Skip to main content

​
Property Ownership

Outright ownership of land and any buildings on it, with no time limit. The freeholder owns the property indefinitely.
Ownership of a property for a fixed period of time (the lease term), typically 99-999 years. The leaseholder owns the property but not the land it sits on.
When leaseholders collectively own the freehold of their building, usually through a company. Each leaseholder owns a share of the freehold company.
A form of property ownership where you own your flat outright (not leasehold) and share ownership of common areas with other owners.

​
Management Structures

A legal right allowing leaseholders to take over management of their building from the freeholder without proving fault. Introduced by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002.
A company owned by the leaseholders that manages the building. Often set up when the freehold is purchased collectively.
A professional company hired to handle day-to-day management of a building, including maintenance, accounts, and compliance.
The owner of the freehold (the land). In leasehold buildings, the freeholder grants leases and often manages the building or appoints a managing agent.

​
Financial Terms

Annual charges paid by leaseholders to cover the cost of maintaining common areas, buildings insurance, and other shared expenses.
An annual payment made by leaseholders to the freeholder as specified in the lease. Recent legislation limits ground rent on new leases.
Money set aside from service charges to pay for major future works like roof replacement or lift refurbishment.
Legal requirement under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to consult leaseholders before carrying out qualifying works costing more than £250 per leaseholder or entering a qualifying long-term agreement (QLTA) over £100 per leaseholder per year.
A statutory protection under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 stating that leaseholders are not liable for service charge costs incurred more than 18 months before a formal demand is served, unless they were notified in writing within those 18 months that the costs had been incurred.
Under Section 42 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, service charge and reserve fund contributions held by a payee are held in statutory trust for the contributing leaseholders in a designated client bank account, separate from the managing agent’s or company’s own funds.
Statutory provisions under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requiring every written demand for service charges or rent to include the landlord’s name and address (s47) and an address in England and Wales at which notices may be served by the tenant (s48), plus the Statutory Summary of Tenants’ Rights and Obligations (s21B).
Joint guidance issued by ICAEW, ICAS, ACCA, and RICS setting the best-practice accounting framework for residential service charge accounts — separating the Section 42 statutory trust income & expenditure statement and balance sheet from the corporate entity’s own statutory accounts.
The monthly control check used in block management accounting to verify that the physical Bank Statement Balance equals the Cashbook Ledger Balance and the Total Net Fund Balances (Operating + Reserve funds) to £0.00 variance.
The standard Law Society form (Form LPE1) completed by landlords, RTM/RMC directors, or managing agents during the sale/conveyancing of a leasehold flat — covering service charges, arrears, reserve funds, buildings insurance, and active or planned Section 20 consultations.
The structured 9-stage year-end statutory accounts workflow in Manage.Management (paired with a 7-stage plain-English tracker) covering bank reconciliation sign-off, accruals & prepayments, TECH 03/11 pack generation, external reporting accountant review, director/landlord approval, surplus/deficit allocation, and resident publication.
A deterministic rounding method used in Finance v2 to allocate schedule budgets across units to the exact penny so unit demands always sum to 100.00% of the budget without rounding drift.

​
RTM Process

The formal notice served on the freeholder to exercise the Right to Manage. Must be signed by the RTM company.
The freeholder’s response to a claim notice, which may accept or dispute the RTM claim.
The date when management responsibility transfers to the RTM company, typically 3 months after the claim notice.
A leaseholder with a long lease (originally over 21 years) who can participate in RTM.
The court that handles disputes about service charges, lease terms, and property management. Formerly the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.
Professional body that sets standards for property management. RICS-qualified managers follow a code of practice.
A formal notice served by a leaseholder to request a lease extension.
Legislation introducing new safety requirements for residential buildings (particularly higher-risk buildings over 18 metres / 7 storeys) and statutory leaseholder protections under Schedule 8, which prohibit recharging qualifying leaseholders for relevant historical cladding and building defect remediation costs.
A tailored escape plan for residents who may need assistance or bespoke arrangements to evacuate a building safely during a fire or emergency, tracked in the Building Brain with review and expiry alerts.

​
Common Abbreviations