Railton-Meeks offers Full Management for landlords across Manchester and Cheshire who want the complete hands-off experience. For 14.5% of rent received — collected monthly, deducted at source — we handle everything: tenant marketing, referencing, tenancy setup, monthly rent collection, property inspections, maintenance coordination, utilities administration, compliance renewals, and end-of-tenancy procedures. You receive a single monthly payment. We manage every detail.
Full Management is built on two strategic foundations. First, compliance-first onboarding — every tenant is fully referenced, affordability-checked, and contractually protected under the post-May 2026 Renters’ Rights Act framework before they move in, which materially reduces arrears risk, deposit disputes, and possession proceedings later. Second, proactive portfolio management — every property is tracked on a rent-day cycle, inspected on a fixed schedule, and reviewed annually for yield optimisation against Manchester market comparables. With ARLA Propertymark qualification, twenty years of Manchester landlord-led stewardship, and transparent fees with no renewal charges and no hidden extras, Full Management is the service chosen by the majority of our established portfolio landlords.
For twenty years, property management in Manchester was relatively straightforward. A property let on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, with Section 21 available as an exit route if the tenancy became unworkable — landlord and agent both knew where they stood.
That changed on 1 May 2026. The Renters’ Rights Act abolished Section 21 completely. Every existing Assured Shorthold Tenancy automatically converted to a periodic tenancy. Tenant notification requirements, previously a courtesy, are now statutory — the mandatory Information Sheet must be served to every existing tenant by 31 May 2026. EPC Grade C is a hard deadline for 2030. Awaab’s Law sets statutory response timeframes for damp and mould. Making Tax Digital changed how landlord income is reported entirely.
The property management function that used to be optional — “nice to have for higher rents” — is now essential risk mitigation. A landlord self-managing a portfolio in the post-RRA environment is carrying multiple statutory liability exposures simultaneously. Missing a single compliance deadline now has direct financial consequences.
Full Management is the professional answer to that complexity. Every compliance date is tracked automatically. Every tenant is managed to the latest statutory standard from day one. Every regulatory obligation is owned, documented, and discharged. The monthly cost of Full Management on an average Manchester property is substantially cheaper than a single missed compliance deadline, one late possession application, or one deposit adjudication that goes against you on a procedural error.
Full Management at Railton-Meeks covers every element of professional property management — from the strategic onboarding of your first tenant through to the monthly rent cycle, inspections, maintenance coordination, compliance renewals, and the administrative structure that protects your asset long-term. Below is a complete breakdown of what’s included.
Different landlords need different levels of involvement. The three core Railton-Meeks landlord services exist on a spectrum — from a one-time tenant find through to completely hands-off ongoing management. Here’s where each one sits and how to choose.
Tenant Finder (£250 one-time) is the entry point. We market your property, conduct viewings, and present qualified applicants. You handle referencing, contracting, deposit registration, ongoing management, compliance renewals, and the full tenancy lifecycle from move-in onwards. The right choice for landlords who are confident with the administrative and compliance side and want to stay closely involved. The trade-off is clear: you carry all the statutory risk and all the monthly workload with Tenant Finder.
Let Only (£650 one-time) takes you further. We handle everything from marketing through to keys-in-hand — viewings, formal referencing, ARLA-compliant tenancy agreement, deposit protection, Right-to-Rent checks, council tax liaison, and a full photographic inventory. You then manage the tenancy month-to-month: rent collection, inspections, maintenance coordination, compliance renewals, and end-of-tenancy administration. Let Only suits landlords who want professional onboarding but are willing to stay involved in the ongoing management. Many landlords start here and move to Full Management once their portfolio grows or their circumstances change.
Full Management (14.5% of rent received) is entirely hands-off. We handle everything — including the ongoing monthly rent cycle, inspections, maintenance coordination, all compliance renewals, tenant communications, and end-of-tenancy administration. You receive a monthly payment. That is the full extent of your involvement. Full Management is the right choice if you want complete delegation, professional compliance handling as standard, and a single point of accountability for everything that happens at the property.
A complete feature-by-feature breakdown of all four landlord service tiers.
| 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 |
£250 one-time setup
£350 one-time setup
£650* one-time setup
14.5% of rent received
All fees are exclusive of VAT. Tenant referencing at £25 per person covers credit, employment, and previous landlord checks for each named applicant. *Let Only fee is one month’s rent, subject to a minimum fee of £650. The £250 re-letting fee on Let Only and Fully Managed properties applies when an existing tenancy ends and a new tenant is required.
One of the most common questions landlords ask before instructing Full Management is how the monthly fee is calculated and how their payment reaches them. Here is exactly how the rent collection, deduction, and landlord payment cycle operates in practice — with no ambiguity.
On the agreed rent due date each month, the tenant pays into our client rent account. From that point, the following sequence runs automatically:
Rent lands in the client account. Our systems match the payment against the tenancy record and flag any shortfall immediately.
We confirm the amount received, check for arrears against the running ledger, and verify no deductions are outstanding from the previous month.
The landlord payment is calculated: rent received, minus our 14.5% management fee, minus any agreed deductions for maintenance or contractor invoices approved that month, equals the net landlord payment.
The net amount is transferred to your nominated bank account. At the same time, an itemised monthly statement is issued showing rent received, fee deducted, any other deductions, and net amount paid. Every line is named. There are no mystery deductions.
If rent is not received on the due date, we notify you the same day. We contact the tenant on day two with a formal reminder. If payment has not been received within five days of the due date, we issue a formal notice of arrears and begin the escalation process — which can include Section 8 proceedings under the Housing Act 1988 as amended by the Renters’ Rights Act if the arrears reach the statutory threshold.
The fee structure is consistent: 14.5% of rent received, calculated monthly, deducted at source. If rent is not collected in a given month, no management fee is charged for that month. You only pay when rent lands.
No rent collected. No fee charged. Our 14.5% management fee is calculated on rent received — not rent due. If a tenant falls into arrears and we are pursuing recovery, you are not charged a management fee during the period rent is not paid.
The most common reason established landlords switch to Full Management is not the monthly admin relief — though that matters. It is the compliance protection. They have had a compliance miss, realised what it nearly cost them, and decided that professional management is cheaper than the alternative.
Property management in 2026 is compliance management. The regulatory framework moved faster in the eighteen months to May 2026 than in the previous two decades. The Renters’ Rights Act, Building Safety Act 2022, Awaab’s Law, the EPC Grade C deadline, Making Tax Digital — these are not aspirational standards. They are statutory obligations carrying civil penalties, rent repayment orders, and in some cases criminal liability for non-compliance.
The financial exposure is real and specific:
At Railton-Meeks, compliance is built into the foundation of Full Management — not bolted on afterwards:
Every tenant is fully referenced and affordability-assessed before move-in, which materially reduces arrears risk and deposit disputes from the outset. Every renewal date — gas safety annually, EICR every five years, compliance checks on the fixed schedule — is tracked on an automated calendar with contractor bookings confirmed in advance. Every statutory notice is issued within the required timeframe and retained in a digital audit file. Every piece of compliance documentation is held in an organised, searchable file accessible to the landlord on demand. Every compliance issue is escalated immediately — there is no accumulation of missed deadlines on a Railton-Meeks managed property.
That systematic approach is not a premium add-on. It is how professional property management in 2026 actually works — and it is included as standard in every Full Management instruction.
Twenty years of landlord referrals. ARLA-qualified throughout. A compliance-first operating model built specifically for the post-2026 regulatory landscape. Here is what that means in practice.
Every Full Management landlord has a named point of contact — not a call centre, not a ticket system. Tara Meeks is the managing director and your primary contact for anything strategic. Sylwia Pagorska owns the operational workflow and is your day-to-day point of contact for property management matters. Jorge Fernandes handles lettings and client relations. You will always know who you are speaking to and why.
Tara founded Railton-Meeks in 2006 to manage her own growing portfolio and has spent over 20 years investing, developing, and letting property across South Manchester. As an ARLA Propertymark Member, she leads the agency’s compliance and asset-protection strategy — landlord-to-landlord.
Sylwia leads day-to-day property management across the Railton-Meeks portfolio, holding the ARLA Propertymark Associate qualification (AARLA). She specialises in compliance documentation, mid-tenancy issue resolution, and the digital safety records required under the Building Safety Act 2022.
Jorge brings nearly four decades of customer-service experience to landlord and tenant relations at Railton-Meeks. From property viewings and Right-to-Rent verification to reference handling and move-in inventories, his proactive approach keeps every tenancy starting on a compliant footing.
The questions Manchester landlords ask before instructing Full Management.
Possibly not in absolute terms — you can collect rent yourself and do it for free. But on a risk-adjusted basis, Full Management is almost always the cheaper option. One missed gas safety certificate renewal can invalidate your landlord insurance and trigger a Manchester City Council enforcement notice. One arrears case requiring Section 8 proceedings costs £500–2,000 in legal fees and months of management time. A single deposit adjudication lost on a procedural error means you return the entire deposit regardless of the damage. One Awaab's Law investigation where you miss the statutory reporting deadline exposes you to enforcement action and tenant compensation claims. Full Management at 14.5% is professional risk mitigation — and the cost of the mitigation is consistently lower than the cost of the risks it covers.
There is no hard floor, but the arithmetic typically works when monthly rent exceeds £700. Below that, the 14.5% fee may not reflect the full value of the service relative to the rent level, and we will tell you honestly if Let Only or Tenant Finder Plus is a better fit for your property. We would rather recommend the right service than oversell one that does not suit your situation.
Yes, and we do this regularly. Full Management can begin from any month — there is no requirement to wait for tenancy renewal or a change of tenant. We conduct an initial property inspection, update your compliance file with any certificates that need renewing, integrate the property into our management cycle, and introduce ourselves formally to your existing tenant. The transition typically takes one to two weeks and involves no disruption to the tenant.
Yes, as part of the Full Management service. If a tenant reaches the statutory arrears threshold under the Renters' Rights Act — currently two months of unpaid rent for Ground 8 — we prepare and serve the Section 8 notice, manage the court application, and handle all documentation and scheduling through to the possession order. There is no additional charge for Section 8 proceedings on a Full Management property. Court fees and bailiff costs, where applicable, are passed through at cost.
During the tenancy, damage identified at inspections is photographed, reported to you, and escalated to the tenant with a formal notice to repair where appropriate. Maintenance arising from fair wear and tear is handled through our contractor network at preferred-partner rates. At end-of-tenancy, we conduct a full check-out inspection, compare condition against the original inventory, and prepare an itemised schedule of any deductions from the deposit with photographic evidence. If the tenant disputes the deductions, we manage the adjudication process with the deposit protection scheme on your behalf.
Yes. Once yearly — or more frequently if market conditions justify it — we review your rent against current Manchester comparables for the postcode and property type. If the evidence supports an upward adjustment without risk of tenant departure, we recommend a figure and manage the formal notice process. Under the Renters' Rights Act, rent increases on periodic tenancies require a minimum of two months' written notice using the prescribed Section 13 procedure. We handle the notice, the timing, and the documentation. No rent increase is ever served without your explicit instruction.
We schedule access for you under the right-to-inspect provisions of the tenancy agreement, giving the tenant a minimum of 24 hours' written notice as required by law. If you need access urgently for a genuine emergency — structural damage, flood, gas leak — we dispatch the appropriate contractor immediately and notify you and the tenant simultaneously. You are always informed before we take any action at the property.
Yes. Remote landlord management is increasingly common in our client base. We handle all inspections, contractor coordination, compliance paperwork, and tenant liaison directly. Monthly statements and annual rent accounts are issued digitally. The only practical requirements are a UK bank account for rent payment transfer and availability by phone or email for strategic decisions — rent increases, major maintenance approvals, and tenancy renewals. Everything else is handled without requiring your physical presence.
You give your current agent notice in line with their terms — typically one to three months depending on your contract. Once notice is confirmed, we manage the transition directly: we retrieve existing tenancy documents, arrange deposit transfer to our client account, collect all compliance certificates and maintenance records, and conduct an introductory call with your existing tenant. Most transitions complete within two to four weeks. We have handled dozens of agent switches and the process is straightforward when managed professionally from both sides.
The first step is a conversation with Tara — usually a twenty-minute call covering your property, your current situation, and what Full Management would look like in practice for your specific portfolio. There is no obligation and no cost. If Full Management is the right fit, we agree a start date and begin the onboarding process. If it is not the right fit, we will tell you that too and point you toward the service that is.
Call 0161 448 2154, email tmeeks@railtonmeeks.co.uk, or use the request form below.
Every Full Management instruction begins with a conversation — usually with Tara directly, often at the property itself. She will review your current situation, walk you through the onboarding process, and give you a clear picture of what Full Management will cost and what it will save you. If Full Management is not the right fit for your property or your circumstances, she will tell you that too.
The conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
