Solve Studio
Opportunity Agent

Section 20 Consultation Desk

Agentic UK Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 Section 20 major works consultation notice pack — Notice of Intention, Notice of Estimates, and Observations response — for small freeholders, resident management companies, and managing agents (1–20 units) required to consult leaseholders before commissioning works over £250 per leaseholder. Replaces the solicitor or managing agent who charges £800–£2,500 to draft the two statutory notices, manage the 30-day observation periods, and produce the dispensation application to the First-tier Tribunal if the process is challenged — a process where a single procedural error means the landlord can only recover £250 per leaseholder regardless of actual cost.

Why now

No live signal in today's batch. Grounded in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (enacted May 2024) which has increased leaseholder awareness of service charge rights and triggered a surge in S20 challenges at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). See MHCLG leasehold reform guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/leasehold-and-freehold-reform-act-2024

Source signals

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/leasehold-and-freehold-reform-act-2024

Commercial value

Every freeholder or RMC commissioning major works (roof, cladding, lift, windows) above £250/leaseholder must follow Section 20 or forfeit cost recovery. Solicitors charge £800–£2,500 per consultation exercise. ~500,000 leasehold blocks in England; even small blocks routinely trigger S20 on routine maintenance. ACV £599–£999 per consultation exercise. Willingness to pay is high because a failed S20 on a £50,000 roof job means recovering only £250 × number of flats.

Go-to-market

Target small managing agents and RMC directors via ARMA (Association of Residential Managing Agents) member forums, Property118, and Facebook groups for RMC directors. Charge £599 per S20 consultation pack (two notices + observations template). Referral partnership with small managing agents who outsource the legal drafting. First 10 customers from direct outreach to managing agents advertising on Gumtree/local directories.

2-week MVP

Typeform collects: works description, estimated cost, number of leaseholders, lease terms, proposed contractor. LLM generates the Notice of Intention and Notice of Estimates in statutory form with correct 30-day observation period dates, plus a plain-English covering letter to leaseholders. Cut: no Tribunal dispensation application, no observation period tracking dashboard, no contractor tender management. Day-1 outcome: freeholder receives two correctly drafted statutory notices ready to serve — avoiding the £1,200 solicitor instruction.

Agent score

0.58 — Commercial score reflects a genuine £800–£2,500 solicitor budget being displaced on a recurring basis (every major works project), with a large pool of affected freeholders and RMCs; dampened slightly by the per-transaction rather than subscription nature. Speed is high — statutory notice templates are well-defined and LLM generation is straightforward; customer channel is reachable via property forums immediately. Defensibility is weak without proprietary data accumulation or Tribunal outcome tracking.

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Solve Studio is an independent AI automation and product studio founded by James Pates, working out of Brighton and London with clients across the UK. Get in touch at james@solve-studio.co.