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Right to Manage company formations hit record high, new research shows

Right to Manage (RTM) company formations reached a record high in 2025, according to new research from property management firm Placekeeper Management, and the trend has continued into 2026. For managing agents, the findings suggest that resident-led management is becoming an increasingly significant feature of the UK's existing housing stock.

The numbers

The research shows 986 RTM companies were formed in 2025 — a 79% increase over six years. Activity has continued into 2026, with 578 RTM companies formed during the first half of the year, putting formations on course to surpass last year's record.

The analysis, which uses Companies House incorporation data and Office for National Statistics housing figures covering 2010 to 2026, also points to a widening gap between RTM activity and the wider housing market. Housing completions fell from 214,290 in 2019 to 170,390 in 2025 — a decline of around 20% — while management company formations dropped from a peak of 2,180 in 2018 to 1,543 last year, the lowest figure since 2013.

RTM Index

Placekeeper has launched an RTM Index to track the trend, comparing RTM formation activity with housing completions against the long-term average. The index rose from 69 in 2019 to 155 in 2025, meaning RTM activity relative to housing completions has more than doubled in six years. Placekeeper said the figures suggest growth is increasingly coming from leaseholders in the existing housing stock rather than new development.

What it means for agents

Trevor Adey, director at Placekeeper Management, said the most striking finding was not simply the record high, but that activity continues to accelerate while housebuilding levels and management company formations have fallen. He suggested the data may reflect greater awareness of leaseholder rights, increased scrutiny of service charges, or wider changes in residential governance.

For managing agents, Adey described the findings as a wake-up call: standards of transparency, communication and value for money that might once have gone unquestioned are now being scrutinised more closely than ever. Agents who do not adapt and improve services risk losing the buildings they manage to their own residents.

For letting agents and inventory clerks working with leasehold blocks, the message is clear: expect greater scrutiny from residents and ensure service standards stand up to it.