What is an RTM Director?
Rights to Manage companies or RTMs are legal entities. Leaseholders create them to take over the management of a building from the original freeholder. RTM Directors manage these companies.
RTMs also exist as a management structure where the leaseholders have bought the freehold of the building they are living in and must share responsibility of communal areas with their neighbours.
As the Rights to Manage company is a legal entity, usually in the form of a limited private company, they require one or more directors to satisfy the legal requirements as per the Companies Act of 2006.
The director has a legal obligation to ensure the smooth and legal operation of the Rights to Manage company.
Who can be an RTM Director?
As with any other limited company in the UK, anyone can be a director of the Rights to Manage company so long as they meet the criteria outlined in your company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association.
In addition to these requirements, directors must be:
- Over 18 years old
- Property or leaseholders on the Land Registry Title
Other sites online claim you need to be a leaseholder with at least 21 years left on your lease. We were unable to find that in the Commonhold and Leasehold Act 2002. Therefore if you have under 21 years remaining on your lease, it would be prudent to ask your solicitor when you go about forming an RTM.
Do RTM directors pay themselves?
The role clearly comes with some legal and moral obligation as stated above. However, 3-5 leaseholders in a building take on this responsibility and as they wish to regain control of their building.
For that reason, RTM Directors are often unpaid.
In nearly all cases RTM directors don’t get paid. However, if you search online you will find many forum posts where those perhaps unfairly burdened with the task of managing the RTM may request payment per hour from their fellow leaseholders during the the annual general meeting (AGM) or an extraordinary meeting.
Read our post on you can work with your neighbours to get things done here.
