QUESTION
I am a leaseholder of a flat for which the freeholder has appointed a managing agent. The managing agent is paid to provide the usual full range of services.
In the event of there being matters that need to be attended who do I approach in the first instance? The managing agent or the freeholder?
ANSWER
Where a landlord has appointed managing agents, this means that the day to day management of the building moves away from the landlord to the managing agents. Therefore, all issues such as repair and maintenance, health & safety, insurance, service charge and rent will generally be administered by the managing agents (although care should be taken to ensure that any notices under the lease are served by the tenant on the correct address and rent and other sums due under the lease are paid to the correct account, which may or may not be that of the managing agent). These details will have been provided to the tenant by the landlord or managing agent. The general rule will be that the managing agents should be the first point of contact, not the landlord.
Stephen Scott, Partner, Real Estate Dispute Resolution at Nabarro
