Leasehold

Is a residents’ management company the same as a Right to Manage company, and does the survey appoint you as a director?

No. A residents’ management company is whatever the lease and the company papers say it is. Right to Manage is the statutory route GOV.UK describes: qualifying leaseholders can take over management without the landlord’s agreement and without proving bad management, and the landlord still owns the building. The survey does not appoint you as a director, and you become one only if the papers say so.

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?

The names get swapped in adverts. An RTM company takes on management. It is not the same thing as owning a share of the freehold, and it is not proved by a tidy hallway or by a board in the entrance that says residents. GOV.UK is clear that the landlord still owns the building. A company already named in a lease as a management company can exist without anyone having used the Right to Manage at all. The inspection cannot tell those histories apart.

If the seller says you will be a director of a freehold company on completion, ask the solicitor to show you the document that says so. Completion papers appoint directors. A home survey does not. Do not sign a survey as if it were a consent to act, and do not assume that managing the block, owning a share, and sitting on a board are one step. There is no condition rating for directorship.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Could you tell from the visit which kind of company manages?
Are you leaving the company papers to the solicitor?
Did anyone on site suggest you would become a director? That still needs the papers.

What are the typical next steps?

Ask the solicitor whether management is by an RTM company, a residents’ company, or someone else.
Ask, separately, whether any paper appoints you as a director on completion.
Do not treat Right to Manage as a transfer of the landlord’s ownership.

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

Does a share of the freehold get decided by the survey?

No. The survey does not transfer the freehold or appoint directors. The papers do, if they say that is what is happening.

If there is no company, can the survey create one?

No. Company questions are legal. The inspection only describes the building it could see.