I think you could. Revoluts terms of business that you quoted are a bit odd in that respect! Still, I think ideally what you want is a single account provider with associated client money accounts - someone like Barclays should be able to provide you with that. It’ll be easier to manage!
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Sidetracking this slightly, my/our building has just been taken over by someone new and TBH, they seem like pure sharks.
Amongst the costs for the year like repairs/insurances/electric etc, they have a £1000 per flat “management fee”
How do they get away with this?
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Because they can. Unfortunately.
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It only has to be “reasonable”. Not lowest possible
And what does “reasonable” mean? Well that’s nice and vague
So I guess they shop around for the highest quote from a management company that also gives them a kick back (which is profit for the business)
Mine is around £200 for the year, so, as I said way up this topic, I could have done a lot worse down the years with my lot
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Get some legal advice on whether that’s reasonable or can be challenged. Remember they can only ask for what the lease allows them to ask for. I would think £1000 / flat could quite easily be challenged in a tribunal tbh. A residential surveyor would be a good place to get advice.
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Someone did write to them as it’s doubled from the previous management company. So far they’ve ignored it. That just about sums them up.
Well I am sure just ignoring you is not a great position for them
There is tons of information here:
I have started to read through it as it is the mirror of the freeholder role in most places and so is a great resource
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I had to like that, if only for this: 
Go get 'em, @Revels!
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Yes, if there is an underspend v budget you can claim the difference back at the end of the service charge year, or you can have the credit balance deducted from the new year charge. The same way if there is an overspend, the management agent will issue a one off charge for the amount due at year end.
Most management agents will kick slightly, but when pushed should refund. As mentioned elsewhere, service charge funds are never landlord/management agent funds.
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I think this is right, there are complexities but then again it’s not a new problem and there’s lots of software that can do the accounting bits with the right inputs. Once you have systems set up it’s not too complex. The RICS code is lengthy but otherwise straightforward. Follow it and you’ll most likely avoid any issues or disputes in a small block.
I don’t know what type of building it is but obviously if you own the freehold the main thing is a long term maintenance plan, sinking fund etc but again you can get advice on that if you need to.
Overall it’s a brave thing but also a good thing and once set up you’ll probably be saving yourself and the other tenants quite a bit of money!
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There shouldn’t be a surplus, service charge payments from tenants as per a budget should equal expenditure. At year end when the reconciliation is done, any underspend is due back to the tenant, any overspend will be recharged as a one off charge.
The only time tenant funds would be held by the management agent is if there is a sinking fund. A sinking fund could be held in a separate account, but I’ve never come across it being done that way.
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It’s a big old Victorian slab from the late 1800s that was split into flats in the late 1980s
That represents a very large slice of housing in Portsmouth! Leaving aside London, we must be one of the most leasehold heavy cities in the country
It has been taken care of fairly well down the years, though I have only had my eye on it for an overall small percent of its long life
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I have always personally paid by invoice for costs as they come, so I doubt I have ever run a surplus
I know the couple downstairs chose instead to pay per month and build up their own surplus to pay from, but, without having seen all the paperwork myself yet - I am still in the process of buying, so only have some of it - I get the impression from the above that it will be in their “client trust account”
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Thank you for the advice people.
@SouthseaOne Good luck!
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Thanks, hoping I don’t need it!
I have been through the full gamut of emotions on this from utterly resigned to totally stressed through determined and bloody minded
Today I am a mixture!
I could have done without this during a pandemic and a crazy year at work, but the timing was not of my choosing as it was driven by a Section 5A notice from the freeholder
Adding to the control point of above, there would be no guarantees at all that if I did not buy it (to which I had rights, though it has dragged on a bit now into a greyer area where I am the easier option rather than the only one) the new lot would not be total sharks
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What percentage of the budget is that management fee and how many flats? Does seem quite high, but it’s a few years since I did accounts for residential management.
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My hatred of them has clouded my memory! It’s not that much 
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Just to point out you could still contract a managing agency to actually run the lease accounts. At least as a backup option. At least being the person managing the contract you could have some level of control.
Just in case it all gets too much - although sounds like you will be able to cope just fine to me
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I have weighed it up, though not totally decided either way yet
I need to sort my lease extension straight after buying it (I am the only one of the flats that has not as of 2020) without the complication of anyone else in the mix, but am looking to bring in at least one of the other flats thereafter and this is maybe a decision best made in the round and maybe having a different answer then
So for now it sounds like an accountant is a better and wiser use of my own money at this point and then we can look at whether we can save on that £200 a year for each flat once the freehold is sorted
Given everything else going on I am kinda mentally partitioning activities into what can wait until after it is sorted and what cannot. Getting a cleaner can definitely wait, but a bank account probably cannot, for example
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