First 90 Days RTM & RMC Checklist for New Boards
A free checklist for new RTM and Resident Management Company directors in England and Wales. The first 90 days decide insurance, the service charge fund, and a payable demand.
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The first 90 days after a new RTM or RMC board takes control
Insurance, the service charge account, contractors, demands, and the first AGM — in the order a new board actually meets them.
In brief
Free checklist · no email gate
What it is
The first 90 days RTM and RMC checklist is a free, ungated sequence for directors of a Right to Manage company or Resident Management Company in England and Wales. Days 1–30 cover insurance, banking, and the service charge fund. Days 31–60 cover governance, Section 20, and a lawful demand. Days 61–90 cover the AGM, budget, reserves, and one resident channel.
Reviewed by Residentive editorialLast reviewed 29 September 2026
The checklist
What should a new RTM or RMC board have in place?
Work through it in order. Each line is one action. The sentence under it is why that action cannot wait for the next volunteer. Nothing here is gated — share the page with the whole board.
Days 1–30
What should a new board set up immediately?
The first month is operational. Money, cover, and the people who actually attend the building have to be in the company’s name before anyone argues about the AGM.
Insurance, the bank account, and the service charge fund
Confirm the RTM or RMC is active at Companies House and the directors match the people actually deciding.
A company that is late on a confirmation statement or accounts can be struck off while the board thinks it is ‘just settling in’. Check the register before you collect a penny.
Open a bank account in the company name. Do not collect service charge into a director’s personal account.
Service charge money is not a director’s money. A personal account makes the trust position, the audit, and any later handover harder to explain.
Confirm buildings insurance is in force, the insured name is correct, and the broker has the new board’s contact details.
Ask for the schedule, the renewal date, the excess, and who must be told about a claim. A gap in cover is not a filing tidy-up.
Demand the service charge money and a written statement of the account from whoever currently holds it.
Section 42 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires service charge funds to be held on trust. Ask for the balance, the bank, and the supporting records in writing.
Separate the service charge account from company money that is not service charge, and record who can authorise payments.
Two signatories, a written limit for emergency spend, and a note of what the lease allows the reserve to be used for.
Get the last two years of accounts, the current budget, the arrears list, and the supplier invoices before the next demand.
You cannot set a budget, or explain one, from a summary the outgoing agent prepared for a sales meeting.
Notify the outgoing agent and secure contractor contacts
Write to the outgoing managing agent: who now instructs works, where post should go, and the date their appointment ends.
Put it in a letter or email you can file. A phone call does not start a record the next board can read.
Request the handover pack in writing: contracts, the insurance schedule, the health and safety file, the keys log, and meter details.
Name the documents. ‘Please send everything’ is easy to answer with a ZIP that is missing the lift contract.
List every contractor who attends the building, with a named contact and an out-of-hours number.
Lift, fire alarm, cleaning, grounds, utilities, door entry, and drains. Note which contracts can be ended, and which are mid-term.
Secure keys, fobs, plant-room codes, and the alarm code in a register more than one director can reach.
If the only copy sits in one director’s kitchen drawer, the building stops when that director is away.
Tell leaseholders, in one short note, who to call if something fails this week.
Do not wait for a portal. One number or one monitored inbox is enough until the proper channel is live.
Days 31–60
How do you put governance and compliance in place?
The second month is how the company decides, what it must consult on, and whether the next demand is actually payable.
Board roles and the Section 20 register
Agree board roles in writing: chair, finance, safety, and communications. Record them in the minutes.
Roles stop every repair becoming a group chat. They do not move legal duties off the company.
Read the articles and the lease clause that says who can appoint a manager, spend, and sign.
The checklist does not replace that reading. Many boards discover a spending limit only when a contractor invoice arrives.
Open a Section 20 register for qualifying works and long-term agreements: stage, dates, and observations received.
Qualifying works above £250 for any one contributing leaseholder need the statutory consultation. Long-term agreements have a separate threshold. See the Section 20 guide.
Diary the confirmation statement, accounts, and registered office so a new company is not struck off for silence.
An agent can prepare the filing. The directors still own the company. The strike-off guide is the warning, not a substitute for the diary.
If the building may be higher-risk, identify the Accountable Person and where the safety file actually lives.
Winning RTM or standing up an RMC does not pause Building Safety Act duties. If you are not sure the building is in scope, find out in this window — do not guess at the AGM.
Leaseholder communication and demand notices
Send leaseholders a plain update: who the directors are, how to report a repair, and when the next demand is due.
Say what you know and what you are still waiting for from the outgoing agent. Silence reads as ‘nothing is happening’.
Keep a template for that update so the next letter is not rewritten from a blank page.
Same headings every time: what changed, what it costs, what leaseholders need to do, and who to contact.
Issue the next service charge demand in the prescribed LAFRA 2024 Section 55 format.
A demand that is not in the prescribed template is legally non-payable. An inherited agent PDF is not a plan. See the LAFRA guide.
Serve the demand the way the lease requires, and keep proof of service.
A correct form that nobody received is still a cash-flow problem. File the date, the method, and a copy of what was sent.
Write down how arrears will be handled, and do not invent a sanction the lease does not allow.
Interest, administration charges, and legal costs follow the lease and statute. Agree the first chase in the minutes so it is consistent.
Days 61–90
How do you get the block running smoothly?
The third month is the first time the board can show leaseholders a budget, a reserve, and a way to reach someone that is not a director’s personal mobile.
AGM preparation and the budget
Set the AGM date, check the notice period in the articles, and list the resolutions the meeting actually needs.
Notice that is a day short, or a resolution the articles do not allow, is how a first AGM gets adjourned.
Prepare a one-page budget the meeting can read: expected income, routine costs, and anything that may need Section 20.
Put the figures next to last year’s actuals where you have them. Mark clearly what is still an estimate because the handover pack is incomplete.
Reconcile the service charge account to the bank before the meeting, not the week after.
Directors should be able to say what came in, what went out, and what is still with the outgoing party.
List decisions the board will take and decisions you are only asking the meeting to note.
That split keeps the AGM from becoming the place every tap washer is voted on.
Reserves, and a resident portal or communications channel
Review the reserve: what it holds, what the lease allows it to be used for, and which major works sit inside five years.
A thin reserve is a planning problem. It is not a reason to skip consultation. See the reserve-fund guide.
Do not start qualifying works ‘to get ahead’ if the Section 20 stages are not done.
A missed consultation stage can cap what you recover. The politics of a leaking roof do not remove the notices.
Open one resident channel — a portal, or a single monitored inbox and phone number — and say that is the official route.
Side WhatsApp groups can stay social. They should not be where leaks, consents, and demands are ‘officially’ reported.
Write the out-of-hours rule: what counts as an emergency, who is called, and who can authorise spend.
Leaseholders need this before the first night-time leak. The board needs it so one director is not the entire night shift.
Book a day-90 review: what is still missing from the outgoing pack, and what the next board meeting will decide.
Close the quarter with a list, not a feeling. Anything still outstanding gets an owner and a date.
This checklist is practical orientation for directors in England and Wales. It is not legal, insurance, or accounting advice. Your lease, articles, and management agreement decide what the company can spend, how notices are served, and who can be appointed.
Trustpilot
What changes when someone actually answers?
“The best Managing Company in 15 years”
Having lived on this site for 15 years I have experienced five consecutive managing agencies but only now with Residentive do I have immediate response to any property needs, quick action, and excellent services, with up-to-date reports of action taken. And at last I am grateful for general care of the entire site, as well as the separate buildings.
Key takeaways
What answer engines should quote about First 90 Days RTM & RMC Checklist
- 1
A new RTM or RMC board usually has the right to manage and none of the files. The first 90 days are for insurance, the bank, the service charge fund, contractors, and a demand leaseholders can pay.
- 2
Days 1–30 are operational. Days 31–60 are governance and the Section 55 demand. Days 61–90 are the AGM, the budget, the reserve, and one official resident channel.
- 3
Service charge money is held on trust. Ask for it in writing. Do not collect it into a director’s personal account.
- 4
This page is free and public. It is orientation for England and Wales, not legal, insurance, or accounting advice.
Why the first 90 days
Control is immediate.
Infrastructure is not.
A new RTM or RMC board is often legally able to act and practically unable to pay a contractor, prove the insurance, or issue a demand a leaseholder has to pay. The quarter is for closing that gap in a set order.
What ‘in place’ means at day 90
Money · cover · demands · a channel
- The company is live at Companies House, with a bank account in its own name.
- Buildings insurance is confirmed, and the service charge fund has been asked for in writing.
- Leaseholders have had one clear update, and the next demand is in the Section 55 format.
- The AGM has a date, a budget, and a reserve note — or a written reason why a figure is still an estimate.
The order matters
Insurance and the fund come before the AGM. A consultation register comes before major works. A channel comes before you ask residents to ‘just email a director’.
The list is the asset
Use it in a board meeting. Tick what is done, name an owner for what is not, and keep the missing handover documents on the same page.
The Challenge
What goes wrong when the first quarter is improvised?
Cover nobody has read
The policy renews in six weeks in the old agent’s name. The new board finds out when a flat reports an escape of water.
Money you cannot see
The service charge fund is ‘with the previous agent’. No statement, no bank, no idea whether the reserve is real. The first contractor still wants paying.
A demand that is not payable
The old template goes out because it is the file everyone has. Section 55 does not care that the board is new.
Every resident has a different number
Leaks go to three directors and a WhatsApp group. Nothing is logged. The AGM becomes a complaints meeting because there was no channel.
The usual failure is not a missing strategy. It is a building that still depends on the previous agent’s login, a director’s personal bank account, and a demand copied from last year.
Guidance
The questions directors actually ask
Straight answers in the same language as the statute — without a lecture.
- 01
What is the difference between an RTM company and an RMC?
A Resident Management Company — also searched as a residents’ management company — is usually the company named in the leases to manage the building. It may have existed since the development was sold. A Right to Manage company is formed by qualifying leaseholders so they can take the management functions from the landlord without buying the freehold. Both end up with directors, a service charge, and the same practical problem in month one: authority without a filing system. This page is the operating checklist. It is not the ballot, and it is not the notice that ends the previous appointment — that sequence is at /switch-to-residentive and, where RTM is recent, /switch-to-residentive/post-rtm-transition.
- 02
When does the 90-day clock start?
Start it on the day the company can act: the RTM acquisition date, or the day a new RMC board actually takes the appointment. Do not wait for the outgoing agent to ‘finish the handover’. The building does not pause. If a document is missing, write it down as missing and keep going on insurance, keys, and a number leaseholders can call. The clock is a management tool, not a statutory deadline.
- 03
What should you demand from the outgoing managing agent?
Ask, in writing, for the management agreement, the last two years of service charge accounts, the current budget, the arrears list, supplier contracts, the insurance schedule, health and safety and fire records, warranties, meter details, the keys and fob log, and a statement of the service charge fund. Service charge money is held on trust. If the inbox stays empty after a valid request, treat it as a disputed handover and follow /switch-to-residentive/disputed-handover. Keep copying the board.
- 04
What happens if insurance or the service charge account is still in the old name?
Find out in week one, not at renewal. Ask the broker whether the policy responds if the insured is the previous agent or the landlord, and what has to change now that the RTM or RMC instructs the works. Ask the bank, or the outgoing agent, where the service charge cash sits and who can move it. Directors who ‘sort the paperwork after the AGM’ are the directors who discover an uninsured escape of water or a fund they cannot reach.
- 05
Do you have to self-manage, or can the board appoint an agent?
You do not have to run every repair from a kitchen table. An RTM or RMC can appoint a managing agent and still remain the client. The checklist is the same either way: the company owns the bank mandate, the insurance interest, the demands, and the decisions. Appointing someone is a board resolution, not a reason to skip the list. If you want that appointment to be Residentive, the consultation is at /book and the handover protocol is at /switch-to-residentive.
- 06
Is this checklist legal, insurance, or accounting advice?
No. It is practical orientation for directors in England and Wales, written so a new board can see the work in order. Your lease, your articles, and your management agreement decide what you can spend, how you serve notices, and who you can appoint. Take advice on anything that is already in dispute, on a higher-risk building, or on a demand you suspect is already non-payable. Use the compliance guides linked from this page as the next reading, not as a substitute for that advice.
Compare
A first quarter with a list, and one without
| By day 90 | Improvised | This checklist |
|---|---|---|
| Banking | A director’s personal account ‘for now’ | A company account, with the service charge fund asked for in writing |
| Insurance | Renewal discovered when a claim appears | Schedule, insured name, broker contact, and renewal date on file |
| Outgoing agent | A phone call and a promise to ‘send the pack’ | A written notice of who instructs works, plus a named document list |
| Contractors | Whoever the last resident happened to use | A contact list, including out-of-hours, and which contracts are mid-term |
| Demands | Last year’s PDF with the date changed | The next demand in the LAFRA 2024 Section 55 format, with proof of service |
| Section 20 | A quote accepted in a group chat | A register of stage, dates, and observations before works are instructed |
| Leaseholders | Three WhatsApp groups and a director’s mobile | One update template and one official channel |
| AGM | A meeting about the lack of numbers | A date, a notice period checked against the articles, and a one-page budget |
| Reserve | ‘We’ll look at major works next year’ | A review of what is held, what the lease allows, and works inside five years |
What a board meeting can do with this list
Print it, or share the page. Give each open line an owner and a date. Residentive can run the operating side with you — the ledger, the prescribed demand, the portal, and the trades — while the directors keep the decisions.
A free ProperAudit™ on the pack you do have
If two years of papers arrive in week two, the audit is how the board sees duplicate invoices and gaps before the budget is presented as fact.
Demands in the Section 55 format
The billing engine issues the prescribed template, so the first quarter is not spent reprinting a non-payable PDF.
One resident channel
ProperPortal™ is the ledger and the repair log leaseholders can see. Until it is live, the checklist still asks you to name one inbox and one number.
Contractors without a hidden markup
ProperHub™ is the open-book trades route, including the Section 20 workflow when works qualify. It does not replace the register you should open in month two.
The process
How a new RTM or RMC board gets through the first 90 days
Three phases: immediate operational setup, governance and compliance, then a budget, a reserve review, and one resident channel.
- 1
Days 1–30: stand up the operation
Confirm the company is live, open a company bank account, check buildings insurance, demand the service charge fund and records, write to the outgoing agent, and collect contractor and key contacts.
- 2
Days 31–60: put governance and compliance on paper
Agree board roles, open a Section 20 register, diary Companies House filings, send a leaseholder update from a template, and issue the next demand in the LAFRA 2024 Section 55 format.
- 3
Days 61–90: show the block it is being run
Set the AGM, publish a one-page budget reconciled to the bank, review the reserve against works inside five years, and open one official resident portal or communications channel.
Talk through day one before the first demand goes out
A free 30-minute consultation for a new RTM or RMC board. Bring the questions this checklist raised — insurance, the trust fund, or the first letter to the outgoing agent. Nothing on this page is behind an email gate.
Example Use Cases
Who this is for
Who this first 90 days checklist is for
New RTM company directors
You have acquired the management functions. The landlord’s agent may still hold the money, the keys, and the contracts. Start with days 1–30, and read the post-RTM handover if notice and Section 42 are still open.
Audience pageNew RMC directors
The company may be named in the leases already. A new board still has to see the bank, the insurance, and the last demand. The duties do not shrink because the role is unpaid.
Audience pageBoards in the first quarter after handover
Developer handover and a disputed outgoing agent are the same quarter with a worse filing cabinet. Use the switching protocol for the legal sequence, and this checklist for what ‘day one’ has to contain.
Audience pageResidentive platform
What a new board can run once day one is real
The checklist stands on its own. These are the modules that hold the ledger, the prescribed demand, the resident channel, and the trades once the board wants them off a spreadsheet.
- ProperAudit™ Service ChargeSelf-serve document audit for UK blocks — start free with limited storage, then scale file limits as your pack grows.Learn more
- ProperPortal™ ResidentsLive financial ledgers, repair tracking, and community voting in one premium interface.Learn more
- ProperHub™ Trades ProfessionalsA direct link to vetted, local professionals with open-book pricing and full cost transparency — direct to your block.Learn more
- ProperSafe™ ComplianceGolden Thread repository, Accountable Person dashboards, automated assessments — because non-compliance isn't an option.Learn more
Keep reading
The guides this checklist points at
The list is the first 90 days. These pages are the statute and the handover behind individual lines.
- Post-RTM transitionThe handover window after Right to Manage: demands, records, and the trust fund.Read the guide
- For RTM companiesThe operating briefing for a company that has just taken management.Read the guide
- For RMC directorsWhat the board still owns when an agent writes the cheques.Read the guide
- LAFRA 2024 demandsWhy an old-format service charge demand is non-payable.Read the guide
- Section 20 consultationThe statutory stages before qualifying works or a long-term agreement.Read the guide
- Directors’ dutiesCompany-law duties that sit beside the service charge.Read the guide
- Strike-off riskWhat happens when Companies House filings go quiet.Read the guide
- Reserve fund planningHow a thin reserve turns into a rushed major-works bill.Read the guide
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers for directors of a newly formed RTM or RMC company in England and Wales.
What should a new RTM board do in the first 90 days?
Days 1–30: confirm the company is live, open a bank account in the company name, check buildings insurance, demand the service charge fund and records, notify the outgoing agent, and collect contractor and key contacts. Days 31–60: agree board roles, open a Section 20 register, send a leaseholder update, and issue the next demand in the LAFRA 2024 Section 55 format. Days 61–90: prepare the AGM and a one-page budget, review the reserve, and open one official resident channel.
What should a new RMC director do in the first month?
Treat month one as operational, not ceremonial. Insurance, the bank mandate, the service charge account, a written note to the outgoing agent, and a list of who holds the keys and the emergency numbers. Governance and the AGM come after the building can still be repaired on a Tuesday night.
Does a new RTM company need its own bank account?
Yes. Open an account in the company name. Service charge money is held on trust under section 42 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. It should not sit in a director’s personal account, and it should be separable from money that is not service charge.
Who insures the building after Right to Manage?
Check the policy in week one. Confirm it is in force, that the insured name still makes sense, and that the broker has the new board’s details and the renewal date. Do not assume the landlord’s previous arrangement simply follows the RTM. This page is not insurance advice — ask the broker what has to change.
What is a Section 20 register, and why start one in the first 90 days?
It is the board’s log of qualifying works and long-term agreements: which stage you are in, the dates, and the observations received. Qualifying works that would cost any one contributing leaseholder more than £250 trigger consultation under Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. Long-term agreements have a separate threshold. A register stops a ‘small’ roof or a lift contract becoming an unrecoverable bill. See /compliance/section-20-consultation.
What format should the first service charge demand use?
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, Section 55, requires a standardised format. A demand that is not in the prescribed template is legally non-payable. Do not reprint the outgoing agent’s old PDF. See /compliance/lafra-2024-service-charge-demands.
What should the first letter to leaseholders say?
Who the directors are, how to report a repair this week, when the next demand is due, and what you are still waiting for from the outgoing agent. Keep that as a template. One official channel is better than three inboxes.
When should a new board hold its AGM?
Inside the first 90 days if the articles and the company’s position allow it, and only after you can put a budget and a bank reconciliation in front of the meeting. Check the notice period in the articles before you send the notice. An AGM without numbers is a meeting about the lack of numbers.
How much should a new board hold in the reserve?
This page cannot tell you a figure. Review what the reserve holds, what the lease allows it to be used for, and which major works are likely inside five years. A thin reserve often forces a rushed consultation later. See /compliance/major-works-reserve-fund-planning.
Can we appoint a managing agent and still use this checklist?
Yes. Appointing an agent does not remove the company’s duties. The bank mandate, insurance, demands, Section 20, and leaseholder communication still need an owner. The checklist is the board’s list whether you self-manage or appoint. The switch protocol, if you are changing agent, is at /switch-to-residentive.
What if the outgoing agent will not release the accounts or the keys?
Write again. Date every chase. Copy the board. Follow the disputed handover protocol at /switch-to-residentive/disputed-handover. Do not let an empty inbox become the way the building is run. Statutory rights to information still apply; this is not a script for a tribunal.
Do we need a resident portal in the first 90 days?
You need one official channel. A portal is the durable version: the ledger, documents, and repair reports in one place. If the portal is not live by day 90, a single monitored inbox and phone number still beats a director’s personal WhatsApp. ProperPortal™ is the resident channel on this stack; the checklist does not require you to buy it to be useful.
Is this checklist free?
Yes. The page is public. There is no email gate and no download wall. If you want a person to walk through your building’s day one, book a free 30-minute consultation at /book.
New RTM or RMC board? Talk through day one.