Managing agent or self-manage?.
In short
No law requires a managing agent. A board can self-manage if it has directors with the time to run the money, the demands, the safety checks and the paperwork, and a system that makes the legal requirements hard to miss. An agent makes sense for larger or high-rise buildings, boards without that time, or where the relationships in the building are difficult. Many small blocks self-manage well.
What does a managing agent actually do?
Collects the service charge and keeps the accounts, issues demands, pays contractors, arranges insurance and safety checks, runs Section 20 consultations, answers solicitors on sales, and deals with leaseholders' questions. The legal duties stay with the company that appoints them; the agent carries them out.
When does self-management work best?
In smaller, low-rise blocks with a settled board, straightforward leases, and leaseholders who trust each other. It saves the agent's fee and keeps decisions in the building. It works badly where nobody owns the calendar or the money, or where a dispute between neighbours turns the directors into the target.
Is there a middle ground?
Yes. Some boards self-manage the day-to-day and buy in an accountant for the year end, a surveyor for major works, or a solicitor for arrears. Others use software that does the agent's routine work so the directors only make the decisions.
What about high-rise buildings?
A building of at least 18 metres or seven storeys with at least two flats is a higher-risk building under the Building Safety Act 2022, with registration and ongoing safety duties for its accountable persons. A board taking that on should get specialist help.
Where Servanda comes in
Servanda is built for the middle ground: it does the routine work an agent would, the register, the reminders, the demands and the bank matching, and leaves every decision with the directors.
Everything Servanda doesThe law
- Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, Part 2, Chapter 1 (right to manage)
- Building Safety Act 2022
The legislation is the authority; this page is a plain summary for England, checked on 2026-10-23. Wales and Scotland have their own rules. Take advice on any particular building.