunal agrees to appoint a manager, this will end the RTM company’s right to manage.

If the tribunal is satisfied it is necessary, they may make an order to transfer the landlord’s control and management arrangements to a manager of their choice. The manager they appoint does not have to be a managing agent. They could be a leaseholder or another responsible person. The manager could delegate tasks to a managing agent, but will remain responsible for managing the building.

An application relating to managing the building must cover all, or part, of a building which contains two or more flats. You can make the application to the tribunal on your own or with a group of other leaseholders.

However, you cannot apply to the tribunal to appoint a manager if the landlord is a local authority, a registered provider (formerly known as a housing association), a fully mutual housing association or a charitable housing trust, or if your landlord lives in the building, the building has been converted into flats, and less than half the flats are let on long leases.

The tribunal will make the order to appoint a manager if it is fair and convenient in all circumstances, and at least one of the following applies.

• Your landlord or any management company named on the lease has broken an obligation to you, under the terms of the lease, in relation to managing the building.
• You have been asked, or are likely to be asked, to pay unreasonable service charges or administration charges. It is not necessary for the tribunal to have decided that the service charges or administration charges are unreasonable through a separate application to them under the 1985 or 2002 act (although such a decision would provide useful evidence).
• Your landlord has not kept to any relevant condition in an approved code of management practice which has been approved under section 87 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. Two codes of practice have been approved: one produced by the Association of Retirement Housing Managers relating, mainly, to purpose-built retirement housing, and one by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors which is relevant to all residential leasehold property where variable service charges are paid. You can get a copy of the codes direct from the relevant organisation.
• There are other circumstances which mean it is fair and convenient to appoint a manager.

The right to ask the tribunal to appoint a manager applies equally where the lease includes a third-party manager. In this case, all notices you need to serve must also be served on the manager under the lease (see below).

Application Form – Application by a Tenant for the Appointment of a Manager or for the Variation or Discharge of an Order Appointing a Manager

Before you apply to the tribunal to appoint a manager, you must serve a notice (under section 22 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987) on your landlord and any other person who has a duty to manage the building. The notice must state:

• your name and address (and an address the landlord should use to serve notices if different)
• that you intend to apply to the tribunal for an order, but may not do this if your landlord meets the requirements set out in the notice
• your reasons for applying for the order, and the evidence you will rely on to prove those reasons
• the things your landlord could do to put right the matters you are not satisfied with, and a time limit that they should do this in

If your landlord fails to put right the matters set out in the notice, or if there are other reasons why you are not satisfied with the way your landlord is managing the building, you can go ahead with the application to the tribunal.

Template preliminary notice – application for the appointment of a manager

You can apply to the tribunal for an order giving you permission not to serve the notice if the tribunal is satisfied that it would not be reasonably possible to serve it. The tribunal says that you need to take some other appropriate steps before they will consider your application to appoint a manager.

The intention of the notice is to give the landlord fair warning that you want to transfer responsibility for managing the building to a manager. It also gives your landlord the opportunity to make good the problems you have with their management. If you apply to the tribunal for permission not to serve the notice, you will have to provide evidence to show that you cannot serve it.

In your application to the tribunal, you must nominate the person (or company) you would like to be appointed as manager, although the tribunal will decide whether or not to appoint that person. This can be a professional manager. If the tribunal agrees to appoint the manager you nominate, that person or company will manage the building in line with the tribunal’s order.

The form and regulations ask for the qualifications of the nominated manager. This does not mean that the person you nominate must be a qualified property manager. If the nominated manager has qualifications, you should include these on the form. But if they do not, this will not necessarily prevent them from being appointed as manager. The tribunal will look at the circumstances of each case.

The tribunal will decide whether to make the order, the matters to include in the order and the conditions that will apply to the order (if any). The order may set specific guidance that applies to certain matters or provide procedures the new manager must follow when applying to the tribunal for further guidance.

The order may state that:

• the appointment is temporary or that there is no time limit
• the manager’s costs and fees must be paid by the landlord, the leaseholders, any relevant person, or a combination of these
• the manager will be entitled to pursue claims relating to anything that happened before they were appointed and
• the manager will have rights and responsibilities relating to contracts even though they are not involved in these

The order will provide the manager with the level of authority the tribunal considers appropriate to allow them to take control of managing the building. The manager is responsible to the tribunal and does not have to ask for or accept instructions from you or your landlord.

Once the new manager is appointed, your landlord will no longer be responsible for managing the building, as set out in the order. The tribunal can ask your landlord to provide all documents, accounts and other information the new manager will need to manage the building.

The tribunal may vary or end the order following an application from any interested party (including you, your landlord, and any leaseholders who were not involved in the original application). If the order is cancelled, the management will transfer back to your landlord. The tribunal will only vary or cancel an order if they are satisfied that this will not lead to a repeat of the circumstances that led to the original order and that it is fair and convenient to do so.

If your landlord has broken an obligation they had under the lease and this is likely to continue, or if a manager has been appointed for the building under section 24 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, you (and the other qualifying leaseholders) can apply to the High Court or county court for an acquisition order to take over the landlord’s interest.

If the application is based on a manager having been appointed under section 24, the manager must have been appointed for at least two years on the date of the application to the court.

You must serve a notice on the landlord before applying to the court, unless the court agrees you do not have to do this.

The court will only make an acquisition order if, among other things, there are two or more flats, at least two-thirds of the flats in the building are held by qualifying leaseholders, and the majority of qualifying leaseholders make the application. You should get advice from a solicitor who specialises in this area of the law before applying for an acquisition order, as there are exceptions.

If the court makes an order, the tribunal will decide the conditions on which you (and the other leaseholders) can take over the landlord’s interest (including the purchase price) unless these have been agreed between everyone involved.