Leasehold

What is the difference between the Right to Manage and asking a tribunal to appoint a manager?

GOV.UK’s leasehold page lists both. Right to Manage is taking over certain management responsibilities without having to prove the landlord managed badly. Asking a tribunal to appoint a manager means proving bad management, for example unreasonable service charges or a failure to follow a management code, and it starts with a Section 22 notice. A home survey proves neither.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

What is the fuller explanation?

A rating 3 on a dirty stair is not a tribunal case, and a tribunal case is not a condition rating. The survey can describe the stair. The solicitor or a leasehold adviser explains which route, if any, exists. In England the page points to a tribunal. It says Leasehold Valuation Tribunals in Wales. Do not copy one country’s form into the other.

Buyers sometimes arrive mid-dispute. Ask for the notices, not for the surveyor’s opinion of the neighbours. There is no RICS price for a tribunal. Do not withhold a future service charge because the survey was gloomy. Once you own the flat, the lease and the law decide what you pay.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Did you see evidence of a dispute, or only the condition of the building?
Are you advising a tribunal application? You should not be.
Which defects are condition, as against papers you did not read?

What are the typical next steps?

Ask the solicitor whether any Section 22 notice or tribunal case is already running.
Do not start a Right to Manage claim as a condition of exchange unless you mean to.
Keep the survey as the description of the building, not as the legal claim.

Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.

Also asked about this

Is a managing agent the same as an appointed manager?

No. An agent is hired. A tribunal-appointed manager is a different process. Ask which this block has.

Does bad decorating prove bad management?

GOV.UK gives examples such as unreasonable charges and not following a code. Decorating is not automatically either. Ask an adviser.