How to manage your own block of flats.
In short
A block can be managed by its own leaseholders through the company that has the management duty: a residents' management company named in the leases, a company that owns the freehold, or a right to manage (RTM) company. Its directors then do what an agent would: set a budget, issue lawful service charge demands, hold the money on trust, keep the building safe and insured, consult before major works, and keep records. It works well for small and medium blocks when the duties are clear and written down.
Who can manage a block themselves?
Whichever company holds the management duty under the leases or the law. That is usually a residents' management company that the leases make responsible for the building, a company the leaseholders formed to buy the freehold, or an RTM company formed under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, which takes over the landlord's management functions without buying the freehold.
What does managing a block actually involve?
A budget each year, service charge demands that meet the law, a separate bank account for the money, paying the bills the board approves, arranging the buildings insurance, keeping the fire risk assessment and other safety checks current, consulting under Section 20 before major works, answering a buyer's solicitor when a flat is sold, and keeping the company's own filings up to date at Companies House.
Is it legal to manage a block without a managing agent?
Yes. Nothing requires a managing agent. The duties belong to the company and its directors either way; an agent only carries them out on the company's behalf. Tribunals can take the RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code into account when they look at how a block was run, so following it is sensible good practice even without an agent.
Where do self-managed blocks usually go wrong?
Demands without the summary of tenants' rights or the landlord's name and address, which makes them unpayable until put right; costs demanded more than 18 months after they were incurred; major works without a Section 20 consultation; service charge money mixed with the company's own or a director's; and safety checks that lapse because nobody owns the calendar. Each of these is avoidable with a system.
How much time does it take?
For a small block with a settled board, a few hours a month on routine work, with busier spells at budget time, at year end and when works are planned. The time falls mostly on whoever does the money and the paperwork, which is why many boards share the jobs and write them down.
Where Servanda comes in
Servanda is the managing agent's software in the board's hands: the safety register and certificates read for you, contractors, Section 20, and the books, from a budget split to the penny to demands that carry everything the law requires, the bank statement matched, and the year end for your accountant.
Everything Servanda doesThe law
- Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, Part 2, Chapter 1 (right to manage)
- Companies Act 2006, directors' general duties (sections 171 to 177)
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.