Can leaseholders force a change of managing agent? The preliminary notice and the tribunal's power to appoint a manager

A leaseholder who is unhappy with how a block is run often asks whether they can simply force a change of managing agent. There is no right to sack an agent by a vote of the leaseholders as such. There is, though, a route through the First-tier Tribunal: an application for the tribunal to appoint a manager. The rules are in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987.

Step one: the preliminary notice (section 22)

Before applying, a leaseholder must normally serve a notice on the landlord, and on anyone other than the landlord who owes the leaseholder obligations about managing the premises. That second group can include a management company.

The notice must give the leaseholder's name, the address of their flat and an address in England and Wales where notices can be sent. It must say that the leaseholder intends to apply to the tribunal, set out the grounds, and give any other information that regulations require. Where the complaint can be put right, it must ask the recipient to take steps to remedy it within a reasonable period that the notice names.

Section 22 also lets the tribunal waive the notice where it is satisfied that serving one would not be reasonably practicable. It may direct other notices or steps instead.

Step two: the grounds (section 24)

The tribunal may appoint a manager only if it is satisfied that one of the grounds in section 24(2) is met. Paraphrasing the section:

That is five grounds. The two about charges, (ab) and (aba), are 2 of 5, or 40%. The tribunal must be satisfied of the ground, and for some of them also that appointing a manager is just and convenient, so naming a ground is the start of the case, not the end.

What an order can say

The order may set the manager's pay, say what the manager must do, attach conditions, and pass existing rights and liabilities under contracts to the manager. It can run for a stated period or without limit of time. Under subsection (9), anyone with an interest can apply to vary or discharge it.

What this means for a managing agent

Reading the two sections, the practical points are these. They are our reading of the text, not legal advice.

1. A notice is a warning with a deadline. The recipient is asked to put things right within a reasonable period. A dated, written reply that shows what was done is better than silence.
2. Charge disputes can lead here. Check that each demand meets the rules in our service charge demand checker and that records can be produced when a leaseholder asks, as in the section 22 invoice request guide.
3. Cheap routes come first. A leaseholder who can get a quick answer has less reason to escalate. The tribunal fee guide shows what a service charge application costs; it does not cover applications to appoint a manager.
4. Plan for a handover. If a manager is appointed, files move. The handover checklist lists what a new person needs.

What we could not confirm

We did not read section 21, so we cannot say who is entitled to apply or which landlords and properties are excluded. We did not find a tribunal fee for this kind of application. We did not read the preliminary notice regulations, so the "prescribed information" is not described here. Anyone thinking of serving or answering a notice should check those and take advice.

Overlyft can set up an AI assistant that logs every leaseholder complaint with a date and a response deadline, drafts the written reply for a person to approve, and flags any complaint that has gone unanswered past the period it asked for.

This is general information, not legal advice.