Home/Right to manage company
Register a right to manage (RTM) company
A company formed under the statutory right to manage, letting leaseholders take over management of their building without buying the freehold.
Who it is for. Leaseholders of flats who want control of the managing agent, the service charge and the maintenance of their block.
What Companies House needs
- A company limited by guarantee with the prescribed RTM articles
- A name ending in the prescribed form for an RTM company
- Qualifying leaseholders as members, meeting the statutory participation threshold
- A registered office in the jurisdiction of registration
- The statutory notices served correctly, in order, after incorporation
What this form gets wrong most often
- The articles are prescribed, not optional
- RTM companies must use the form of articles set out in the regulations. Model articles or amended ones will not do, and a defective company can invalidate the claim.
- The process is a sequence, and order matters
- Incorporate, then serve notice inviting participation, then serve the claim notice. Getting the order or the timing wrong is the usual reason a claim fails.
- No fault needs to be proved
- You do not have to show the current manager is bad. The right is statutory, provided the building and the leaseholders qualify.
What has to be filed afterwards
- Confirmation statement and annual accounts
- Membership offered to every qualifying leaseholder, at any time
- Service charge accounting to leaseholders
- Identity verification for directors and people with significant control
Questions
Does right to manage mean we own the freehold?
No. The freeholder keeps ownership. The RTM company takes over management functions — service charges, maintenance, and the choice of managing agent.
How many leaseholders do we need?
Participation must meet the statutory threshold based on the qualifying flats in the building. The building itself also has to qualify.
Can the freeholder refuse?
They can dispute whether the qualifying conditions are met, which is why the notices and the company itself have to be right. They cannot refuse a valid claim on the merits.
Right to manage company
£79.99 + VAT
plus £100 Companies House fee- Name ends in
- RTM Company Limited — the wording is prescribed
- Jurisdictions
- England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Full price list on the pricing page. Companies House sets and collects its own fee.
Other structures
Enquire
Right to manage company enquiry
Tell us who is involved and what the organisation is meant to do. If a different structure fits better, we will say so before you pay for this one.
Right to manage company
Tell us what you are trying to do and we will reply with what is involved. No obligation, and we will say so plainly if what you need is not something we do.