Ask any seasoned block manager about their sleepless nights, and the conversation will invariably turn to Section 20 Major Works.
Derived from the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Section 20 is designed to protect leaseholders from unexpected, astronomical service charge bills. It dictates that if any single leaseholder’s contribution to a maintenance project exceeds £250, the managing agent must undergo a rigorous, multi-stage statutory consultation before a single brick is laid.
On paper, it sounds fair. In practice, it can be a high-stakes tightrope.
Historically, this process has lived across scattered inboxes, messy spreadsheets, and frantic side conversations. But when a major works project fails at a First-tier Tribunal (FTT), it is rarely because the physical work was poor; it is almost always because the evidence of compliance failed.
Here is how Fixflo’s new structured Section 20 workspace helps your team run an airtight, audit-proof process.
The cost of a single mistake
The rules surrounding Section 20 are absolute. If a managing agent misses a deadline, fails to properly address a resident’s written observation, or forgets to invite a leaseholder-nominated contractor to tender, the penalty is severe.
The FTT has the power to cap financial recovery at just £250 per leaseholder.
Consider a block of 20 apartments facing a £40,000 roof replacement (£2,000 per flat). If your team makes an administrative error during the consultation, the maximum you can legally recover from each resident is £250. The resulting £35,000 deficit leaves the managing agent, freeholder, or Resident Management Company (RMC) facing a financial black hole.
Navigating the countdown
To avoid this trap, property managers must execute three phases, keeping in mind that leaseholders must be given a minimum of 30 days to respond to both Stage 1 (Notice of Intention) and Stage 2 (Statement of Estimates).
Because of these mandatory 30-day waiting windows, a standard consultation takes a minimum of two to three months to complete. Tracking these overlapping countdowns across a large portfolio can quickly lead to human error.
Fixflo brings every project into one structured workspace where the consultation stages lock in sequence. No step can be skipped, and deadlines are automatically managed. Every notice, deadline, and decision is date-stamped and attributed, giving you an undeniable audit trail to present to a tribunal if ever challenged.
Connected maintenance and fees
The flaw of a spreadsheet is that it exists in isolation. It cannot talk to your day-to-day maintenance workflow, and it cannot easily track complex financials.
Fixflo’s Section 20 feature solves this by bridging the gap between major projects and daily operations:
- Connected to day-to-day repairs: Fixflo allows you to link each major project directly to the maintenance issues already logged in your system. You get a two-way history connecting the initial leak to the eventual roof overhaul.
- Recover costs with confidence: To ensure full service charge recovery, project budgets, management fees, and surveyor fees sit right against each project, alongside tenders and decisions.
- A clear portfolio view: Instead of digging through individual property files, leaders can filter by property manager, estate, or building for a high-level picture of what’s in progress, what’s due, and what each project is costing.
Build for today, ready for tomorrow
Major works are the ultimate test of a property manager's operational excellence. Fixflo is building its Section 20 features in phases to support you every step of the way. This latest release delivers the core structured workflows, fee visibility, and date-stamped record-keeping your team needs to protect cost recovery today, with even more advanced features on the way.
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