Help and Advice

An RMC is a company which is party to the lease whose sole responsibility it is to manage and administer the leasehold property by delivering maintenance services to the estate and managing the service charges. The Company is run by a Board of Directors who are appointed to their roles by the Shareholders of the Company who are almost always Leaseholders of the estate - this will be stipulated in the Memorandum and Articles of Association which the Company is governed by. Particularly when the RMC is party to a tri-partite lease with a separate Freeholder who owns the legal interest in the estate, an RMC gives the leaseholders to ability to self-manage as they see fit enabling more control over costs and protection of the value of their investment.

However, there are instances where developers grant leases without an RMC which gives leaseholders very little control over the management of their block. Therefore, The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 introduced the Right To Manage (RTM) which gives leaseholders the statutory right to take over the management of their estate without the need to prove any wrong-doing by the party currently responsible. You must fulfil the following criteria to be able to form an RTM Company:

• At least 50% of leaseholders must participate.
• At least 2/3 of the leaseholders of the block must be on long leases (more than a 21-year term).
• No more than 25% of the block is non-residential use (excludes car parks or residential common areas).

If you meet these criteria and successfully form an RTM Company, then the RTM supersedes the lease with regards to management, maintenance and insurance responsibilities which would all become the responsibility of the new RTM Company. RTMs and RMCs are structured the same way with Shareholders appointing a Board of Directors. The Company specific Memorandum and Articles of Association will stipulate whether Leaseholders are required to transfer the ownership of their shares in the Company to the new Leaseholder when selling their property, which would be administrated by your Company Secretary. As your managing agent, we would offer to provide this service. For more information, Click Here!

• To ensure that the obligations of the lease are being carried out. The administration of the lease terms may be delegated to a managing agent but the Directors have ultimate responsibility for ensuring that this is being done.
• To ensure compliance with all Health & Safety and fire risk legislation.
• To arrange the necessary insurance cover to ensure both they and the development are sufficiently protected.
• Working with the managing agent on expenditure and major works.
• Approving the annual service charge budget which will be drafted by your managing agent.
• Holding both Directors meetings and Annual General Meetings.
• To notify Companies House of change of Officers of the Company (Directors or Secretaries).
• To notify Companies House of change of registered office.
• To notify Companies House of any other changes to the Company.
• To always make decisions for the benefit of the Company and its Shareholders rather than the individual.
• To promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members.
• To inform the other Directors and Shareholders of any conflict of interest.
• Preparing the Company statutory accounts, signing and submitting to Companies House.
• Filing the Confirmation Statement which every Company must submit annually whether dormant or not.
• Arranging the signing of all other statutory documents

We produce monthly site inspection reports and quarterly management reports which are inclusive of a full year-to-date financial report detailing the budget vs actual position at quarter end, the current cash balances, and an arrears update. Once we issue our quarterly management reports, we arrange a Directors meeting to discuss the contents and answer any queries. If any client wishes to increase the frequency of these reports, then this can be agreed.

All Client funds are held at arm’s length from our business in a ring-fenced Trust account in the Clients name. As a firm of Chartered Surveyors regulated by RICS all Clients have peace of mind that we follow the Codes of Practice and are connected to the RICS Client Money Protection Scheme.

All budgets are written in conjunction with the RICS Service Charge Residential Management Codes and your lease. We tender all service and maintenance contracts on an annual basis to ensure value for money without compromising on quality. We work closely with leading utility and insurance brokers as well as industry leading consultants which gives our customers and clients the peace of mind that we are procuring competitive rates.

This is largely dictated by your lease. However, we issue demands no less than 14 days before due date. We issue a first reminder 14 days thereafter and a Letter Before Action 7 days after that. At 21 days after due we would engage the Client and refer to our panel of debt recovery experts to commence legal proceedings.

Working in partnership with B-Hive Property Solutions, Olympus Management will issue all Service Charge Financial Statements within the statuary timeframes. The finance team achieve this by following our internal process for completing the Year End review and preparation of your financial statements.

We visit site as often as necessary. For larger, more complex schemes this would be once a week. For smaller blocks, we would carry out monthly inspections at a minimum. We would attend again to inspect works or meet with a resident or the site staff when necessary. We will notify residents of our visits via our interactive portal.

Reflection on our service and feedback from our customers is how we are able to deliver an exceptional customer experience. Unlike many of our competitors we seek regular feedback to understand what we are doing well and how we can perfect our customer experience. We never settle for “this is how we have always done it”.

We believe that prevention is better than remedial action and so we aim to avoid any situation where a leaseholder breaches their lease by making information regarding their restrictions and covenants readily available to them on our interactive portal, on the notice boards in the lobby or reception (for key items), and by drafting a Resident's Handbook if there isn't one already in place. However, if we do become aware of a breach then we would call the leaseholder to discuss the situation - we understand that it can often be a genuine mistake. We would then follow up in writing to outline the breach and give a reasonable timeframe for rectifying it. If they do not do so, then we would issue a Letter Before Action to notify them of the intention to take legal action if the breach is not remedied. We work with a number of firms of solicitors who specialise in leasehold litigation and Court proceedings will commence if a leaseholder fails to remedy the breach in a reasonable length of time.

Most complaints arise from either a breakdown in communication, a misunderstanding or human error and so we work to avoid any of our customers feeling the need to complain by managing their blocks in a completely transparent manner. However, if someone is unhappy then we want to know. We will arrange a call or a site meeting if appropriate to discuss the problem and find a solution together. If this does not satisfy the complainant then they have the option to invoke our Complaints Handling Procedure which can be found here . It is very rare that a complaint will be formalised because we strive to be cooperative and communicative with all of our residents, leaseholders and clients alike.

We are confident that the service which we offer is the service that we deliver. We never want to over promise and under deliver. However, if you feel that we have fallen short of our agreed service standards then please let us know straight away. We will arrange a meeting with you to discuss the matter and agree any changes that need to be made and the time frames in which they should be satisfied.

All of our service and maintenance contractors must first complete our robust Contractor Accreditation Process. We request and review copies of:

• A fully completed application form
• Public liability insurance certificate (minimum £2million and £5 million for all M&E, fire protection and high-risk activities)
• Professional indemnity insurance certificate
• Risk Assessments & Method Statements
• Health and Safety Policy
• Trade body qualification certificates
• VAT certificate (if applicable)

All contractors are audited through our portal to ensure that their documentation remains up to date and relevant for the services provided. The portal works in real time meaning that a contractor is suspended from use when any of their documentation expires.

We are not affiliated with any of the suppliers or contractors we work with. The suppliers to our clients and customers are a key component to our operations therefore, ensuring that works are controlled, completed within budget and on time is paramount.
All of our Planned Preventative Maintenance contracts are tendered on an annual basis this allows us to safe guard costs without compromising on quality thus achieving value for money.

In the event of consequential damage within the building (save for theft or damage to personal effects) we would support you in making a claim against the building’s insurance policy for the loss. As per Section 30A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 we will make a summary of the policy available free of charge.

In the first instance, a claims form will need to be submitted. These are readily available through our portal. For anyone that does not have access to the portal, we are on hand to help and working closely with leading brokers and expert loss adjusters, we ensure claims are reviewed and processed in a timely manner.

A property on a long lease will decrease in value over time as the term left on the lease decreases. Therefore, you have the right to extend your lease if you have owned your property for two years or more. Extending your lease would give you another 90 years on top of the remaining term, and it would reduce your Ground Rent to a 'peppercorn', meaning that you would no longer pay Ground Rent. The Landlord is entitled to a premium for the extended term and therefore, you should engage with a solicitor and a valuer before sending Notice of your Application for a Lease Extension under Section 42 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. The terms and the premium can be negotiated with the Landlord.

Enfranchisement is the right for leaseholders to purchase the freehold of their estate, or just their block. To qualify, you would need 50% of leaseholders to participate, though it should be noted that if there are multiple self-contained blocks on the estate, then you would need 50% of leaseholders to participate per block. You will need to engage with a specialist solicitor and a valuer because the process is quite complex and it is crucial that the notice is served on the Landlord correctly. The notice will need to name a nominee purchaser, so most leaseholders would opt to form a new company which will acquire the freehold, of which they will all be members. As soon as the initial notice is served, the participating leaseholders become liable for the Freeholder's relevant professional fees whether they complete or not, so consideration should also be given to how this will be funded. You cannot use service charges if not all leaseholders participate.