FAQ's & Updates

RTM is the statutory right for leaseholders to choose the management company and service levels for their apartments.  In the case of Mann Island, it became possible in April 2025.  RTM means that leaseholders appoint a management company to run the residential sections of Mann Island: Block 1 (15 Mann Island) and Block 2 (11 Mann Island), rather than the landlord doing so, as is currently the case.

Under RTM, the management company leaseholders choose will have responsibility for the concierge, repairs, and day-to-day maintenance of 11 and 15 Mann Island.  1 Mann Island will continue to be self-managed, as now.  The car park, commercial units, and common areas of the estate will remain with the management company chosen by the estate landlord.

No. The managing agent that the RTM company appoints will manage the residential parts of 11 and 15 Mann Island. 1 Mann Island will continue to be self-managed, as now.  The rest of the estate, including the car park, will continue to be managed by the company chosen by the landlord (Mann Island Properties Limited). This is currently Mann Island Management Limited.  As you may know, they have the same ownership and management structure.

Possibly. RTM applies specifically to the residential parts of the estate.   As noted above, the right to choose who manages the car park, commercial units, and common areas of the estate will remain with the estate landlord, Mann Island Properties Limited. 1 Mann Island will continue to be self-managed.

So, there is a scenario where the RTM company appoints the current management company, Mann Island Management Limited, to manage the estate.  If so, there will be two management companies active on the estate: Mann Island Management Limited and self-managed 1 Mann Island.

If the RTM company appoints a different company, there will be three.  Big picture: RTM decides who chooses the management company and sets service levels.  It does not necessarily mean actually changing the management company.

Yes.  In fact we already do have two management companies on Mann Island.  No 1 Mann Island is self-managed.  Mann Island Management Limited runs the common areas and 11 and 15 Mann Island on behalf of the landlord, Mann Island Properties Limited.  We are confident that the RTM company and the management company we choose will work as effectively with the landlord as Merseytravel does.  All management companies have a shared interest in the smooth running of the estate, and there are clear legal frameworks in place to support them in working together effectively.

Yes. RTM changes who sets service levels and has the right to choose who manages the building. It does not change who owns the building, or lease terms including ground rent.

RTM isn’t a decision to remove the current management company (Mann Island Management Limited). It’s a decision to put the choice of management company in leaseholders’ hands, rather than it being made by Mann Island Properties Limited.

The RTM Directors are genuinely open to MIML continuing in the role, provided they can demonstrate that they offer the best service for leaseholders. That means showing real commitment to improving in service quality, responsiveness, and accountability to leaseholders, and a credible plan to resolve the issues that have affected Mann Island for a number of years.

This is why MIML is being invited to participate in the tender rather than being excluded from the outset. We want them to make a compelling case. If they can make that case competitively, on the same footing as national, regional, and citywide alternatives, then we welcome them continuing to manage Mann Island, this time answerable directly to leaseholders rather than to MIPL.

We anticipate RTM being broadly cost neutral or slightly cheaper.

For the first few years, it will cost us more to run the concierge than it does at the moment. This is because we don’t also own the estate. If we did, we would be allowed not to pay VAT on those staffing costs.  (See more below on how this can change)

Remember, though, staffing is only ~25% of the total management fee.  What matters is the total cost.  We are confident RTM will be overall cost neutral or slightly cheaper because of the opportunities to procure much more effectively.  Remember: at Mann Island, leaseholder-recommended suppliers have consistently come in 15–40% cheaper than management-recommended suppliers across recent ‘section20s’.  (Section 20s are the formal process that give leaseholders greater say in larger procurements such as the window cleaning contract). That’s a significant and consistent gap.

Looking further ahead, the increased cost for staffing costs is also potentially only temporary.   RTM also puts leaseholders in a much stronger position to pursue freehold or commonhold purchase down the line when government regulations allow that. This will open up further savings and even more control over how the building is run.

Yes.  Some of the current service charge you will pay to the management company we appoint: this will include the cost of the concierge, of cleaning the common areas of the residential buildings, and other similar services.

Some of the current service charge you will pay as an estate service charge to the landlord for general estate services: for example, cleaning of the atrium.

Ideally, we will arrange for you to pay one bill. We cannot, however, confirm that at this point. We will negotiate exact arrangements with the landlord or the landlord’s appointed management company as part of handover.

Our ideal is that residents will not notice any immediate difference.

Longer-term, however, you will see several quality of life improvements.

We offer two practical examples: we will explore installing package lockers so that residents do not have to wait for the concierge to return from their rounds to pick up their packages. We will also run a town hall with all residents at least every six months to understand your priorities and concerns.

No. Signing up costs nothing. Ongoing service charges also continue as normal, just paid to a company chosen by a company leaseholders control, rather than to a company chosen by the landlord.

We are not aware of evidence that RTM affects values or mortgageability positively or negatively. Lenders’ key concerns for buildings like ours are practical matters such as a valid EWS1 form being in place.

For more on this, see the Leasehold Advisory Service report: Right to Manage: The Costs Considered.

Some of its conclusions included that RTM can lead to cost savings, especially where past managing agents were inefficient or overcharging.  There is, however, no automatic correlation between RTM and better or worse service.

One positive conclusion they do reach: many leaseholders report increased peace of mind because of improved responsiveness

See more at https://www.lease-advice.org/article/right-to-manage-the-costs-considered/

UK law outlines a specific process for leaseholders to request RTM.  The first step is for leaseholders to set up a special not-for-profit company.  11 & 15 Mann island Liverpool RTM is that company for Mann Island. It has three volunteer leaseholder directors who do not and will not take a salary. There are also multiple non-director volunteers who are helping with different aspects of our RTM assessment, such as the tendering process.

The RTM company’s directors carry legal and financial responsibility, and carry directors’ insurance for it. The RTM company currently has three directors and welcomes more, particularly from Leaseholders based at Mann Island itself. Several leaseholders have informally indicated interest in joining once RTM is in place.

There are currently three RTM directors, one resident on Mann Island and two non-resident.  We welcome more directors, particularly from Leaseholders based at Mann Island itself.  Please contact us if you are interested in becoming one.

Yes.  Once RTM is in place, there will be yearly elections.  Members will be able to put your name forward for election.

No. There is no legal requirement for a director of the RTM company to live in the UK.  This is common practice for residential RTM companies with international leaseholders. Decisions are made collectively by the board, not by one individual. Meetings are held remotely, and today’s technology allows for frequent virtual meetings, so location doesn’t affect a director’s ability to do the job.

By default, yes, RTM lasts indefinitely. It involves clear governance, and clear service expectations for the management company.

If a management company isn’t delivering, the RTM directors have the right to remove it and bring in a different company.

If directors aren’t delivering, leaseholders can nominate and vote for different directors.

As such, there is clearer accountability at all stages than in the current set-up.

As part of that, to be explicit, there is also accountability on RTM itself.  RTM itself can be cancelled and revert to the landlord in specific scenarios, most commonly if the RTM company is wound up.

Yes. The point of RTM is to increase leaseholders’ influence and voice. Leaseholders choose the RTM company’s directors, who then set service levels for the managing company. Right now, one specific area where leaseholders can help is by providing input on, and participating in, the tender process to select the management company under RTM. For more on how to do this, please email mannislandresidentialtender@gmail.com.

The managing agent will be selected through a formal tendering process, with the successful candidate selected based on a mix of cost and quality criteria. See the tendering section of the FAQ for more details on the process

Once we submit the ‘Notice of Claim’, RTM takes 3 months to activate.

To submit the ‘Notice of Claim’, we need 50% of leaseholders to sign up as RTM members.   Sign ups continue to increase. We are now above 30%. See the ticker at the top of this page for the latest update – and join us!

We’re confident we will meet the required number in the coming months. We’re deliberately not creating an artificial deadline around this, though. We know this is a decision people are taking seriously, and we respect that. What we can say is that momentum is strong and we’re happy to discuss any aspect of RTM when/if you want to. Just drop us an email.

Once the Notice of Claim succeeds, RTM applies to all leaseholders and apartments in the building, whether or not the leasedholder personally signed up as a member. Signing up now is about reaching the 50% threshold needed to trigger the process, not about opting yourself in individually.

No. Your signup now moves the process to the point where the Notice of Claim can be made.  Before this Notice of Claim is made, there are two further stages to complete.  First, the RTM company will select the strongest management company through the tender process.  This could be MIML. Next, the RTM company will then propose that company to Leaseholders for a final ‘go’ decision before the Notice of Claim is made.  See the tendering section of the FAQ for more details on that process

11 & 15 Mann Island Liverpool RTM and MIRA are two different organizations with two different functions.

11 & 15 Mann Island Liverpool RTM is the leaseholder-owned, not-for-profit company that leaseholders have set up to request the right to manage.  It will be able to activate that right when 50% of leaseholders are members.

MIRA is a Recognised Tenants Association.  As such it is a forum for communication and consultation between residents, management company, and landlord. It has no legal power to run the building.

In short: MIRA gives residents a voice, RTM gives leaseholders legal control.

Until 2025, Right to Manage was not possible on Mann Island.  MIRA was the best way that leaseholders had to express their voice: to raise concerns and ask questions. MIRA cannot, however, set service levels in the building, compel the management company to act in a certain way, nor does it control the budget.

In 2025, the law changed.  Since then, leaseholders have a new, more powerful option: Right To Manage.  Right To Manage does provide leaseholders the actual legal right to set services levels and to decide how much they are willing to spend.

Without RTM, leaseholders’ influence depends entirely on the landlord’s and landlord appointed management company’s goodwill. With RTM, leaseholders have direct control.

We think MIRA and RTM are complementary.  MIRA provides an informal channel for discussion of day-to-day issues, events, and communication, and a formal and structured way for leaseholders to hold management to account.  That will be as important under RTM company as it is today.  We welcome this.

We hope it does, yes.  The RTM company doesn’t replace MIRA. As we noted above, they have different functions.

The tendering process is how the RTM company chooses the management company that will run Mann Island day to day. This is the role Mann Island Management Limited currently performs on behalf of Mann Island Properties Limited. Candidate companies (respondents) are asked to set out how they would manage Mann Island residential. The RTM company will select its preferred candidate from those responses.

The process also answers some current unknowns: cost, which companies are interested, and how a selected company would maintain or improve on current services. It also gauges industry interest and expertise in managing a development like Mann Island.

Yes!  We welcome it.  There are multiple opportunities to participate in the tender process.  We outline a few examples below.  Please contact us on mannislandresidentialtender@gmail.com.

If your priority is making sure that your personal priorities are heard then please:

• Send your Needs & Wants – a Need is non-negotiable (e.g. building-regulation compliance, 24/7 concierge); a Want adds value but isn’t essential (e.g. a leaseholder web portal, monthly townhalls). Aim for ~10 items combined.
• Recommend a company for the ‘long list’ to mannislandresidentialtender@gmail.com
• Flag a good or a poor experience with any management company to be considered as part of the evaluation. Again, please email mannislandresidentialtender@gmail.com with specific details

All input received in the above three categories will be treated confidentially. Only consolidated/anonymised input will be shared publicly.

If you are able to support the tender process itself, opportunities include:

• Writing key tender sections – such as the history of Mann Island
• Determining the scorecard
• Reviewing initial tender responses
• Interviewing the short-list
• Final scoring/recommendation

If you would like to participate in a way that has not been highlighted above, please email mannislandresidentialtender@gmail.com with your suggestion.

The long list is currently around 30 companies.  It deliberately ranges from the global, to the local as part of evaluating which type of company best fits the specific needs of Mann Island and its leaseholders. We illustrate here some of the trade-offs we are evaluating.  To recommend a company for the long list, please email mannislandresidentialtender@gmail.com.

Note that these names are used here for illustration only.  They are not an indication that these companies will be in the final list of recipients of the tender.  As we noted above, if you would like to recommend a company that for consideration in the ‘long list’, please email mannislandresidentialtender@gmail.com.

Yes, Mann Island Management Ltd will be invited to participate in the tender.  This aligns with best practice in inviting the current incumbent to respond when tendering any service.

Inviting MIML to participate provides them the opportunity to demonstrate objectively that they are the best management company for Mann Island.  Considerations such as their familiarity with the property, their track record and their plans for the future are all items that can be highlighted in their response.

The tendering process follows established best practice: building requirements, surveying the market, inviting detailed responses from select participants, scoring responses against a pre-agreed scorecard, shortlisting and final selection. 

It will include the following key steps. If you’re interested in a more detailed description that highlights why each step matters, please see the next answer.

• Establish what is important – identify the most important service elements, supplier qualifications, and experience the tender should assess. Leaseholder Needs & Wants feed into this stage.  
• Speak informally to potential suppliers – gain early market insight that sharpens the tender requirements and so speeds the review.
• Determine long-list of respondents – gather a broad spread of respondents, to fully survey the market.
• Compile the tender document – write background on Mann Island plus the specific questions each supplier must answer so the RTM company can assess each supplier’s suitability.
• Issue the tender – send the tender document to the potential suppliers with a response deadline.
• Create a scorecard – agree a weighted scorecard prepared before responses arrive, to ensure unbiased assessment. This is kept confidential to preserve a level playing field. 
• Hold a supplier Q&A – held individually on request, to give suppliers the chance to clarify the brief and strengthen their response. 
• Receive supplier responses 
• Hold Q&A on tender responses – follow up on gaps or unclear answers to ensure answers are as accurate and complete as possible. This supports a robust selection process.
• Assess tender responses against agreed scorecard – score each response, producing a rank order. 
• Determine shortlist – agree the top 3–5 suppliers, factoring in reputation and other context alongside the score. 
• Perform vendor due diligence – perform formal due diligence on the short list to select a final candidate (eg, checking for pending litigation, financial stability)
• Select final candidate – select a final candidate, using all information collected.  A second choice will likely also be selected for contingency.

Progress against the above steps will be shared with Leaseholders as appropriate.

This tender process has two goals.

The first goal is to answer current unknowns: cost, available/interested suppliers, and how exactly services will be provided.

The second goal is to choose the management company that will manage the residential parts of Mann Island day-to-day.

Because of these two goals, the initial tender is positioned as a Request For Information (RFI).  This reflects a key difference between an RFI and RFP (Request For Proposals): an RFP contains a binding commitment to proceed to contract (from the buyer) and on pricing (from the supplier).

Our expectation is that a successful Leaseholder vote to proceed and ‘Notice of Claim’ will follow the RFI.  At that point, an RFP will be undertaken to finalise the management contract.  To keep this efficient, the RfP will likely only go out to shortlisted suppliers from the RFI.

The tendering process follows established best practice: building requirements, surveying the market, inviting detailed responses from select participants, scoring responses against a pre-agreed scorecard, shortlisting and final selection. 

It will include the following key steps. If you’re interested in a more detailed description that highlights why each step matters, please see the next answer.

• Establish what is important – identify the most important service elements, supplier qualifications, and experience the tender should assess. Leaseholder Needs & Wants feed into this stage.  The time we take here both helps suppliers by giving a clearer understanding of Mann Island’s specific needs, and speeds later review.
• Speak informally to potential suppliers – gain early insight into market interest and needs that sharpens the tender requirements. This step helps ensure that the tender ‘covers the ground’ and so reduces the amount of time spent in Q&A and the time it takes suppliers to respond.
• Determine long-list of respondents – gather a broad spread of respondents, to fully survey the market. See the question ‘who is on the supplier long list’ to understand more about how we are thinking about the market and why this matters.
• Compile the tender document – write background on Mann Island that the suppliers will need plus the specific questions each supplier must answer so the RTM company can assess each supplier’s suitability. 
• Issue the tender – send the tender document to the potential suppliers with a response deadline.
• Create a scorecard – agree a weighted scorecard prepared before responses arrive, to ensure unbiased assessment. This is based on the key requirements identified at earlier stages, and kept confidential to preserve a level playing field.
• Hold a supplier Q&A – held individually on request, to give suppliers the chance to clarify the brief and strengthen their response. Suppliers often have questions on the tender document, the information presented, and the process/timeline. This is normal. These supplier Q&As aim to make their responses stronger and more accurate.
• Receive supplier responses from suppliers choosing to participate. It is highly likely that some suppliers will not respond at all, or issue a formal ‘no bid’ along with reasons. This is expected and normal in any tender process.
• Hold Q&A on tender responses – follow up on gaps or unclear answers. This supports a robust selection process.This is the RTM company’s opportunity to ensure answers  are as accurate and complete as possible
• Assess tender responses against agreed scorecard – score each response, producing a rank order. The assessment uses the pre-defined scorecard, resulting in a numeric score for each supplier response.
• Determine shortlist – agree a shortlist of 3–5 suppliers, factoring in reputation and other context alongside the top numeric scores. 3-5 is our target number to allow for attrition at later stages
• Perform vendor due diligence – perform formal due diligence on the short list to select a final candidate (eg, checking for pending litigation, financial stability)
• Select final candidate – select a final candidate, using all information collected.  A second choice will likely also be selected for contingency.

Progress against the above steps will be shared with Leaseholders as appropriate.

No. Electricity will continue to be provided by contractor appointed by the estate landlord. As of April 2026, that is Clever Energy.  As of April 2026, water is the responsibility of individual leaseholders.

We believe RTM will add professional representation of leaseholder interests on utility decisions and more structured communication. It does not, however, change who decides who is the electricity supplier.

No. The RTM company’s role is to ensure leaseholder views are represented professionally when decisions are taken by the estate landlord, and to ensure clear communication around any decisions.

Yes. We cannot promise that they will be solved immediately. We do promise that we will move fast, and that we will communicate what we know/find out. For instance: we will immediately ask Thomasons to share any specialist reports on the glazing units. If none have been done, we will commission them.

It will resolve some faults. In particular, it will reassure leaseholders we are getting value for money. In particular: we will aim to increase the number of bids that we receive for any large projects (one that triggers the ‘section20’ process) from 2-3 to 4-5.

Some areas will continue to be the responsibility of the estate landlord. In those areas, we will facilitate better communication with leaseholders, and look to ensure value for money by recommending contractors to the landlord.

No. To be explicit: we will keep a 24/7 concierge, and make sure Mann Island is as clean as it is today.

No. There are no plans to remove the 24/7 concierge at Mann Island. That has been a red line for us throughout: we are proposing RTM because we want to improve Mann Island. The concierge service is central to the Mann Island community.

No.  The concierges are part of the Mann island family.  RTM changes the management structure of Mann Island.  It does not change the concierge team.

We appreciate this is an important point.  If you have any doubt on this point (or any other answer), please do contact us on mannislandrmc@gmail.com. We are happy to discuss further.

Our focus is on transparency, accountability, and communication.

To give two recent examples: we believe the management company should have been communicating how to change electricity accounts as soon as Clever Energy was signed up, and should be actively helping leaseholders understand what is going on with the United Utilities transfer.

We can’t comment on why exactly they aren’t.  We can, however, commit that we will create a service level expectation that the management company we appoint does communicate more often and more clearly on these building-wide concerns, regardless of whose legal responsibility the actions themselves are.  Communication and coordination is a vital function of management, especially when people share a single space and form a single community as we do at Mann Island.

Our ideal: residents should not notice any difference short-term. Longer-term, you will see several quality of life improvements. We offer two practical examples: we will explore installing discreet package lockers so that residents do not have to wait for the concierge to return from their rounds to pick up their packages. We will also run a town hall with all residents at least every six months to understand your priorities and concerns.

Investors will notice a difference in tone and quality of communication from directors and the management company, and increased urgency around solving longer-term issues like the glazing units and missing cladding panels.

You will still be able to work with any agent you want to. Multiple lettings agents work at Mann Island. We will continue to support them and you in their work. We do hope to make small improvements, however. For example, we will look into allowing all agents to hold keys at the concierge, rather than only those from a subset of agencies. If you would like a list of agencies working at Mann Island, please email us at mannislandrmc@gmail.com.

In the short-term, nothing should change: RTM doesn’t change your relationship with your letting agent.  Longer-term, though, we hope you will see and benefit from all the changes we plan on the estate: more responsive communications, faster repairs, and more.  One small example: we’re planning to allow all letting agents to hold keys at the concierge, rather than only those from a subset of agencies. This may save you quite a lot if you ever lock yourself out