This can be a potentially confusing choice for a collective of flat owners and depends on what exactly the likely participants want to get out of the process. It is important to get this right at an early stage in a collective action so as to avoid a lot of wasted time and effort in the early part of the process.
In short, the answer depends on what you want to get out of the process and what the key motivating factor(s) for pursing some sort of collective action are.
Do you have only management issues?
If your main objective is to deal with only the issues arising out of the management of the block, then the ’Right to Manage’ may be more appropriate.
How long are your leases?
If some or all of the leases in your block are short then there is likely to be a higher capital cost to buying the freehold and also funding non-participating flat owners. This is can be a potential ‘deal breaker’ for a freehold purchase if those taking part cannot (or do not want to) fund the non-participating flat owners and outside funding cannot be found (or is not wanted).
If there are a variety of lease lengths then there may also be issues as those with shorter leases will have to pay more to take part and this disparity may be a barrier to getting a freehold purchase started.
In such a case, then Right to Manage, (possibly followed by lease extensions for those that are interested) could well be the best way forward.
Longer leases, but management an issue?
Normally, if the leases are ‘long’ then there may be less of an incentive to pursue the freehold. However, if the building’s management is an issue then provided that there is a good level of participation and that the capital cost per participant is not too high, then buying the freehold may well be the better option.
This is because the transactional process in terms of cost and timescale may well be similar for freehold purchase and the right to manage. As such, freehold may be a better result as the ownership (as well as control of the landlord functions under the leases will change).
As always these sorts of decisions need to be made on a ‘case by case’ basis however, the above may well prove a useful starting point for discussion. Appropriate advice from a suitably qualified professional should be sought when making any group decision about the relative merits of freehold purchase or right to manage.