Usually it happens like this. Someone resigns, a meeting is called, nobody volunteers, and you say yes because the alternative is nobody. Then a letter arrives from Companies House and it becomes apparent that this is an actual legal role.
Here is what it involves, and what to do in your first few months.
You are a director of a limited company. The company — not you personally — holds the obligations in the leases or the transfer deeds: maintaining the structure, insuring the building, keeping the common parts, collecting the service charge.
As a director you owe the usual company law duties: to act within the company's powers, to promote its success, to exercise reasonable care and skill, and to avoid conflicts of interest. That last one matters more than people expect in a block, because you live there and your flat is affected by every decision you take.
Is the company's filing up to date? Confirmation statement and accounts, at Companies House. Overdue filings carry penalties and, left long enough, risk the company being struck off — which is a genuinely serious problem when that company holds the freehold.
Is there directors' and officers' insurance? Often there is not, because nobody thought to arrange it. It is inexpensive and it is the thing standing between you and personal exposure if a decision is challenged.
Where is the money? Service charge funds are held on statutory trust and should sit in a designated client account, separate from the agent's own money. Ask which bank, ask for a reconciliation, and ask what the reserve balance is.
When was the fire risk assessment last done, and what is outstanding? The company is likely the responsible person under fire safety law. Open actions with no plan attached are the single biggest risk you have inherited.
What contracts is the company tied into? Particularly anything running more than twelve months, which should have been through a Section 20 consultation.
You are not the complaints department. Residents will knock on your door about bins, parking and noise, because you are closer than the agent. A managing agent worth having takes that away from you. If yours does not, that is a service failure, not a fact of life.
Popular is not the same as correct. The decision that keeps service charges down this year by deferring work is the one that produces a £6,000 bill in five years. Your duty is to the company, which includes the leaseholders who have not moved in yet.
Minute things. Decisions made in a corridor conversation are impossible to defend later. Write them down, even briefly.
Declare conflicts. If the works affect your flat more than others, or you know the contractor, say so and record it. Declared conflicts are manageable; discovered ones are not.
Preparing board papers before the meeting rather than presenting figures at it. Running the AGM properly. Keeping the filings current. Giving you clear recommendations with the reasoning attached, so you can disagree with the reasoning rather than just the conclusion. And fielding the residents, so being a director does not consume your evenings.
If that is not what you are getting, you are carrying the liability without the support. Send us your last budget and accounts and we will give you an honest view — including, sometimes, that your current agent is doing a decent job.
General guidance, not legal advice. Directors' duties are specific to your company's structure — take advice on yours.
Send us your last service charge budget. We'll tell you honestly whether you're getting value — no obligation either way.