As a property owner or landlord, your duties are extensive, from finding tenants to juggling property management responsibilities, rent collection, and tax payments. As you know, owners of blocks of flats are responsible for looking after not just their individual flats but also the common areas. Most freehold properties are run by a Resident’s Management Company, or RMC.
An RMC is formed by a group of leaseholders of an apartment block. This typically includes residents and leaseholders who have rented out their flats. The group elects one or several resident management company directors, who are responsible for managing the company’s day-to-day operations The RMC is registered with Companies House and is legally required to have a board of resident management company directors.
The residential management company director responsibilities include hiring contractors, managing finances, and following a maintenance schedule. Many directors will already have full-time jobs and can struggle to keep up with their duties. They may benefit from outsourcing their tasks to a block residential property management company like Habitare.
Eligibility of the RMC Director
There’s no formal educational eligibility for becoming a RMC director. The only prerequisite is that you have to be a property owner. To run the RMC, you must have the Memorandum and Articles of Association, two legal documents necessary for any company registered with the Companies House.
Some standard eligibility requirements for an RMC director include:
- The person must be above the age of 16
- They don’t need to be residing in the UK but must have a registered UK address
- They shouldn’t have been previously disqualified
- They also shouldn’t have ongoing bankruptcy proceedings and must be financially solvent
- The person must not be physically or mentally incapable
Residential Management Company Director Responsibilities
The upkeep and maintenance of an individual apartment is the responsibility of a property owner or their tenants. But who is responsible for the upkeep of the communal areas like garages, roofs, and foyers?
An RMC is a company that’s responsible for the maintenance of these common areas. The RMC is usually created by the developers or contractors when the apartment complex is completed.
An RMC is a not-for-profit organisation and usually comprises three legal roles:
- Leaseholder: the owner of the leasehold flat or apartment
- Shareholder or guarantor: when a property owner or leaseholder becomes a ‘member’ of the resident management company
- Director: when a member of the RMC is promoted to a more leadership position within the company
The residential management company director responsibilities are usually documented in the Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association. Some of the responsibilities of a RMC director include:
- Repairing the building and any common areas
- Maintaining the roof of the building
- Ensuring the building remains insured
- Payment of service charges to contractors
- Ensuring that leaseholders pay their service charges on time and maintain their apartments according to hygiene and safety standards
- Ensuring that the RMC complies with the landlord and tenant laws
- Attending and conducting AGMs, board meetings and general meetings
- Ensuring that any work that takes place at a height, like cleaning gutters or testing smoke detectors, must be carried out safely to avoid accidents
You can seek professional help if you’re struggling to keep up with residential management company director responsibilities and duties. Habitare is a reliable third party that supports property owners and RMC directors with their duties through effective block management.
Duties of a Residential Property Manager and Director
Being director of a RMC requires you to perform certain duties to ensure effective property management. You’ll need to attend a minimum of four meetings per year: an AGM, which all members are required to attend, and three director’s meetings.
The director’s term usually lasts a year before re-election among members. During this tenure, the director will need to sign the RMC’s financial records and work on short and long-term goals related to the property.
RMC directors should actively:
- Act in accordance with the Articles of Association
- Promote the welfare of the apartment community
- Follow independent judgement and avoid influence from external forces
- Avoid any conflict of interest when discharging duties of residential property manager and director
- Never taking bribes from any third-party
Contact Habitare For Assistance With Property Management
Habitare is a leading residential property management company, who can take on many of your residential management company director responsibilities. We offer a range of services, including regular inspections, secretarial services, contractor management, and service charge collection.
Our property managers are experienced in managing apartment blocks of all sizes and can help you maintain property upkeep, respond to property-related emergencies, and keep track of financial record-keeping.
Contact us to learn more about our services and how we can help you manage your responsibilities and duties as RMC director.