# PROPERTY MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT
## Important legal and regulatory warning
This is a fictional, unsigned illustrative agreement, not a licence, lease, service-charge consultation, safety certificate or guarantee of compliance. The blank signature lines are not evidence that either company has executed or delivered it. It would take effect as a contract only when both companies have signed or otherwise validly executed and delivered it with authority and an intention to be bound. It assumes a managing agent is appointed by the freeholder of a residential block in England. The parties must check the leases, title, superior lender requirements, right-to-manage or resident-management arrangements, the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the Service Charges (Consultation Requirements) (England) Regulations 2003, the Housing Act 2004, fire and building-safety legislation, deposit rules, data-protection law, client-money requirements, redress and complaints obligations, tax and any local licensing scheme. The Agent must not take a step outside its authority merely because this agreement contains a general management power. In this specimen, a working day means Monday to Friday excluding a bank holiday in England and Wales, and each stated time is UK local time.
Agreement date: 1 June 2027
## 1. Parties and property
Northmere Residential Estates Limited, company number 08274619, of 18 Bootham Row, York YO1 7DE, email owner@northmere.example.test, is the registered freeholder of Lime Tree Court, 42–48 Fossgate, York YO1 9TA, title number NYK781204. It is called the Owner. The Owner's authorised representative for instructions and approval under this agreement is Thomas Julian North, a director of the Owner, at thomas.north@example.test. Thomas is not a director, employee or agent of the Agent.
Crescent Gate Property Management Limited, company number 06745120, of 5 Clifton Moor Gate, York YO30 4XG, email accounts@crescentgate.example.test, is appointed as the Agent. Eleanor Jean Hart, a director of the Agent, is the contract contact at eleanor.hart@example.test.
Lime Tree Court comprises 18 self-contained flats numbered 1 to 18, the entrance hall, staircases, lift, roof, plant room, cycle store, refuse store, courtyard, accessway and associated structure and services. The Owner confirms that the flats are let on separate leases and that this agreement does not vary those leases. The Agent receives no power to grant a tenancy, vary a lease, waive a covenant or promise an outcome to a leaseholder unless the Owner gives a separate written authority.
## 2. Appointment and standard of service
The Owner appoints the Agent as its exclusive managing agent for the management services in Schedule 1 from 1 June 2027 until termination under clause 10. The Agent accepts the appointment and will perform its duties with reasonable skill and care, comply with lawful instructions from Thomas Julian North or another person the Owner appoints in a dated written notice, keep appropriate records, disclose conflicts promptly, and act within the authority and spending limits in this agreement. The Agent may use competent contractors and professional advisers, remaining responsible for reasonable selection and supervision.
The Agent's authority is administrative and managerial. It is not authority to sell, mortgage, surrender, grant a long lease, issue proceedings, admit liability, make a statutory declaration, approve an alteration affecting structure, or settle a dispute above £2,500 without the Owner's prior written approval. An urgent action needed to prevent immediate serious injury or material damage may be taken without advance approval if delay would be unreasonable; the Agent must notify the Owner as soon as practicable and provide the reason, cost and evidence.
## 3. Rent and lease administration
The Agent will maintain a rent and lease diary for the 18 flats, record contractual due dates, issue ordinary rent statements if requested, chase arrears politely and lawfully, and report material arrears. It may send a first arrears reminder 5 working days after a missed payment and a second reminder 10 working days later. It must not threaten eviction, forfeiture or court action without the Owner's written instruction and confirmation that the relevant tenancy or lease procedure has been checked.
Rents are paid into the client account in clause 8. The Agent must allocate a receipt to the correct flat, investigate unidentified receipts, and provide the Owner with a monthly rent schedule. The Agent must not vary rent, agree a concession, accept a surrender, take a deposit or grant a new occupation without a written instruction identifying the flat, amount and legal process. A leaseholder's service charge is not rent and must be accounted for separately.
## 4. Service charges and consultation
The Owner pre-approves the 2027–2028 service-charge budget of £86,400.00 on the Agreement date, subject to the leases, consultation requirements and lawful recovery. It comprises cleaning £12,600.00, lift £9,800.00, insurance £15,500.00, utilities £13,200.00, planned maintenance £18,000.00, gardening and refuse £7,300.00, compliance inspections £6,000.00, and management administration £4,000.00. The total is calculated as £12,600 + £9,800 + £15,500 + £13,200 + £18,000 + £7,300 + £6,000 + £4,000 = £86,400. The pre-approval authorises preparation and administration of that budget; it does not override a lease, consultation duty, statutory cap or later evidence that a cost is not reasonably incurred. For the next accounting year ending 31 March 2029, the Agent's first annual-budget deadline under this agreement is 31 January 2028, when it must send Thomas Julian North a proposed budget with assumptions, quotations and identified consultation issues.
The Agent will apportion service charges only in accordance with the leases and will not assume equal shares merely because there are 18 flats. If the leases provided to the Agent show equal proportions, an illustrative equal budget share is £86,400 divided by 18, or £4,800 per flat for that year; the Agent must replace that figure with the actual lease percentages where they differ. The Agent will prepare demands containing the information required by law and the leases and will administer consultation, estimates and notices where a qualifying long-term agreement or qualifying works require them. It must tell the Owner promptly if a proposed instruction may be irrecoverable or requires consultation.
The Agent will maintain a service-charge ledger, retain invoices and certificates, reconcile the account monthly and prepare an annual statement within six months of year end or sooner if required by the leases. It will provide leaseholders with information and summaries required by law, subject to lawful redaction. It will not describe a cost as recoverable merely because the Owner wants it recovered.
## 5. Repairs and expenditure authority
The Agent may instruct routine repairs and maintenance up to £750.00 including VAT per item without prior approval where reasonably necessary for the common parts. It may obtain at least two comparable estimates for an item expected to exceed £750.00 and must obtain the Owner's written approval before committing, unless clause 2's emergency exception applies. An emergency includes a serious leak, loss of essential fire protection, unsafe electrical condition, lift entrapment, blocked access, major security failure or a condition presenting an immediate material risk to people or property. An emergency instruction is limited to stabilising and making safe; permanent replacement requires approval where practicable.
No related orders may be split to avoid the £750.00 threshold. The Agent will disclose the contractor, scope, estimate, VAT, warranty, proposed start date and any conflict. It must obtain the Owner's approval before works exceeding £5,000.00, planned structural work, roof replacement, external decoration, energy works, major plant replacement or any work likely to require statutory consultation. The Owner will make decisions promptly and is responsible for funding approved work.
The Agent will operate a ticket system with reference numbers. Each ticket records the report date, flat or common area, priority, contractor, approval, diagnosis, photographs, invoice and completion date. Target responses are one working day for an emergency, three working days for urgent water or security matters and seven working days for routine matters. Targets are service standards, not promises that a third party will complete work by those dates.
## 6. Compliance, contractors and insurance
The Agent will keep a compliance calendar for fire risk assessment, emergency lighting, fire alarms, smoke-control equipment, lift examination, electrical inspection, asbestos information, water hygiene, insurance renewal and any applicable building-safety duties. It will tell the Owner of a missed inspection, material defect, enforcement notice or resident report. The Owner remains the accountable person or dutyholder where legislation assigns that role; the Agent's administration does not transfer a statutory duty.
The Agent will use contractors with appropriate competence, insurance, risk assessments and method statements. It will check public liability insurance of at least £5,000,000 for ordinary contractors and £10,000,000 where the risk assessment reasonably requires it. Contractors must protect residents, control dust and noise, remove waste lawfully and provide completion evidence. The Agent must not accept a contractor's commission, referral fee or gift unless disclosed to the Owner and permitted by law and the Agent's policies.
The Agent will place building insurance only with the insurer and cover approved by the Owner, assist with claims, keep policy documents and notify the Owner of incidents. It will not admit liability, promise that a claim is covered or instruct uninsured remedial works beyond emergency stabilisation. The Owner must provide accurate building, occupancy and claims information and pay premiums.
## 7. Client money and records
The Agent will hold rent, service charges, reserve contributions and other client money in a segregated client account at North Riding Bank, account reference LIME-TREE-CLIENT, and will not mix it with the Agent's operating money. The account is administered under the Agent's applicable client-money procedures. The Agent will keep a separate ledger for each flat, the reserve fund and the Owner's funds, reconcile monthly and report opening balance, receipts, payments, fees, interest and closing balance.
On the fifth working day of each month, the Agent will send the Owner a report for the preceding calendar month. The report will show rent billed and received, arrears by flat and age, service-charge receipts, approved commitments, paid invoices, bank reconciliation, repairs over £750.00, complaints, incidents, insurance claims, compliance deadlines and cash held. On the first working day of each month the Agent will transfer undisputed owner funds, after authorised fees and payments, to the Owner's account ending 4428 at North Riding Bank. The Agent will not make a payment to a changed account without an independently verified instruction.
The Agent will retain accounting, contractor, lease, notice and compliance records for at least seven years or longer where law, a lease, an insurance claim or an unresolved dispute requires retention. Personal data will be handled only for management, accounting, safety, legal compliance and related administration, with secure access and appropriate disclosure controls.
## 8. Fees and expenses
The Agent's management fee is £325.00 including VAT per month, calculated as a net fee of £270.83 plus VAT of £54.17 at 20 per cent. Twelve months at £325.00 totals £3,900.00 including VAT. The fee is payable from owner funds on the first working day of each month. The Agent may charge a separate project-management fee of 6 per cent including VAT of the contractor's invoice for planned works approved in writing above £5,000.00; no project fee applies to emergency stabilisation or routine repairs.
Reasonable documented postage, filing, locksmith, court filing and specialist-consultant expenses are reimbursable at cost after they are shown in the monthly report. The Agent must obtain the Owner's approval before a single non-urgent expense over £250.00. Contractor invoices are not marked up unless the Owner expressly agrees in writing and the markup is stated to the relevant leaseholder where required. The Owner remains responsible for all lawful property expenditure and must keep enough cleared funds available.
## 9. Complaints and communications
The Agent will acknowledge a written resident complaint within three working days and provide a substantive response within 15 working days or explain the reason for delay and a revised date. Complaints about service-charge demands, safety or repair will be logged against the relevant flat or common-area ticket. The Agent will not disclose a complainant's personal information to another resident except where lawful and necessary.
Contractual notices under this agreement must be in writing and sent by hand, recorded post or email to the addresses in clause 1. Hand delivery is effective when left during business hours. Recorded post is deemed received at 9.00 am on the second working day after posting unless actually received earlier. Email is effective when the sender has no delivery-failure message and it arrives before 5.00 pm on a working day, otherwise at 9.00 am on the next working day. An email satisfying this contractual rule is valid service and not merely a courtesy copy. These deemed-receipt rules apply only to contractual notices under this agreement and not to a court document, statutory notice, lease notice or other process, which must satisfy its applicable procedural rules.
## 10. Termination and handover
Either party may terminate on three months' written notice, expiring no earlier than 31 May 2028. Either party may terminate immediately by written notice if the other becomes insolvent, loses a legally necessary authorisation, commits a material breach not remedied within 20 working days after notice, or presents an immediate serious risk to client money or residents. Termination does not cancel sums properly due or obligations that are intended to continue.
Within 20 working days after termination the Agent will deliver the lease register, keys, contractor contracts, certificates, insurance claims, ledgers, reconciliations, notices, passwords held for the property, resident contact records and open-ticket list to the Owner or its nominated replacement, subject to lawful data transfer. It will pay across client money after reconciling authorised invoices and keep a handover statement. A final fee is payable only for services performed up to the termination date and approved handover work.
## 11. Liability and law
The Agent is responsible for loss caused by its negligence, fraud, wilful default or breach of this agreement, subject to the limits that may lawfully apply. It does not guarantee a tenant's payment, a contractor's performance, an insurer's decision, a planning outcome, a statutory inspection outcome or a leaseholder's compliance. Neither party excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded. The Owner will indemnify the Agent for properly authorised acts performed in good faith, except to the extent the loss results from the Agent's negligence, fraud or breach.
This agreement is governed by the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory tribunal, ombudsman, redress or statutory process. Changes must be in a dated document signed by both parties. If a term is invalid, the remaining terms continue. Schedules form part of the agreement.
## Schedule 1 — management services
The services include maintaining the lease and contact register; issuing approved demands; reconciling rent and service charges; arranging ordinary cleaning, refuse, gardening, pest control and common-area lighting; logging and supervising repairs; obtaining quotations; coordinating approved compliance inspections; assisting with insurance claims; handling resident enquiries; maintaining key and contractor registers; preparing the monthly report; and arranging the annual budget and statement. The Agent will not provide legal advice, tax advice, building surveying, architectural design, emergency attendance outside agreed hours or debt enforcement unless separately instructed.
## Schedule 2 — signatories
Signed for and on behalf of Northmere Residential Estates Limited by Thomas Julian North, director:
Signature: __________________________
Date: 1 June 2027
Witness signature: __________________________
Witness name: Miriam Claire Fox
Witness address: 11 Heworth Green, York YO31 7SX
Witness occupation: Solicitor
Signed for and on behalf of Crescent Gate Property Management Limited by Eleanor Jean Hart, director:
Signature: __________________________
Date: 1 June 2027
Witness signature: __________________________
Witness name: Andrew Philip Moss
Witness address: 29 Clifton, York YO30 6AB
Witness occupation: Building manager
Each signatory confirms authority to bind the company. Each witness is an independent adult and confirms that the relevant signature was made or acknowledged in the witness's presence.