Service Charges: Codes of Practice
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to make adherence to the Service Charge Residential Management Code mandatory for residential leasehold property managers.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook
The current edition of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Service Charge Residential Management Code, approved in 2016 using powers under Section 87 of the Leasehold Reform and Urban Development Act 1993, may be used as evidence by the First-tier Tribunal or County Court in any decisions they make. Failure to comply with the Code alone does not make a managing agent or landlord liable to court/tribunal proceedings.
We intend to strengthen the regulation of managing agents by introducing mandatory professional qualifications that will set a new basic standard that managing agents will be required to meet. Proposals to that effect are set out in our consultation on strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services, which can be found on gov.uk here.
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