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Block Management Manchester

Professional block management and Accountable Person services for Resident Management Companies, freeholders, and directors across Manchester. Building Safety Act 2022 compliance, digital Golden Thread management, and transparent service charge accounting.

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Railton-Meeks Block Management Manchester

Railton-Meeks provides specialist block management services for Resident Management Companies, freeholders, and directors across Manchester and Greater Manchester — covering buildings ranging from converted Victorian conversions to modern apartment developments. Our service includes acting as the professional Accountable Person under the Building Safety Act 2022, managing the digital Golden Thread of statutory safety records, full service charge accounting under the 2026 RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code, and the operational management of communal areas, maintenance contracts, and resident relations.

With ARLA Propertymark membership, twenty years of Manchester property stewardship, and a compliance-first operating model built specifically for the post-Grenfell regulatory landscape, we shield RMC directors and freeholders from personal-liability exposure while protecting the long-term value of the asset.

Who Block Management Is For

Block management is a fundamentally different service from residential lettings.

The client is not a landlord with a property to let — the client is a Resident Management Company, a freeholder, or a building’s directors, with a statutory duty to maintain communal areas, manage building safety, and account transparently for the service charges contributed by leaseholders.

Railton-Meeks operates block management for clients who recognise this and who want a professional, regulated, accountable agent managing the work on their behalf.

The 2026 regulatory environment has made this work more complex than at any point in modern memory.

The Building Safety Act 2022 has created a new statutory framework with named individuals carrying personal liability. Service charge transparency has tightened. Resident-engagement obligations have expanded. Insurance markets have hardened.

Above all, the cost of getting block management wrong — to leaseholders, to tenants, to the building’s long-term value, and to the directors personally — has risen materially.

The Building Safety Act 2022 — Why Block Management Changed

The Building Safety Act 2022 is the most significant change to the legal framework governing residential blocks since the Grenfell Tower fire of 2017. It creates a statutory regulatory regime for higher-risk buildings, names specific individuals as legally accountable for safety, and introduces civil and criminal penalties for failures of compliance.

For RMCs and freeholders managing buildings within scope, the Act imposes obligations that did not exist five years ago — including:

The Building Safety Regulator established within the Health and Safety Executive, with enforcement powers including improvement notices, prohibition notices, civil penalties, and criminal prosecution.

Higher-Risk Buildings are defined as residential buildings of seven storeys or more, or 18 metres or more in height, containing at least two dwellings. HRBs must be registered with the BSR and managed under the Act's full statutory regime.

The Accountable Person is the legal entity (often the freeholder or RMC) statutorily responsible for managing building safety risks. The Accountable Person must produce a Safety Case Report, submit it to the BSR, and maintain it throughout the life of the building.

Where multiple Accountable Persons exist for different parts of a building, one is designated as Principal, with overarching coordination responsibility.

The Resident Engagement Strategy is a documented plan for engaging residents on safety matters, with a route for residents to raise concerns and receive responses.

Mandatory Occurrence Reporting mandates that any safety occurrence that could cause significant risk must be reported to the BSR within statutory timeframes.

These are not policy preferences. They are legal duties carrying personal liability for the named individuals.

The Accountable Person Framework Explained

The most significant operational change introduced by the Building Safety Act 2022 is the concept of the Accountable Person — a legal entity (or individual where the entity is itself a person) who is statutorily responsible for managing building safety risks in higher-risk buildings.

For Resident Management Companies, the Accountable Person is typically the RMC itself — meaning the directors are personally engaged in the legal duties imposed. For freeholder-managed buildings, the freeholder is typically the Accountable Person, with similar individual exposure for the named directors of the freeholder company.

The Accountable Person’s duties include:

  • Assessing building safety risks across the structure and external walls of the building
  • Managing those risks through a documented Safety Case
  • Producing and submitting a Safety Case Report to the Building Safety Regulator
  • Engaging residents through a documented Resident Engagement Strategy
  • Reporting safety occurrences to the BSR within statutory timeframes
  • Maintaining the digital “Golden Thread” of building safety information

These are not duties that can be delegated away — but they can be operationally managed by a professional block management agency working on the Accountable Person’s behalf. Railton-Meeks acts as the professional partner managing the day-to-day execution of these duties for the named Accountable Person. The legal duty remains with the named individual or entity. The operational burden moves to us.

This is the central distinction between informal management and professional block management in 2026.

What's Included in Block Management

Block Management at Railton-Meeks is a comprehensive service covering every operational, financial, regulatory, and resident-facing element of running a residential block. Below is a complete breakdown — built specifically for the 2026 regulatory environment and designed to support RMC directors and freeholders managing buildings of any scale.

Accountable Person operational support — managing the day-to-day execution of statutory duties under the Building Safety Act 2022 on behalf of the named Accountable Person, including Safety Case Report preparation and BSR liaison
Digital Golden Thread management — building, maintaining, and updating the structured digital record of safety information that the Building Safety Act requires for higher-risk buildings, ensuring it is accessible, current, and audit-ready
Resident Engagement Strategy implementation — drafting, deploying, and operating the documented strategy for engaging residents on safety matters, including the formal route for raising and responding to concerns
Mandatory Occurrence Reporting — identifying reportable occurrences within statutory timeframes and submitting compliant reports to the Building Safety Regulator on the Accountable Person's behalf
Service charge budgeting and accounting — preparing annual service charge budgets, collecting contributions from leaseholders, accounting transparently under the 2026 RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code, and producing the year-end accounts required by the lease
Reserve fund management — strategic planning of the building's long-term capital reserve, ensuring funds are available for major works, structural maintenance, and lifecycle replacement of building elements
Section 20 consultation — managing the formal Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 Section 20 process for major works, ensuring leaseholder consultation requirements are met and qualifying long-term agreements are correctly handled
Insurance procurement and broking liaison — annual buildings insurance review, broker tendering, and ensuring the building's insurance product reflects current valuation and risk profile
Maintenance contract management — tendering, awarding, and managing the contracts for cleaning, gardening, lift maintenance, fire alarm testing, communal lighting, and any building-specific systems
Annual Fire Risk Assessment (Type 1, 2, 3, or 4) — coordinating the appropriate level of FRA for the building, action-tracking remediation items, and maintaining the documentation Building Safety Act compliance specifically requires
Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) — developing and maintaining individual evacuation plans for residents requiring assistance, in line with current statutory guidance
External cladding and building safety reviews — managing PAS 9980 fire risk appraisals where applicable, coordinating remediation work, and engaging with the Building Safety Fund where the building qualifies
Leaseholder communication — handling day-to-day leaseholder enquiries, complaints, and requests for information, including formal Right to Manage and lease enfranchisement enquiries
Director and AGM support — preparing board reports, attending RMC director meetings, supporting Annual General Meetings, and providing the operational input directors need to discharge their duties effectively
Repairs and reactive maintenance — managing the building's day-to-day repair work through trusted long-term contractors, with rapid response on safety-critical issues that affect multiple residents simultaneously
Accountable Person operational support — managing the day-to-day execution of statutory duties under the Building Safety Act 2022 on behalf of the named Accountable Person, including Safety Case Report preparation and BSR liaison
Digital Golden Thread management — building, maintaining, and updating the structured digital record of safety information that the Building Safety Act requires for higher-risk buildings, ensuring it is accessible, current, and audit-ready
Resident Engagement Strategy implementation — drafting, deploying, and operating the documented strategy for engaging residents on safety matters, including the formal route for raising and responding to concerns
Mandatory Occurrence Reporting — identifying reportable occurrences within statutory timeframes and submitting compliant reports to the Building Safety Regulator on the Accountable Person's behalf
Service charge budgeting and accounting — preparing annual service charge budgets, collecting contributions from leaseholders, accounting transparently under the 2026 RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code, and producing the year-end accounts required by the lease
Reserve fund management — strategic planning of the building's long-term capital reserve, ensuring funds are available for major works, structural maintenance, and lifecycle replacement of building elements
Section 20 consultation — managing the formal Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 Section 20 process for major works, ensuring leaseholder consultation requirements are met and qualifying long-term agreements are correctly handled
Insurance procurement and broking liaison — annual buildings insurance review, broker tendering, and ensuring the building's insurance product reflects current valuation and risk profile
Maintenance contract management — tendering, awarding, and managing the contracts for cleaning, gardening, lift maintenance, fire alarm testing, communal lighting, and any building-specific systems
Annual Fire Risk Assessment (Type 1, 2, 3, or 4) — coordinating the appropriate level of FRA for the building, action-tracking remediation items, and maintaining the documentation Building Safety Act compliance specifically requires
Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) — developing and maintaining individual evacuation plans for residents requiring assistance, in line with current statutory guidance
External cladding and building safety reviews — managing PAS 9980 fire risk appraisals where applicable, coordinating remediation work, and engaging with the Building Safety Fund where the building qualifies
Leaseholder communication — handling day-to-day leaseholder enquiries, complaints, and requests for information, including formal Right to Manage and lease enfranchisement enquiries
Director and AGM support — preparing board reports, attending RMC director meetings, supporting Annual General Meetings, and providing the operational input directors need to discharge their duties effectively
Repairs and reactive maintenance — managing the building's day-to-day repair work through trusted long-term contractors, with rapid response on safety-critical issues that affect multiple residents simultaneously
Accountable Person operational support — managing the day-to-day execution of statutory duties under the Building Safety Act 2022 on behalf of the named Accountable Person, including Safety Case Report preparation and BSR liaison
Digital Golden Thread management — building, maintaining, and updating the structured digital record of safety information that the Building Safety Act requires for higher-risk buildings, ensuring it is accessible, current, and audit-ready
Resident Engagement Strategy implementation — drafting, deploying, and operating the documented strategy for engaging residents on safety matters, including the formal route for raising and responding to concerns
Mandatory Occurrence Reporting — identifying reportable occurrences within statutory timeframes and submitting compliant reports to the Building Safety Regulator on the Accountable Person's behalf
Service charge budgeting and accounting — preparing annual service charge budgets, collecting contributions from leaseholders, accounting transparently under the 2026 RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code, and producing the year-end accounts required by the lease
Reserve fund management — strategic planning of the building's long-term capital reserve, ensuring funds are available for major works, structural maintenance, and lifecycle replacement of building elements
Section 20 consultation — managing the formal Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 Section 20 process for major works, ensuring leaseholder consultation requirements are met and qualifying long-term agreements are correctly handled
Insurance procurement and broking liaison — annual buildings insurance review, broker tendering, and ensuring the building's insurance product reflects current valuation and risk profile
Maintenance contract management — tendering, awarding, and managing the contracts for cleaning, gardening, lift maintenance, fire alarm testing, communal lighting, and any building-specific systems
Annual Fire Risk Assessment (Type 1, 2, 3, or 4) — coordinating the appropriate level of FRA for the building, action-tracking remediation items, and maintaining the documentation Building Safety Act compliance specifically requires
Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) — developing and maintaining individual evacuation plans for residents requiring assistance, in line with current statutory guidance
External cladding and building safety reviews — managing PAS 9980 fire risk appraisals where applicable, coordinating remediation work, and engaging with the Building Safety Fund where the building qualifies
Leaseholder communication — handling day-to-day leaseholder enquiries, complaints, and requests for information, including formal Right to Manage and lease enfranchisement enquiries
Director and AGM support — preparing board reports, attending RMC director meetings, supporting Annual General Meetings, and providing the operational input directors need to discharge their duties effectively
Repairs and reactive maintenance — managing the building's day-to-day repair work through trusted long-term contractors, with rapid response on safety-critical issues that affect multiple residents simultaneously

The Digital Golden Thread: A Manchester Specialism

The Building Safety Act 2022’s most operationally significant requirement is the Digital Golden Thread — a structured, accessible, continuously-updated digital record of safety-critical building information that must be maintained for the life of every higher-risk building.

In practice, the Golden Thread is a comprehensive digital archive containing the building’s design and construction information, fire safety strategy, structural assessments, materials specifications, maintenance records, modification history, and inspection findings — organised in a way that allows the Accountable Person, the Building Safety Regulator, and (where appropriate) residents to access the information rapidly and reliably.

For most RMCs and freeholders, building this Golden Thread from scratch is the single most operationally significant compliance task they face. The information often exists, but scattered across paper files, multiple consultants’ reports, individual director’s email archives, and historic documentation that may pre-date the current ownership. Compiling, structuring, and digitising it is a substantial professional undertaking.

Railton-Meeks treats the Golden Thread as a core deliverable of our Block Management service. We build it once, properly, with the structure the Building Safety Regulator specifically expects to see — and we maintain it continuously throughout the management relationship. This is the differentiating service that separates Manchester block management firms operating in the post-Grenfell regulatory landscape from firms still managing as they did in 2018.

These are not duties that can be delegated away — but they can be operationally managed by a professional block management agency working on the Accountable Person’s behalf. Railton-Meeks acts as the professional partner managing the day-to-day execution of these duties for the named Accountable Person. The legal duty remains with the named individual or entity. The operational burden moves to us.

This is the central distinction between informal management and professional block management in 2026.

Need an audit of your building's current Golden Thread documentation?

Contact The Railton-Meeks Team →

Service Charge Accounting & Transparency

Service charge transparency is the second area where the regulatory environment has tightened materially since 2018. The 2026 RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code, the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, and the strengthening of Section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 have all combined to raise the bar on what RMCs and freeholders are expected to deliver to leaseholders.

For each block under our management, we deliver:

  • Annual service charge budget — itemised, justified, and circulated to leaseholders before the start of the service charge year
  • Quarterly or half-yearly statements — depending on the building’s lease terms and director preference
  • Year-end certified service charge accounts — prepared in accordance with the RICS Code and certified by an independent accountant where the lease requires it
  • Reserve fund accounting — separate from operational service charge accounting, with transparent reporting of contributions, expenditure, and current balance
  • Section 20 consultation documentation — issued correctly for any qualifying major works or long-term agreements, with full leaseholder feedback periods observed
  • Right to Manage and enfranchisement support — where leaseholders exercise their statutory rights, we work professionally with the new management entity rather than against it

Transparency is not a marketing claim. It is a statutory expectation, and the work we do for our clients is built around delivering it consistently.

The Buildings We Manage

We manage buildings of varying sizes, ages, and tenures across Manchester — from small Victorian conversions with three or four flats through to modern purpose-built developments with dozens of apartments. Below are the building types most commonly under our management.

Smaller buildings — often 3 to 12 flats — converted from large period townhouses, typically across South Manchester (Didsbury, Withington, Chorlton). Lower-rise, generally outside the Higher-Risk Building threshold, but with their own complexity around structural age, lease portfolio fragmentation, and historic maintenance records. We manage many such buildings on behalf of small RMCs.

Buildings constructed since 2000 — including Salford Quays, MediaCityUK, and city-centre developments. Often within Higher-Risk Building scope (above 18 metres), with full Building Safety Act regulatory exposure. Managed buildings typically range from 30 to 120+ units, with the operational complexity of lifts, communal heating, cladding considerations, and concierge or security functions.

Buildings combining residential apartments above ground-floor commercial premises, common across Manchester city centre. These create a distinct regulatory and insurance landscape, with separate fire safety considerations and often more complex service charge apportionment between commercial and residential tenants.

If your building doesn’t fit neatly into one of these categories — perhaps a recent retrofit, a hotel-conversion residence, or an unusual mixed-tenure structure — we’d be happy to talk. Manchester has a complex architectural heritage and we’ve worked across most of it.

Why Manchester RMCs and Freeholders Choose Railton-Meeks

Block management is a regulated, technical specialism. The agency you appoint determines the personal liability profile of your directors, the financial transparency of your service charge, and the long-term value of your building. The decision merits the rigour of a procurement exercise rather than a price-led comparison.

Compliance-first operating model — every part of our block management service is built around current statutory expectations, not around legacy ways of working
ARLA Propertymark and CMP membership — regulated, insured, and Client Money Protection-backed for service charge funds and reserve accounts
Twenty years' Manchester property experience — we know the city's building stock, the local supply chain, and the regulatory landscape intimately
Named, qualified, accountable team — your block is managed by people you can name, contact directly, and hold accountable. No call centres, no rotating account managers
Transparent service charge accounting — built around the 2026 RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code, with reporting that satisfies even the most engaged leaseholder cohort
Director-level engagement — Tara Meeks personally attends RMC director meetings and AGMs for every block under our management. The strategy is set with you, not for you.
Compliance-first operating model — every part of our block management service is built around current statutory expectations, not around legacy ways of working
ARLA Propertymark and CMP membership — regulated, insured, and Client Money Protection-backed for service charge funds and reserve accounts
Twenty years' Manchester property experience — we know the city's building stock, the local supply chain, and the regulatory landscape intimately
Named, qualified, accountable team — your block is managed by people you can name, contact directly, and hold accountable. No call centres, no rotating account managers
Transparent service charge accounting — built around the 2026 RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code, with reporting that satisfies even the most engaged leaseholder cohort
Director-level engagement — Tara Meeks personally attends RMC director meetings and AGMs for every block under our management. The strategy is set with you, not for you.
Compliance-first operating model — every part of our block management service is built around current statutory expectations, not around legacy ways of working
ARLA Propertymark and CMP membership — regulated, insured, and Client Money Protection-backed for service charge funds and reserve accounts
Twenty years' Manchester property experience — we know the city's building stock, the local supply chain, and the regulatory landscape intimately
Named, qualified, accountable team — your block is managed by people you can name, contact directly, and hold accountable. No call centres, no rotating account managers
Transparent service charge accounting — built around the 2026 RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code, with reporting that satisfies even the most engaged leaseholder cohort
Director-level engagement — Tara Meeks personally attends RMC director meetings and AGMs for every block under our management. The strategy is set with you, not for you.

Compare Our Services

Service Feature Tenant Finder Tenant Finder Plus Let Only Fully Managed
Setup & Marketing
Rental valuation & legislation advice✓✓✓✓
Advice on achieving highest rent—✓✓✓
Safety certificates & compliance—✓✓✓
To Let board—✓✓✓
Online portal advertising (Rightmove, Zoopla)✓✓✓✓
Proactive marketing✓✓✓✓
Tenant Onboarding
Accompanied viewings (including evenings)——✓✓
Contracts & inventory preparation——✓✓
Tenant referencing——£25 per person£25 per person
Right to Rent checks——✓✓
Deposit administration——✓✓
Council tax liaison——✓✓
Full photographic inventory (setup)——✓✓
Ongoing Management
Rent collection——✓✓
Monthly rent payments to landlord——✓✓
Full management statement——✓✓
Property inspections (twice yearly)——✓✓
Utilities administration———✓
Preparing property for re-let———✓
Strategic Advice
Trades, investment & HMO advice——✓✓
Pricing
Setup fee £250one-time £350one-time £650*one-time No setup fee
Ongoing management — — — 14.5%of rent received
Re-letting fee — — £250 £250
Service Feature Tenant Finder Tenant Finder Plus Let Only Fully Managed
Setup & Marketing
Rental valuation & legislation advice✓✓✓✓
Advice on achieving highest rent—✓✓✓
Safety certificates & compliance—✓✓✓
To Let board—✓✓✓
Online portal advertising (Rightmove, Zoopla)✓✓✓✓
Proactive marketing✓✓✓✓
Tenant Onboarding
Accompanied viewings (including evenings)——✓✓
Contracts & inventory preparation——✓✓
Tenant referencing——£25 per person£25 per person
Right to Rent checks——✓✓
Deposit administration——✓✓
Council tax liaison——✓✓
Full photographic inventory (setup)——✓✓
Ongoing Management
Rent collection——✓✓
Monthly rent payments to landlord——✓✓
Full management statement——✓✓
Property inspections (twice yearly)——✓✓
Utilities administration———✓
Preparing property for re-let———✓
Strategic Advice
Trades, investment & HMO advice——✓✓
Pricing
Setup fee £250one-time £350one-time £650*one-time No setup fee
Ongoing management — — — 14.5%of rent received
Re-letting fee — — £250 £250

Tenant Finder

£250 one-time setup

Marketing, viewings, applications. You take it from there.
Setup & Marketing
  • Rental valuation & legislation advice ✓ Included
  • Advice on achieving highest rent Not included
  • Safety certificates & compliance Not included
  • To Let board Not included
  • Online portal advertising (Rightmove, Zoopla) ✓ Included
  • Proactive marketing ✓ Included
Tenant Onboarding
  • Accompanied viewings Not included
  • Contracts & inventory preparation Not included
  • Tenant referencing Not included
  • Right to Rent checks Not included
  • Deposit administration Not included
Ongoing Management
  • Rent collection Not included
  • Property inspections Not included
  • Utilities administration Not included
Pricing
Setup fee £250 one-time
Ongoing management Not included

Tenant Finder Plus

£350 one-time setup

Tenant Finder plus full safety certification and rent advice.
Setup & Marketing
  • Rental valuation & legislation advice ✓ Included
  • Advice on achieving highest rent ✓ Included
  • Safety certificates & compliance ✓ Included
  • To Let board ✓ Included
  • Online portal advertising (Rightmove, Zoopla) ✓ Included
  • Proactive marketing ✓ Included
Tenant Onboarding
  • Accompanied viewings Not included
  • Contracts & inventory preparation Not included
  • Tenant referencing Not included
  • Right to Rent checks Not included
  • Deposit administration Not included
Ongoing Management
  • Rent collection Not included
  • Property inspections Not included
  • Utilities administration Not included
Pricing
Setup fee £350 one-time
Ongoing management Not included

Let Only

£650* one-time setup

Tenant find, full referencing, contracts, deposit protection. Hand-off complete.
Setup & Marketing
  • Rental valuation & legislation advice ✓ Included
  • Advice on achieving highest rent ✓ Included
  • Safety certificates & compliance ✓ Included
  • To Let board ✓ Included
  • Online portal advertising (Rightmove, Zoopla) ✓ Included
  • Proactive marketing ✓ Included
Tenant Onboarding
  • Accompanied viewings (incl. evenings) ✓ Included
  • Contracts & inventory preparation ✓ Included
  • Tenant referencing £25 per person
  • Right to Rent checks ✓ Included
  • Deposit administration ✓ Included
  • Council tax liaison ✓ Included
  • Full photographic inventory ✓ Included
Ongoing Management
  • Rent collection ✓ Included
  • Monthly rent payments to landlord ✓ Included
  • Full management statement ✓ Included
  • Property inspections (2× yearly) ✓ Included
  • Utilities administration Not included
  • Preparing property for re-let Not included
Strategic Advice
  • Trades, investment & HMO advice ✓ Included
Pricing
Setup fee £650 one-time
Re-letting fee £250 (when applicable)
Ongoing management Not included
Most Popular

Fully Managed

14.5% of rent received

Everything. Always. Day-to-day management of your asset.
Setup & Marketing
  • Rental valuation & legislation advice ✓ Included
  • Advice on achieving highest rent ✓ Included
  • Safety certificates & compliance ✓ Included
  • To Let board ✓ Included
  • Online portal advertising (Rightmove, Zoopla) ✓ Included
  • Proactive marketing ✓ Included
Tenant Onboarding
  • Accompanied viewings (incl. evenings) ✓ Included
  • Contracts & inventory preparation ✓ Included
  • Tenant referencing £25 per person
  • Right to Rent checks ✓ Included
  • Deposit administration ✓ Included
  • Council tax liaison ✓ Included
  • Full photographic inventory ✓ Included
Ongoing Management
  • Rent collection ✓ Included
  • Monthly rent payments to landlord ✓ Included
  • Full management statement ✓ Included
  • Property inspections (2× yearly) ✓ Included
  • Utilities administration ✓ Included
  • Preparing property for re-let ✓ Included
Strategic Advice
  • Trades, investment & HMO advice ✓ Included
Pricing
Setup fee No setup fee
Ongoing management 14.5% of rent received
Re-letting fee £250

* Let only fee is one month’s rent, subject to a minimum fee of £650

All fees are exclusive of VAT. Tenant referencing at £25 per person covers credit, employment, and previous landlord checks for each named applicant. The £150 re-letting fee on Let Only and Fully Managed properties covers full re-marketing when an existing tenancy ends and a new tenant is required.

Why Manchester Landlords Choose Railton-Meeks

Twenty years of landlord referrals. ARLA-qualified throughout. Compliance-first by design.

The benefits a portfolio landlord notices in the first six months of working with us:

Transparent fees — every cost laid out in writing before instruction
A 14.5% management fee — competitive without being a race-to-the-bottom
No renewal fees — we don't charge you for keeping a good tenant
Modest re-letting fees — £150 covers full re-marketing
Trusted tradespeople — long-term partners (10+ years) at competitive rates
Cost-saving maintenance — minor issues resolved remotely where possible
Genuine tenant onboarding — time spent helping tenants understand boilers, alarms, meters
Tenant retention focus — relationships built to reduce turnover and void periods
Proactive management — active stewardship of your investment
ARLA Propertymark membership — Client Money Protection, regulated, and accountable
Transparent fees — every cost laid out in writing before instruction
A 14.5% management fee — competitive without being a race-to-the-bottom
No renewal fees — we don't charge you for keeping a good tenant
Modest re-letting fees — £150 covers full re-marketing
Trusted tradespeople — long-term partners (10+ years) at competitive rates
Cost-saving maintenance — minor issues resolved remotely where possible
Genuine tenant onboarding — time spent helping tenants understand boilers, alarms, meters
Tenant retention focus — relationships built to reduce turnover and void periods
Proactive management — active stewardship of your investment
ARLA Propertymark membership — Client Money Protection, regulated, and accountable
Transparent fees — every cost laid out in writing before instruction
A 14.5% management fee — competitive without being a race-to-the-bottom
No renewal fees — we don't charge you for keeping a good tenant
Modest re-letting fees — £150 covers full re-marketing
Trusted tradespeople — long-term partners (10+ years) at competitive rates
Cost-saving maintenance — minor issues resolved remotely where possible
Genuine tenant onboarding — time spent helping tenants understand boilers, alarms, meters
Tenant retention focus — relationships built to reduce turnover and void periods
Proactive management — active stewardship of your investment
ARLA Propertymark membership — Client Money Protection, regulated, and accountable

Block Management Frequently Asked Questions

The questions Manchester RMC directors and freeholders ask before instructing us.

A:

Residential property management deals with individual landlords letting properties to tenants. Block management deals with the communal management of an entire building on behalf of its leaseholders, RMC, or freeholder. Different statutory framework, different client structure, different compliance regime. Most letting agents do not offer block management. We do, as a distinct specialism.

A:

Block management fees are calculated property-specifically because the workload varies materially by building size, complexity, regulatory status (HRB or non-HRB), and the level of director engagement preferred. Fees are typically charged on a per-unit basis or as a flat annual fee, depending on the building. We provide tailored quotes after a property visit and lease review.

A:

The Accountable Person is the legal entity (or individual) statutorily responsible for managing building safety risks in higher-risk buildings under the Building Safety Act 2022. For most Manchester RMCs, the RMC itself is the Accountable Person, meaning the directors are personally engaged in the duties. We act as the professional partner managing the operational execution of those duties on behalf of the named Accountable Person.

A:

A residential building of seven storeys or more, or 18 metres or more in height, containing at least two dwellings. HRBs are subject to the full Building Safety Act regulatory regime, including BSR registration, Safety Case Reports, Resident Engagement Strategies, and Mandatory Occurrence Reporting. Many Manchester city-centre and Salford Quays buildings are HRBs. Most South Manchester Victorian conversions are not.

A:

The structured digital record of safety-critical building information that the Building Safety Act requires Accountable Persons to maintain for the life of higher-risk buildings. It includes design information, fire safety strategy, structural assessments, materials specifications, maintenance records, and inspection findings — organised so the Accountable Person, the Building Safety Regulator, and residents can access it reliably. Building it from scratch is the single most operationally significant compliance task most RMCs face. We do this as a core deliverable.

A:

Yes. The transition involves transfer of service charge accounts, reserve funds, building documentation, supplier contracts, and ongoing maintenance arrangements. We handle the full handover process directly with the outgoing agent. Most transitions complete within 60 days with no disruption to leaseholders or service delivery.

A:

The formal consultation process required under Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 before an RMC or freeholder can recover (through service charges) the cost of major works above £250 per leaseholder, or qualifying long-term agreements above £100 per leaseholder per year. Failing to consult correctly limits recoverable costs to those statutory caps. We manage Section 20 consultations as standard for any qualifying works.

A:

Yes. Tara personally attends RMC director meetings and AGMs for every block under our management. Quarterly director check-ins, annual AGMs, and ad-hoc meetings on significant matters are all included as standard. We don't believe block management is a relationship that should be conducted entirely by email.

A:

Yes. Annual buildings insurance review and renewal is included as standard. We typically work alongside the building's existing broker — or where appropriate, run a tendering exercise to ensure the cover and premium remain competitive. The Building Safety Act has materially affected the insurance market for HRBs, and active broker engagement is now significantly more important than it was three years ago.

A:

Through a documented internal process with clear timeframes for response and escalation. Where a complaint cannot be resolved internally, leaseholders have the right to escalate to The Property Ombudsman, and ultimately to the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). We are members of The Property Ombudsman scheme and operate to its complaint-handling standards.

Ready to Discuss Your HMO Portfolio?

Every HMO Management instruction begins with a property-specific conversation — typically with Tara directly, often at the property itself. She’ll review your licensing position, your Article 4 status, your current yield, and your operational setup, and give you a clear, honest view of where the gaps and opportunities are.

The conversation costs nothing, commits you to nothing, and is genuinely useful regardless of who ends up managing the property.

Call: 0161 448 2154

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Email: info@railtonmeeks.co.uk

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