The freeholder's duties in a block of flats: two hats, one building

The first hat: the landlord of each flat

Every flat in the block is a separate tenancy, and every tenancy carries the duties any landlord has. The government's own summary of what a landlord must do is at gov.uk, your landlord's safety responsibilities, and it is the place to check the current rules rather than this page. As read on 7 November 2026, it says a landlord must:

• Gas. Have gas equipment installed and maintained by a Gas Safe registered engineer, with an annual gas safety check on each appliance and flue, and give the tenant a copy of the record before they move in or within 28 days of the check. In a block that is one check per flat with gas, every year, on a diary.
• Electrics. Make sure the electrical system is safe, and that any appliances the landlord supplies are safe. In practice lenders, buyers and councils expect to see an electrical installation condition report for each flat; check the current rules on how often one is required.
• Alarms. A smoke alarm on each storey, and a carbon monoxide alarm where the rules require one. Test them at the start of each tenancy and keep the record.
• Fire safety inside the flat. Follow the safety regulations, make sure tenants can reach the escape routes at all times, and supply only furniture that is fire safe.

Add to that list the duties the gov.uk page does not cover but every block owner carries: protecting each deposit in a government-backed scheme, right to rent checks on every adult tenant, and an energy performance certificate for each flat. The last one is a trap on converted blocks: some have one certificate for the whole building, and a lender lending on the block, or on a flat after a split, will want one per unit. Order them early.

The second hat: responsible for the common parts

The hallway, the staircase, the landings, the entrance, the bin store, the roof, the external walls and the plant are yours, every tenant uses them, and nobody else is responsible for them. The single most serious duty attached to them is fire safety.

The fire risk assessment of the common parts

The government's guidance on fire safety responsibilities, at gov.uk, fire safety in the workplace, states that the rules for non-domestic premises include the common areas of multi-occupied residential buildings, and that for those common or shared areas the responsible person is the landlord, freeholder or managing agent. The responsible person must carry out a fire risk assessment of the premises and review it regularly, put in place and maintain appropriate fire safety measures, and plan for emergencies. The same page says you could be fined or go to prison if you do not follow the regulations, and that the local fire and rescue authority inspects premises and can issue notices requiring changes. Read on 7 November 2026; the gov.uk page is the current source, not this summary.

What an assessment leads to depends on the building. A competent assessor looks at how people would escape from each flat, and the measures that follow typically include an interlinked alarm system, fire doors with the right closers and seals, protected escape routes kept clear, emergency lighting where the layout needs it, and signage. A two-storey converted house and a purpose-built block of twenty flats are different documents with different answers, and the assessment is reviewed when the building or its occupancy changes, not filed and forgotten.

From the owner's side, two practical points. First, check the assessment before you buy a block, before you spend on surveys and conveyancing: a current one with the actions done or visibly in hand is a good sign, and a stale one from years ago is a real red flag that can mean walking away. A building with no hard-wired alarms, no fire doors anywhere and windows nailed shut will not get mortgage finance until it is fixed, while a missing exit sign is trivial. Second, when the assessment throws up non-urgent items, get a quote and a timeline and put the solution to the lender rather than an open question; evidence of the fix within an agreed period is something lenders can work with.

Taller buildings carry more

Taller residential buildings sit under the building safety regime, which adds duties on things such as fire doors, external walls and the information given to residents, with thresholds set by height. The regime is still being added to, and the weekly block owner news on this site has carried more than one change to it. Before buying a taller block, check the current position for its height on gov.uk, and expect your lender and insurer to ask the same question.

The rest of the shared building

• Maintenance and liability. Loose handrails, worn steps, a dark stairwell, a roof slate working loose: each is a claim waiting to happen, and your property owners' liability cover only answers if the building was reasonably maintained. Walk the common parts every month and write down what you saw.
• Asbestos. Buildings of a certain age can contain it in the common parts, and there is a duty to manage it in non-domestic areas, which the shared parts of a block can be. A survey tells you whether it is there and how to manage it; ask a surveyor whether your building needs one.
• Water. Shared hot and cold water systems carry a duty to assess and control the risk of legionella. On most small blocks that is a simple written assessment and a routine; on larger systems it is a specialist job.
• Insurance. One buildings policy for the whole structure, on a rebuild basis, with your lender's interest noted and every declaration accurate. The whole subject is in insuring a block of flats.

Licensing: it varies by street, not just by council

Selective licensing schemes, which can require a licence for ordinary single lets in a designated area, and additional licensing schemes are set locally and change. Two identical blocks in neighbouring boroughs can have entirely different requirements, and a scheme can start after you buy. Check with the specific council before you exchange, and again each year. There is also a licensing rule specific to converted blocks: a building converted into self-contained flats can fall inside the Section 257 HMO rules when three tests are met at once, even though nobody shares a kitchen. The tests are set out in block of flats, or a Section 257 HMO? on The Title Split Consultant.

Who pays for the common parts when the flats are on ordinary tenancies

This is the question that surprises owners coming from single lets. On an assured shorthold tenancy the rent is the whole payment: there is no service charge to the tenant, so cleaning the hallway, lighting the stairs, maintaining the roof, insuring the building and paying for the fire risk assessment all come out of the rent. A block therefore needs a running-cost budget that a single house does not, and a buyer or lender will price the block on the rent net of those costs, not gross. The practical answer is a simple annual budget per block, reviewed when the insurance renews.

The statutory service charge regime, with its rules on demands, consultation and accounts, belongs to long leases. It arrives the moment you title split the block and sell or let a flat on a long lease, and the leasehold reforms reported in the news are changing that regime. If a split is in your plans, the leases set the service charge up, and that is a conversation with your solicitor before the leases are drafted. Check the current rules; they are moving.

The compliance file: one per block

Everything above produces paper, and the paper is the asset. A lender asks for it at application and at every refinance; a buyer asks for it before offering; a council asks for it on inspection; and if anything ever goes wrong, the file is what shows you met your duties. Keep one file per block, and keep it current:

• The fire risk assessment, the action list, and evidence each action was completed and when
• Gas safety records for every flat with gas, with the date the tenant was given a copy
• Electrical reports, and alarm test records at the start of each tenancy
• An energy performance certificate for every flat
• Licences, or the council's confirmation that none is required, dated
• Deposit protection certificates and right to rent evidence for each tenancy
• The buildings insurance schedule and the rebuild cost assessment behind it
• The asbestos survey and legionella assessment where required
• A maintenance log for the common parts, with the monthly walk-round noted

Missing paperwork does not necessarily stop finance, but it changes the rate and the lender, and on a sale it changes the price. It is also, as a solicitor who spoke at our deal clinic pointed out, one of the commonest reasons a block deal stalls.

Using a managing agent

A good agent will run the diary, arrange the certificates, walk the building and chase the contractors, and on a larger block that is money well spent. What an agent cannot do is carry the legal responsibility: gov.uk names the landlord, freeholder or managing agent as responsible for the common parts, and the owner is the one whose name is on the title. If you use an agent, agree in writing exactly which duties they carry out, and ask to see the file, not just the invoice.

Common questions

Related guides

• Insuring a block of flats: one policy, the rebuild basis, and what you must declare.
• Financing a block of flats: why the fire risk assessment is the first thing a lender asks for.
• Selling a block of flats: the same file, from the buyer's side of the table.
• What is a multi unit freehold block?: the foundations.
• What to look for in a block before you offer, on The Title Split Consultant.

James Lynch

James has owned buy-to-let property since 2012 and now buys, holds and title splits blocks of flats and mixed-use buildings in the UK: 80 units at August 2026, with 4 more in legals, through companies you can look up at Companies House. He teaches the strategy at The Title Split Consultant.