UK Landlord Forum / Life

Is the only way to change agents when the tenant moves out?

Quote from: EDINB on February 16, 2023, 03:33:03 AM
Is the only way to change agents when the tenant moves out?

No, you can change agent whenever you wish, including while your property is tenanted.

However, you will be subject to whatever conditions you agreed to in the Landlord-Agent Contract (aka Terms of Business). You should read this carefully.

The contract will stipulate how much notice you need to give the agent and, most importantly, it will say what your financial obligations are.

The latter may involve the payment of a fixed number of months management fees to leave the contract or, more often, the continued payment of fees while the tenant they found for you remains in the property, even if you engage another agent or manage the tenancy yourself.

If you can demonstrate that the agent has made significant errors in the management of the tenancy, then it may be possible to renegotiate these contract terms - I did this and sacked an agent without penalty to me (in fact I got a refund of fees) - but you have to have good cause and be very persuasive to achieve this.


Why do you want to change agents?

Reflecting, I'm thinking about managing myself, so it would be just termination notice of their services. I'll look up the contract details, thanks.