Trade and Professional Associations

Although the leasehold industry is not regulated it has several layers of trade and professional associations which hold residential management companies and managing agents to account, by providing best practice standards to which good management companies and agents look for guidance and advice.

2 Rivers are associate members of the Institute of Residential Property Management. They provide monthly technical updates keeping us abreast of changes in legislation and monitoring the movement and improvements of codes of conduct in some of the other professional associations including ARMA (the Association of Residential Managing Agents) and RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors).

The IRPM also have annual meetings, regional seminars and provide contact with many other agencies who run excellent courses to keep managing agents moving towards the highest standards achievable. These include LEASE, ARLA (Association of Residential Letting Agents), Chartered Institute of Housing and HSE (Health and Safety Executives).

Besides these, managing agents are now required to be members of one of three redress schemes to which leaseholders can apply for help if they have a complaint or grievance. 2 Rivers is a member the Property Redress Scheme. Click here to see their website.

Mediation services exist and LEASE has wide ranging and impartial help on their website. They are mentioned in glowing terms in the Competition and Markets Authority survey in December 2014.

As a final resort, leaseholders can apply to the FTT for redress. This should be a final resort unless you have exhausted other methods of redress OR it requires legislative intervention to accomplish your objectives as leaseholders such as invoking Right to Manage and require recognition of your status.