To change managing agent, the company that appointed the agent, usually your residents' management company or RTM company, serves written notice under the management agreement, typically one to three months. The new agent then takes over the service charge money, accounts, contracts and records from the old one. Leaseholders who do not control the company can ask the board or freeholder to change, take over through right to manage, or apply to the tribunal in serious cases.
Changing managing agent is a board decision, not a legal battle. Whoever appoints the agent, usually the residents' management company, the right to manage company or the freeholder, can end the appointment on the terms of the agreement and appoint another. Most boards put it off because they think it is complicated. Done in order, it is not.
Free for Essex freeholders: not sure whether your agent is doing the job? We email you a freeholder pack with a scorecard, six questions and a letter to your agent drafted with your concerns.
01The six steps
- Read the notice clause. Find the current management agreement and look for the notice period and any fixed term. Three months is usual. If nobody can find the agreement, ask the agent for a copy in writing.
- Get written quotations. Ask two or three agents for a fee in writing, with the extras listed. Ours is published, so you can have it in two minutes.
- Resolve it at a board meeting. The directors resolve to end the current appointment and appoint the new agent from a date, and minute it. Check your articles for how many directors must agree.
- Serve notice. A short letter to the outgoing agent giving the notice the agreement requires and the date it ends. Our three letters include it, free to use.
- Hand over. The incoming agent sends the outgoing one a checklist: the client account balance and statements, arrears, contracts, insurance, compliance records, the leaseholder list and the company's records. Ours is published.
- Tell the owners. Every leaseholder or homeowner gets a letter with the new bank details, the named manager and what happens next.
02The money
Service charge money, including the reserve fund, belongs to the building and is held on trust. It moves to the new client account with the rest, and the outgoing agent accounts for it to the handover date. Mid-year is not a problem: the accounts are drawn to the handover date and the year carries on. How we hold your money.
03If the freeholder appoints the agent
If your leases give the freeholder the management, the leaseholders cannot change the agent directly, but they can take the management over under the right to manage without proving fault, and then appoint their own.
04What we do when you choose us
We send the outgoing agent the handover checklist on day one, chase every item until it arrives, visit the building in the first month and send the board a first report within ninety days. The first ninety days sets out the timetable, and the free switching pack puts all of it in one PDF.
05Questions
How much notice do we need to give our managing agent?
Whatever the management agreement says. Three months is usual. Check for a fixed term that has not yet ended.
Can we change managing agent mid-year?
Yes. The outgoing agent accounts to the handover date and the service charge year carries on.
Do we need a solicitor to change managing agent?
Not for an ordinary appointment. The board resolves, serves notice under the agreement and appoints the new agent.
What happens to our reserve fund when we change agent?
It is the building's money, held on trust, and it transfers to the new client account with the rest.
How do I change the managing agent of my block of flats?
Find out who appointed the agent: the residents' management company, an RTM company or the freeholder. That body serves written notice under the management agreement. If you are a leaseholder without control of the company, raise it with the directors or freeholder in writing, or consider right to manage.
Can leaseholders change the managing agent?
Yes, where the leaseholders control the company that appoints the agent, which is usual when there is a residents' management company or RTM company. Where the freeholder appoints the agent, leaseholders cannot simply dismiss it, but can take over management through right to manage.
Can a landlord or freeholder change the managing agent?
Yes. Where the freeholder appointed the agent under the leases, the freeholder can end the agreement on its notice terms and appoint another firm, and should tell the leaseholders who the new agent is.
How long does it take to change managing agent?
Usually one to three months, set by the notice period in your current agreement. The handover of money and records follows the notice date; the profession's code expects the outgoing agent to hand over promptly and account for every pound.
Who can I switch to in Essex?
Essex Block Management is a RICS regulated managing agent based in Chelmsford. Full management is £240 a flat a year plus VAT (minimum £2,400), with a named manager, four site visits a year and the service charge held in a client account in the building's own name. We take on blocks and estates across Essex and our switching pack, letters and handover checklist are free.
06Guides for directors
- Service charge estimate
- RICS regulated block managers in Essex
- The reserve fund
- Service charge arrears
- Service charge accounts
- Directors' duties in an RMC
- How to choose a managing agent
- A free service charge check
- Service charges explained
- Buildings insurance for blocks
- Fire safety in blocks of flats
- The Directors' Library
- Residents' management companies
- Right to manage
- Block management fees
- Section 20 major works
- Service charge disputes
- New-build estate fees
- Estate management in Essex