Manage your block like a professional agent

A Section 20 consultation is a statutory process under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 that must be followed before carrying out qualifying works costing more than £250 per leaseholder. It involves three stages: a notice of intention, obtaining estimates, and a notice of estimates — each with a minimum 30-day consultation period. Failing to follow the process correctly can mean the costs are capped at £250 per leaseholder regardless of actual expenditure.

Service charges are typically split between leaseholders based on the percentage share specified in each lease. Check your individual leases for the apportionment — common bases include equal shares, floor area ratios, or rateable values. Add up all budgeted costs for the year (insurance, maintenance, reserves, management), then multiply by each unit's lease percentage to calculate individual demands.

Two different things get called "year-end accounts", and only one of them is a statutory duty. Under section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 any leaseholder can request a written summary of the relevant costs for a 12-month period, and the landlord must supply it within one month of the request or six months of the end of that period, whichever is later. Where the service charges are payable by the tenants of more than four dwellings, that summary must be certified by a qualified accountant. Separately, what your block produces as its annual service charge accounts, in what format and certified by whom, is set by your lease. RICS/ICAEW guidance recommends an accruals basis, expenditure shown by category, surplus or deficit carried forward and the reserve fund balance kept separate, and an independent accountant's report; that is best practice and a likely lease requirement rather than a statutory rule in itself.

No. A subscription covers one development — the buildings your company manages on the same site — however many structures that turns out to be. Plenty of RMCs run a converted house and a later block side by side, or two wings built decades apart, and that is one job with one set of leaseholders and one committee, not two. You should not have to decide whether each structure counts as a block before you can work out what you would pay. If you manage genuinely separate developments, get in touch and we will price it properly rather than surprise you later.

No, and it is not intended to. Your block is a limited company, so it still owes Companies House statutory accounts and a confirmation statement whatever software you use, and RICS/ICAEW guidance recommends an independent accountant reports on service charge accounts. What is more, what your block must produce at year end is set by your lease, which differs from block to block. LevyBoard keeps the underlying records right as you go — every demand, payment and cost categorised, with reserve fund and trust monies held separately — and gives you an income and expenditure statement by fund at year end. Your accountant works from that rather than rebuilding your year from bank statements, which is where their time and your fee usually go.

Start with a formal written demand showing the amount owed, the period it covers, and the lease clause requiring payment. Follow up with reminder letters at 14-day and 30-day intervals. If payment is not received, you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for a determination that the charges are payable. The 18-month rule under Section 20B means demands must be issued within 18 months of the costs being incurred.

RMC directors are responsible for managing the building on behalf of all leaseholders. Key duties include: budgeting and collecting service charges, arranging building insurance, maintaining common parts, complying with health and safety regulations, filing a confirmation statement with Companies House, following Section 20 consultation procedures for major works, and keeping proper accounts. Directors have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the company and its members.

Section 20B of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires that service charge demands must be served within 18 months of the costs being incurred. If a demand is not served within this window, the leaseholder is not liable to pay — unless they were notified in writing within the 18-month period that costs had been incurred and a demand would follow. This rule exists to prevent landlords from accumulating large unexpected bills.

LevyBoard is currently in development. Join the waitlist to be notified when it launches and to receive early-bird pricing. The platform is designed to be affordable for volunteer-run blocks — priced for directors, not enterprise property managers. Waitlist members will hear about launch pricing first.

LevyBoard is built by Crocker Digital Ltd (Company No. 17008789), a UK-based technology company focused on solving real problems for underserved professional communities. The platform is designed specifically for volunteer directors who manage blocks without professional property management training.

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