How Many RTM Companies Exist in the UK? The Definitive Data

TL;DR: There are 12,338 active RTM companies registered on Companies House. LEASE received 136,721 RTM-related enquiries over five years, peaking at 33,377 in 2023-24. London accounts for 41% of all RTM demand. Only 12% of enquirers already have an RTM company -- 88% are in the research or formation phase. No government body publishes an official count of RTM companies or RTM-managed buildings.

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#Methodology

These figures come from two primary sources: Companies House Advanced Search and LEASE (Leasehold Advisory Service) enquiry data.

Companies House data was collected on 22 March 2026 using the Advanced Company Search with company name filters and active status. The standard naming convention under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (CLRA 2002) means most RTM companies include "RTM Company Limited" in their name, making name-based search a reliable proxy.

LEASE data covers 136,721 RTM-related enquiry records from 2020-21 to 2025-26 (partial year). LEASE is the government-funded Leasehold Advisory Service, and its enquiry data provides the most comprehensive view of RTM demand patterns, geographic distribution, and co-occurring concerns.

No government body -- not DLUHC, MHCLG, or the Building Safety Regulator -- publishes an official count of RTM companies or a breakdown of buildings by management type. The figures in this article represent the best available data from public registries and official advisory services.

Caveats to note:

• Companies House does not track whether an incorporated RTM company has successfully acquired the right to manage
• Some RTM companies may be incorporated but never claimed, or the claim may have failed
• Dissolved companies prior to 2010 are excluded from Companies House search results
• LEASE enquiry data reflects demand for advice, not completed RTM claims
• The English Housing Survey figures are sample-based estimates with confidence intervals

We update this research quarterly using Companies House data and the latest available LEASE figures. Last updated: March 2026.

#How Many RTM Companies Exist?

12,338 active RTM companies are registered on Companies House as of April 2026. This is the most reliable hard figure available for the RTM market.

The 210 companies containing "right to manage" use a non-standard naming convention. The 147 "resident management company" results are a separate category entirely -- RMCs are formed at the development stage by the original freeholder, while RTM companies are formed by leaseholders exercising their statutory right under CLRA 2002, Part 2, Chapter 1.

There are 12,338 active RTM companies on Companies House as of April 2026 -- but no government body publishes an official count, and Companies House does not track whether these companies have successfully claimed the right to manage.

The FPRA (Federation of Private Residents' Associations), the primary membership body for this sector, has approximately 500 members -- representing just 4% of the 12,338 total. This low penetration rate highlights how fragmented and underserved the RTM sector is.

The English Housing Survey 2021-22 found that only 8% of leaseholders had requested the right to manage. 50% had never claimed, and 41% did not know how they came to manage their building (Annex Table 3.7). Against a total of 4.77 million leasehold dwellings in England, RTM remains a small but growing fraction of the market.

#RTM Formation Is Accelerating

LEASE enquiry data shows sustained and growing demand for RTM advice over the past five years.

The peak in 2023-24 coincided with the higher-risk building registration deadline (October 2023) and rising anxiety about Building Assessment Certificate applications. The 2024-25 decline partly reflects LEASE's own transition year with reduced staffing and service reform.

Three legislative reforms under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (LFRA 2024), in force since 3 March 2025, are expected to accelerate RTM formation further:

1. Mixed-use threshold raised from 25% to 50% non-residential -- more buildings now qualify for RTM (LFRA 2024, s.40)
2. No landlord cost recovery -- landlords can no longer recover their legal costs from RTM claimants, removing the biggest financial barrier (LFRA 2024, s.41)
3. Disputes moved to Tribunal -- contested claims now go to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) instead of County Courts, reducing costs and delays (LFRA 2024, s.42)

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 removed the three biggest barriers to RTM claims: building eligibility restrictions, landlord cost exposure, and expensive County Court proceedings.

Industry commentators have predicted a "dramatic rise" in RTM claims from 2026 onwards as these reforms take effect.

#Where Are RTM Companies?

LEASE data reveals London's overwhelming dominance in RTM demand.

The top three local authorities are all London boroughs with dense, high-rise housing:

This geographic concentration maps closely to higher-risk building density. London contains the highest proportion of leasehold dwellings (36.1% of housing stock, per DLUHC leasehold statistics) and the greatest concentration of buildings 7+ storeys or 18m+.

Check if your building qualifies as higher-risk ->

#Who Is Forming RTM Companies?

LEASE data provides a detailed profile of who is enquiring about RTM.

#By Client Type

#By Landlord Type

#The Formation Gap

A critical finding: only 12% of RTM enquirers already have an RTM company. The remaining 88% are in the research or formation phase.

This means the vast majority of people seeking RTM advice have not yet incorporated a company. They are at the decision point -- weighing whether to take control of their building's management.

#By Property Type

85% are flats (purpose-built and converted combined). Purpose-built flats at 57% represent the core Building Safety Act demographic -- these are the buildings most likely to meet the higher-risk building criteria of 7+ storeys or 18m+ with two or more residential units.

#What RTM Directors Care About

When someone contacts LEASE about RTM, what else are they asking about? The co-occurring topics reveal the daily reality of running an RTM company.

The top three co-occurring topics -- service charges (27%), repair (12%), and management (12%) -- account for 51% of all RTM enquiries. These are operational concerns, not regulatory ones. Fire safety accounts for just 5% of enquiries, despite carrying the highest regulatory consequence under the Building Safety Act 2022.

Service charges dominate RTM enquiries at 27% -- more than five times the rate of fire safety enquiries. RTM directors are more worried about money and operations than regulation, even as the Building Safety Act creates new compliance obligations. -- LEASE enquiry data, 2020-2026

This pattern confirms a fundamental tension for RTM directors: the daily work is financial and operational, but the legal risk is regulatory. A platform that handles both is not a luxury -- it is how volunteer directors manage the gap between what they spend time on and what can result in prosecution.

#The Compliance Gap

RTM companies managing higher-risk buildings have exactly the same Building Safety Act obligations as professional managing agents. They must maintain the Golden Thread, prepare safety case reports, manage fire risk assessment actions, report mandatory occurrences, and submit to BSR assessment.

The difference is who is doing this work. Professional managing agents have compliance teams, legal advisers, and established processes. RTM directors are volunteers -- accountants, teachers, retirees -- who took on management because they were unhappy with the previous arrangement.

Some numbers that illustrate the gap:

• 12,338 active RTM companies on Companies House
• ~500 FPRA members (the sector's primary membership body) -- just 4% of the total
• 8% of leaseholders have requested RTM (EHS 2021-22)
• ~12,500 estimated higher-risk buildings in scope of the BSA (DLUHC cost-benefit analysis, 2023)
• Building Safety Director regulations still in consultation -- the formal support mechanism for RTM companies is not yet available

The Building Safety Act does not distinguish between a FTSE 100 housing association and three volunteers managing a 40-flat tower block. The obligations are identical. The resources are not.

#What Happens After RTM?

88% of people seeking RTM advice haven't incorporated yet. But for the 12% who have -- and the thousands more who will -- the real work begins after formation.

Incorporating an RTM company is a legal milestone, not an operational one. The Companies House filing takes a few hours. What follows takes years.

#The post-formation journey

1. Registration and claim -- File the RTM claim notice on the landlord under CLRA 2002, s.79. Survive the counter-notice period (typically one month). If contested, resolve through the First-tier Tribunal. Once the right to manage is acquired, the management transfer date is set.

2. Management transition -- Take over from the outgoing managing agent or landlord. This means inheriting service charge accounts, contractor relationships, insurance policies, maintenance schedules, and (often) years of deferred repairs. The handover is rarely clean.

3. Compliance obligations -- For buildings that meet the higher-risk building criteria (7+ storeys or 18m+ with two or more residential units), the Building Safety Act imposes the same obligations on volunteer RTM directors as on professional managing agents:

   • Prepare and maintain a safety case report
   • Establish and maintain the Golden Thread of building information
   • Report mandatory occurrences to the BSR
   • Prepare for BSR assessment and obtain a Building Assessment Certificate
   • Appoint competent persons and maintain evidence of competence

4. Ongoing operations -- Service charge budgets and demands, Section 20 consultations for major works, insurance renewals, contractor procurement, repairs and maintenance, resident communication, AGMs, and Companies House filings. Every year, on repeat.

#The compliance gap

The Compliance Gap section above sets out the numbers: 12,338 active RTM companies, ~500 in the FPRA, no formal support mechanism yet (Building Safety Director regulations remain in consultation). The Building Safety Act does not distinguish between a FTSE 100 housing association and three volunteers managing a 40-flat tower block. The obligations are identical. The resources are not.

Non-compliance is not an abstract risk. Section 73 of the Building Safety Act creates criminal liability for failing to comply with the Accountable Person duties. For RTM companies, the directors are the accountable persons.

#Three steps to take now

1. Understand your obligations -- read our guide to RTM company obligations under the Building Safety Act
2. Budget for compliance costs -- service charges need to cover safety case preparation, FRA reviews, and ongoing monitoring. See our guide to RTM service charges and building safety costs
3. Get structured tooling -- spreadsheets and email threads are not a Golden Thread. Compliance tracking software designed for building managers replaces guesswork with structure.

See how Brocade helps RTM companies manage compliance ->

#Questions

#How many RTM companies are there in the UK?

There are 12,338 active RTM companies registered on Companies House as of April 2026. This figure is based on searching company names containing "RTM company" with an active status filter. An additional 210 companies contain "right to manage" in their name using a non-standard convention. No government body publishes an official count.

#How many buildings are managed by RTM companies?

No official figure exists. The 12,338 incorporations do not confirm successful RTM claims -- Companies House does not track whether a company has actually acquired the right to manage. The BSR register does not publish aggregate statistics or a breakdown by management type. An FOI request to the BSR would be the most reliable route to obtain this data.

#Is the number of RTM companies growing?

Yes. LEASE received 136,721 RTM-related enquiries between 2020 and 2026, with a peak of 33,377 in 2023-24. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 removed three key barriers to RTM claims -- building eligibility restrictions, landlord cost recovery, and expensive County Court proceedings -- and is expected to drive further acceleration from 2026 onwards.

#Where are most RTM companies located?

London accounts for 41% of all LEASE RTM enquiries, followed by Southern England at 20% and Northern England at 11%. The top local authorities are Lambeth, Croydon, and Westminster -- all dense London boroughs with significant high-rise housing. This geographic concentration maps closely to higher-risk building density and the proportion of leasehold housing stock.

#What are the biggest concerns for RTM directors?

Service charges dominate co-occurring LEASE enquiries at 27%, followed by repair issues (12%) and general management questions (12%). Together, these operational concerns account for 51% of all RTM enquiries. Fire safety accounts for 5%, but carries the highest regulatory consequence under the Building Safety Act -- including criminal liability for non-compliance.

#Do RTM companies need building safety compliance software?

RTM companies managing higher-risk buildings have identical Building Safety Act obligations to professional managing agents -- safety case reports, golden thread records, mandatory occurrence reporting, and BSR assessment readiness. Most RTM directors are volunteers without compliance expertise. The FPRA has just 500 members against 12,338 active RTM companies. Structured software replaces the guesswork that puts volunteer directors at risk.

This guide is for informational purposes. For building-specific advice, consult a qualified fire safety professional.

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