UK Landlord Forum / Life

hi all new here can anybody help ? ive been with the same agent for 16 months had to go into their office on four occasions to inform them that rent was late and to get them to check the property(inspection), renewed after 12 months for six month contract which they wrote out as 12 month i questioned them and they tell me its for six months( but after reading it properly it states 6 month fixed then periodic). about six weeks ago i passed the property and found that the gardens were very overgrown and hanging out over a public footpath i again went into the office asking them to get it sorted . they contacted the tenants and arranged for a gardener to attend, they cut away the bits over the public footpath and left the rest. i told the agent that this was not good enough but they are saying its satisfactory, so tuff you are on 12 month contract nothing you can do except do it myself at my expense.i pay them to fully manage the property but all they seem to do is collect rent and sometimes only after i remind them. i have had enough of them i want to manage it all myself so i can get to grips with the tenants to sort thing out or get out.
am i stuck with the agents for 12 months or can i walk away after 6 months. cant find anything in letting agreement to say either way.
hope you can help thanks in advance

Good morning trueblue,

First things first, you will need to check your terms and conditions with your letting agent. This will not be in the tenancy agreement as this is an agreement between you and the tenant not the agent. In the terms and conditions it will tell you if the agent is liable for their fee for the duration of the tenancy or until the tenant vacates and if their is any release clause.

If there is no release clause then maybe find out if they are a member of ARLA, or another governing body and tell them your situation so that they can investigate. This will either help to have you released from your agreement with the agent or give the agent a good boot up the backside. If you can prove that the agent has not kept to their part of the agreement then you should be able to tell them that you no longer require their services and that you wish to manage the property yourself.

I would suggest having everything documented, so email them your concerns so that you have proof you have told them your issues. If they are still not helpful and not work in your best interest, then they are negligent and this should give you cause to remove the property from them.

Hope this helps.