Leaving your managing agent.
In short
Check the notice period in your management agreement, give notice in writing, and ask the agent for a closing statement, the service charge and reserve money, and the building's records. Service charge money is held on trust, so it should come across with a clear account of it. Sort the new bank account first, and tell every leaseholder the new payment details in writing.
How much notice do we have to give?
Your management agreement says. Read its term, its notice period and anything it charges for handing over. If your company took over through the right to manage, or a new company now holds the freehold, the position may differ, so take advice if you are unsure who the agreement binds.
What should the handover pack contain?
A closing statement showing who owes what and the balance of the service charge and reserve money. The leases, or a schedule of each flat's share, and the leaseholders' contact details. The last accounts and the current budget. Every certificate and risk assessment. The insurance schedule. The contractors they use, and any contracts. Any open Section 20 consultation, and any flats being sold.
What about the money?
Service charge money is held on trust for the leaseholders, under section 42 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. Open an account in the company's name before the handover and ask for the balance to be transferred, with a statement that reconciles to it. Then tell every leaseholder the new payment details in writing, and warn them that changed bank details are the commonest service charge fraud.
What happens to arrears?
If your company stays the same and only the agent changes, what leaseholders owe is still owed to the company, so bring it across from the closing statement. If your company has just acquired the right to manage, arrears from before that date may belong to the old landlord. Take advice before you chase them.
What do we do first?
Check what is overdue. Insurance, the fire risk assessment and any lift examination come first, because a gap there is a risk today. Then the demands: check when the next one falls due and that it will carry the landlord's name and address and the summary of rights.
Where Servanda comes in
Drop the whole pack into Servanda and it reads it: the flats and shares, what each one owed, the budget, the contractors and every certificate are offered up for you to check. Anything missing shows as a gap, and support is included.
Manage your own block or estateThe law
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, section 42
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, section 47
- Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, Part 2, Chapter 1 (right to manage)
The legislation is the authority; this page is a plain summary for England, checked on 2026-10-29. Wales and Scotland have their own rules. Take advice on any particular building.