Managing a leasehold building

An agent can run the work. The appointment must still show the edges.

Start with the lease and the principal's authority. Then define the service, money controls, decisions and evidence expected from the agent.

Good management makes the boundary between instruction and decision visible.

Start here

Check the role before judging the performance.

The principal's obligations

Identify the landlord, management company or RTM company and the obligations it is trying to perform through the agent.

The agent's scope

List the services, authority, spend limits, response standards, reporting, exclusions and people named to deliver the work.

The external checks

Check redress membership and, where the statutory scope is met and client money is held, client-money protection. Trade-body membership is a separate fact.

Work through it

Manage the agent through evidence, not reassurance.

01
Instruction
Give a clear question, authority, budget and deadline. Record whether the board is seeking advice, a recommendation or an executed task.
02
Decision
Keep reserved board decisions visible. The agent's recommendation should show options, costs, evidence and unresolved risks.
03
Reporting
Require a regular view of money, repairs, contracts, complaints, compliance evidence and actions, with exceptions surfaced early.
04
Handover
Keep records in the principal's controlled system and test that documents, balances, credentials and supplier information can be transferred.

The working scope

Eight areas the appointment should make visible.

Not every building needs the same service. The useful test is whether the appointment says who does the work, who decides, what evidence returns and what happens when something is missed.

Service-charge administration

Budgets, demands, collection, arrears, accounts, reserve records and responses to information requests, with approval and reporting routes stated.

Major works

Scoping, consultation support, procurement, recommendations, instruction, supervision and completion records, with the board's reserved decisions kept visible.

Repairs and contracts

Reactive response, planned maintenance, authority limits, supplier selection, purchase orders, completion evidence and the route for disputed or repeated defects.

Insurance

Renewal information, insured sums, disclosure, claim notification, evidence, excesses and reporting. The appointment should not blur arranging cover with deciding a claim.

Building evidence

The applicable assessment, inspection, maintenance and action records, including who obtains them, who reviews them and how an overdue or urgent item is escalated.

Lease administration

Consents, alterations, subletting, sales enquiries, alleged breaches and access requests, with the relevant covenant and decision-maker identified.

Company support

Meeting papers, minutes, filings, registers, conflicts and implementation records where these services form part of the signed scope.

Communication and handover

Named contacts, response standards, complaints, board reporting, document ownership, system access and a tested route for transferring complete records at the end.

Take the next step in LEASE-iQ

What can the agent do, and what remains with the client?

Use this for authority, instructions, fees, records or a disputed management action.

Ready to copy

Questions to paste into LEASE-iQ

I have uploaded the signed lease. The management question is: [describe the instruction, service, decision, fee or dispute]. Please identify what the lease requires and what cannot be answered without the management agreement and other records.

Please:
1. Identify the landlord, management company, leaseholder and any agent mentioned in the lease.
2. Quote the clauses and pages allocating the relevant service, decision, notice, consent, cost or record.
3. Distinguish a duty in the lease from authority delegated under a separate management agreement.
4. Identify any approval, consultation, certification, account or notice required before action or recovery.
5. List the management-agreement clauses, board minutes, policies, contracts and correspondence needed outside the lease.
6. Give the strongest reasonable argument that the proposed action exceeds the agent's authority or the lease route.
7. Finish with the exact decision the client must make and a source-backed instruction the agent could request.

Keep checking: The lease does not prove the agent's appointment or delegated authority. The current management agreement and client decisions matter.

Open the sources

Keep the principal's decision visible.

This page does not accredit an agent or decide whether a redress or client-money rule applies to a particular business. Check the statutory activity, territory and money actually held.

Government updateGOV.UK

Official property-agent redress scheme guidance

Government updateGOV.UK

Official client-money protection guidance for property agents

Legislation2019 Client Money Protection Regulations

Requirement for property agents within the statutory scope

Independent guidanceLeasehold Advisory Service

Independent guide to using a managing agent

Sources and current regulatory status checked 18 August 2026. Scope matters: redress, client-money protection and professional membership are not interchangeable.