RTMF Services Ltd

RTMF Services Ltd: independent Right to Manage advice for leasehold flat owners

RTMF Services Ltd is a specialist adviser in Right to Manage (RTM), the statutory process that allows leasehold flat owners to take over the management of their building. The company presents itself as a neutral adviser rather than a property manager: it does not manage buildings itself, but helps leaseholders select a managing agent of their own choosing. Its service is aimed at leaseholders, managing agents and existing RTM companies, including groups that have previously attempted the process without success.

Experience and track record

The firm states that its team has 20 years of Right to Manage expertise. It reports having acquired RTM for more than 1,600 buildings and around 30,000 properties, a portfolio that it describes as ranging from converted houses with a few flats to purpose-built multi-block estates with hundreds of apartments and on-site facilities such as gymnasiums and swimming pools. It also cites top-end luxury apartments, retirement blocks and purpose-built student accommodation among the properties involved.

RTMF states that it has represented hundreds of leaseholders before the Lands Tribunals, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, and that it has won landmark cases that it says have helped shape the future of Right to Manage. It also reports having acquired RTM for Century Wharf, a development of 967 flats in Cardiff, which it describes as the largest RTM in history.

How the RTM process is handled

The company explains that an uncontested RTM application generally takes between five and six months. Its fee covers the formation of the RTM company, Land Registry searches and disbursements, the service of all statutory notices including postage costs, and the provision of a company secretary and registered office throughout the process.

RTMF describes its offer as a bespoke, fixed-fee service with no hidden extras, so that a block knows its total cost before committing. The fee is shared equally among the leaseholders who support the claim, so the more neighbours who join in, the less each household pays. The company also refers to worked examples for blocks of different sizes and to optional post-acquisition services available once the RTM company is running.

Eligibility and legal framework

The site sets out the statutory criteria for RTM. It applies to leaseholder owners of flats, not to leasehold houses or bungalows. A building or block qualifies if it is structurally detached or is a part of a building that can be served independently, contains two or more flats held by qualifying tenants, and at least two-thirds of the flats are leased to qualifying tenants. A qualifying tenant is defined as a leaseholder whose lease was originally granted for a period exceeding 21 years; where a flat is let under two or more long leases, the holder of the superior lease is not the qualifying tenant.

The company lists circumstances that prevent a property from qualifying: more than 50% of the floor area being non-residential, self-contained parts owned by different landlords, local authority ownership, or a building of four or fewer flats where one flat is occupied by the landlord as their principal home. It also notes that at least half the leaseholders in a block must agree to proceed, and that the landlord cannot legally prevent the process if the criteria are met. RTMF frames RTM as a legal right introduced by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, and states that it is not necessary to prove fault by the landlord or management company or to pay compensation.

Options for different block sizes

For a flat in a converted house or small block, the company suggests self-management through the jointly owned RTM company. In a larger block, it explains that the RTM company can appoint its own managing agent by competitive tender. RTMF also offers a bespoke no-cost service to help retired leaseholders exercise RTM.

Associated organisations

The site lists a series of bodies connected with Right to Manage and leasehold property: the Association of Retirement Housing Managers, the Leasehold Advisory Service, News on the Block, the Association of Residential Managing Agents, the Federation of Private Residents' Associations, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Leaseholder Association.