Leaseholders take control of 347 apartments across Sheffield and Merseyside

The firm established the RTM company, secured the required level of leaseholder participation, prepared and served the statutory notices and progressed the claim. No counter-notice was served by the incumbent parties and the claim was admitted.

The acquisition and the start of Horizon Management’s management both take effect on 12 August 2026.

The firm has also managed the practical preparations for the acquisition, including the handover from the outgoing agent, building insurance, contractor arrangements, resident engagement, site staffing and TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations) arrangements for existing on-site employees.

At East Float Quay on Dock Road, Birkenhead, leaseholders acquired the Right to Manage through two separate RTM companies covering Mill 1 and Mill 2 – two converted mill buildings on the Wirral waterfront with 179 apartments between them.

Horizon Management supported residents through the RTM process and has since prepared the management transition, including management agreements, building insurance, contractor arrangements, resident communications and liaison with the outgoing managing agent. Its management commences on 10 August 2026.

Horizon Management intends to appoint locally based contractors at both sites.

The appointments come as financial pressure on leaseholders intensifies. Hamptons' 2025 Service Charge Index puts the average service charge in England and Wales at £2,405 in 2025, or £200.42 a month – the first time the monthly average has passed £200.

The same analysis found that service charges rose 55.6% over the decade to 2025, outstripping Consumer Price Index inflation of 39.8% over the same period.

Reforms under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, in force since March 2025, have also made the Right to Manage more accessible.

The limit on non-residential floorspace was raised from 25% to 50%, bringing more mixed-use buildings within scope, and leaseholders are no longer routinely liable for the freeholder’s costs of an RTM claim.

Chris Browne, Founder of Horizon Management, said: “Leaseholders are increasingly unwilling to accept that decisions about their own homes are made somewhere else, and recent reforms have removed much of what previously stopped them acting. What they need is a managing agent who can take them through the statutory process and then actually run the building afterwards.

“At Millsands we did both. We formed the company, served the notices and secured the claim, and from 12 August we are managing 168 apartments on behalf of the people who pay the bills. That is a very different proposition to being appointed to replace another agent at an existing site.”

Nathan Humphreys, Operations Director at Horizon Management, said: “A successful RTM claim is the start of the work, not the end of it. Whether day one feels like progress or chaos comes down to the detail – insurance in place, contracts retendered or novated, site staff transferred across on the right terms, and residents kept informed at every stage

“We are also looking to use locally based contractors at both developments. Where we can, that spend stays with firms in Sheffield and on the Wirral rather than leaving the area entirely.”