The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has announced that the Right to Manage (RTM) measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will come into force on 3 March 2025.
RTM is the right for lessees of flats in a qualifying building to take over the responsibility for managing their building.
The RTM reforms provide that:
- lessees will no longer have to pay the landlord’s costs in relation to an RTM claim so long as the claim is successful; and
- for a building to qualify for RTM, the limit for the non-residential part is increased from 25% to 50% of the internal floor area of the building.
This is good news for lessees of flats, as the cost of acquiring the RTM will be significantly reduced and more lessees will qualify for RTM.
If the RTM claim procedure is not followed properly the landlord may challenge the RTM claim and prevent the RTM from going through. Furthermore, if the RTM claim is unsuccessful the lessees must pay the landlord’s costs. Therefore, it is still important to avoid the pitfalls of RTM claims and ensure everything is done correctly.
There is more to come on leasehold reforms and we will keep a close eye on these.
If you have any queries please do not hesitate to email me or contact the team on 020 8858 6971.