The RTM Claim Notice Timeline: Every Notice, Deadline and Section

The claim notice fixes two dates: a counter-notice date at least one month after it is given, and an acquisition date at least three months after that. If no one disputes the claim, the RTM company takes over management on the acquisition date; if a counter-notice disputes it, the company has two months to apply to the First-tier Tribunal, and takeover moves to three months after the dispute ends in its favour.

This article covers England only. The Right to Manage also exists in Wales, but the prescribed forms and the tribunal differ there, and Wales is not covered here. For the process as a whole, read how Right to Manage works; this piece is the timetable. It is general information, not legal advice.

The timetable at a glance

Every notice must be in writing and may be sent by post. The company may give a notice to a landlord at the address for service last given to a member of the company under section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 or, if there is none, the address last given to a member under section 47, and to a qualifying tenant at the flat, unless the person has notified a different address in England and Wales (section 111).

Before the claim: information and invitations

Section 82: getting the facts for the claim notice

Before claiming, the company may require any person to provide information it reasonably needs to complete the claim notice, such as lease dates and terms. The recipient has 28 days beginning with the day the notice is given, and since 3 March 2025 the company pays the reasonable costs of complying (section 82(3) to (5)).

Section 78: the notice of invitation to participate

Each qualifying tenant not yet a member must be invited, in the form in Schedule 1 to the Right to Manage (Prescribed Particulars and Forms) (England) Regulations 2010 with the extra particulars in regulation 3 (among them the registered number, registered office, directors, and the names of the landlord and any third party).

The prescribed form has not been updated since the 2025 costs changes: its notes still describe members' liability for the landlord's costs under the old sections 88 and 89, which no longer apply to a claim notice given today (see what Right to Manage costs, and who pays). Take advice on how to complete it.

Under section 79(2), the claim notice may not be given unless every invitation went out at least 14 days before. If the invitation offers inspection of the articles instead of a copy, the slots must fall within the seven days beginning with the day after it is given (section 78(5)).

The claim notice: what it must say and who gets it

The day the claim notice is given is the relevant date (section 79(1)), and almost every later question is judged on it. On that date the RTM company's membership must meet the threshold in section 79(3) to (5):

• if the premises contain only two qualifying tenants, both must be members (section 79(4));
• in any other case, the members must include qualifying tenants numbering not less than half of the total number of flats in the premises (section 79(5)). The count is against all flats, not just the flats held by qualifying tenants, so a block of 20 flats needs at least 10 qualifying tenant members even if only 16 are held by qualifying tenants.

The notice must be in the form in Schedule 2 to the 2010 Regulations and contain the particulars in section 80 and regulation 4. Two of those particulars set the whole timetable:

• Section 80(6): a date, not earlier than one month after the relevant date, by which each recipient may give a counter-notice.
• Section 80(7): a date, at least three months after that counter-notice date, on which the company intends to acquire the right to manage.

The notice goes to each landlord, each other party to a lease otherwise than as landlord or tenant (such as a management company named in the leases) and any manager appointed under Part 2 of the 1987 Act (section 79(6)). A copy goes to every qualifying tenant (section 79(8)) and, where a manager has been appointed, to the tribunal or court that appointed them (section 79(9)).

Under section 81, an inaccuracy in the particulars does not invalidate the notice. But while a claim notice is in force, no further claim notice can be given for the same premises, so a company that spots a defect must first withdraw it by notice of withdrawal to the same recipients and every qualifying tenant (section 86).

The counter-notice and the two-month tribunal window

Only a person given the claim notice under section 79(6) can give a counter-notice, no later than the section 80(6) date (section 84(1)); leaseholders, who receive copies, do not. In the Schedule 3 form, it either admits the company was entitled on the relevant date or alleges that, by reason of a specified provision of the Chapter, it was not.

A disputing counter-notice stops the claim unless the tribunal finally determines the company was entitled or every disputing party agrees in writing (section 84(5)). The burden is on the RTM company: it must apply within two months beginning with the day the last counter-notice was given (section 84(4)), or the claim notice is deemed withdrawn at the end of that period (section 87). The landlord need not apply to anyone. A decision against the company ends the claim notice (section 84(6)).

Since 3 March 2025 the company and its members are generally not liable for the landlord's costs of the claim (section 87A), but if the claim notice is withdrawn, deemed withdrawn or ceases to have effect, the tribunal can order costs where the company acted unreasonably (section 87B).

When is the acquisition date?

Section 90 gives four answers:

• No dispute (no counter-notice, or every counter-notice admits entitlement): the date in the claim notice under section 80(7).
• Tribunal determination: three months after the determination becomes final, which is the end of the appeal period if no one appeals, or when any appeal is disposed of (sections 84(7) and (8)).
• Written agreement after a dispute: three months after the day the last disputing party agrees in writing that the company was entitled.
• Missing landlord order under section 85: the date specified in the tribunal's order.

A worked example: invitations given on 2 November 2026 allow a claim notice from 16 November on a simple count, or 17 November if the 14 days are clear days; many companies allow more, because a posted notice is generally treated as given when it would be delivered in the ordinary course of post (Interpretation Act 1978, section 7), not when it is posted. A claim notice given on 1 December 2026 might specify 4 January 2027 for counter-notices and 8 April 2027 for acquisition, with a few days of margin over each statutory minimum. A disputing counter-notice given on 4 January 2027 would mean applying to the tribunal on or before 3 March 2027.

Between the counter-notice date and takeover

The handover duties key off the determination date (section 91(5)): the counter-notice date if there is no dispute, the date a tribunal determination becomes final, or the day of the last written agreement.

• Contractor and contract notices (section 92): each landlord, third party or manager with a management contract covering a function the RTM company will take over must notify the contractor and the RTM company on the determination date or as soon as reasonably practicable after, and for contracts made later, on the day they are made or as soon as reasonably practicable after. Contractors pass the notice to their sub-contractors (section 92(4)).
• Information for management (section 93): the company may require each landlord, third party or manager to provide information and copies of documents it reasonably needs to manage. Nothing is due before the acquisition date; otherwise the recipient has 28 days beginning with the day the notice is given.
• Accrued uncommitted service charges (section 94): service charges held, with investments and income, less costs incurred before the acquisition date, are payable on that date or as soon after as is reasonably practicable; either side can ask the tribunal to fix the amount. Where the money should land is covered in opening an RTM company bank account.

On the acquisition date itself the directors take on the management functions; what to set up for that first day is in the RMC and RTM director handover guide.

What if the landlord cannot be found?

If no one can be found to serve (section 79(7)), the company applies to the tribunal for an order under section 85, after notifying every qualifying tenant, and may be required to advertise. The acquisition date is the date in the order, and the section 92 contract notices do not apply (section 91(1)(a)).

What the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 changed

The 2024 Act's Right to Manage sections, 49 to 52, all came into force on 3 March 2025 under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (Commencement No. 3) Regulations 2025, and none of them moves a deadline. They raised the non-residential limit from 25% to 50% (section 49), made the costs changes above (section 50), moved section 107 enforcement to the tribunal (section 51) and ended first-instance High Court applications (section 52). The same regulations brought section 64 into force as regards the right to manage, inserting section 20J into the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which stops a landlord's non-litigation costs of a claim reaching non-members through the service charge. At November 2026 legislation.gov.uk shows no outstanding amendments to sections 78 to 94 that are waiting to come into force.

Running the timetable

Marklet is Right to Manage software for RTM companies, keeping issues, service charges, Section 20 consultations and managing-agent emails in one record from the acquisition date onwards.

References

• Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, Part 2, Chapter 1 - sections 78 to 94 and 111, current revised text
• Right to Manage (Prescribed Particulars and Forms) (England) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/825) - regulations 3 to 8 and the forms in Schedules 1 to 3
• Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, section 50 - costs of right to manage claims
• Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (Commencement No. 3) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/131)
• First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)