Changing managing agent takes three short letters: the board's notice to the outgoing agent under the management agreement, the new agent's first letter asking for the handover, and a welcome letter to every owner and resident with the new contact details and how to pay. The wording here is free to use.
Templates for the first month of a new building. Square brackets are filled in per building. They are short on purpose: a board or a resident should be able to read each one standing up. None of them promises a response time, a refund or anything the firm cannot keep.
01The board's notice to the outgoing agent
Sent by the client company, on its own letterhead, signed by a director. We draft it, the board sends it. Check the notice period and the method of service in the existing agreement first, and follow them exactly.
[Date]
Dear [agent],
[Building]: notice to end the management agreement
The board of [company] resolved on [date] to end your appointment as managing agent of [building]. This letter is the company's notice under clause [ ] of the agreement dated [ ]. Your appointment will end on [date], which is [ ] months from the date of this letter.
We have appointed Essex Block Management from that date. Please treat this letter as the company's authority to give them any information and documents they ask for, and please deal with them directly on the handover.
They will send you a handover checklist. We would be grateful for the building's records within four weeks of the end date, and the closing accounts and the balance of the company's money within three months, which is what the profession's code expects.
Yours faithfully,
[Director], for and on behalf of [company]
02Our first letter to the outgoing agent
[Date]
Dear [name],
[Building]: handover
[Company] has appointed us as managing agent of [building] from [date], and I understand you have had the board's notice.
I attach our handover checklist. The first part is the building's records, which we would be glad to have within four weeks of [date]. The second part is the closing accounts and the money, within three months. If anything on the list does not exist, a line saying so is as useful to us as the document.
The new client account details will follow from me by a separate letter, and I will confirm them by telephone before any money moves. Please do not act on bank details sent by email alone.
I will be your contact throughout. My direct line is [ ].
Yours sincerely,
[Name], Essex Block Management
03Our welcome letter to every owner and resident
[Date]
Dear [name],
[Building]: your new managing agent
From [date] the directors of [company] have appointed Essex Block Management to manage [building]. I am the person who looks after it. My name is [ ], my direct line is [ ] and my email is [ ]. When I am away, [ ] covers for me.
Three things change for you, and nothing else does.
Payments. From [date] your service charge is paid into a new client account in the building's own name. The details are on the enclosed sheet. We will never tell you about a change of bank details by email alone. If you ever get a message saying our account has changed, ring me before you pay anything.
Reporting a problem. Use [link]. You will see what happened to your report, and so will the directors.
Your records. We have been given your name and contact details by the outgoing agent so that we can send you demands and notices, which the lease requires. The enclosed privacy notice says what we hold and why. If anything we hold is wrong, tell me and I will correct it.
Your lease, your service charge percentage and the directors of the company are all unchanged. The first thing you will get from us after this letter is [the budget for the coming year] [the next demand], on [date].
If something was reported to the last agent and never dealt with, tell me now. I would rather start with the full list.
Yours sincerely,
[Name], Essex Block Management
Questions
How do I write a notice letter to our managing agent?
Keep it short: the company's name, a reference to the management agreement and its notice clause, the date the agreement will end, a request to cooperate with the handover to the new agent, and a signature from an authorised director. Send it in the way the agreement requires.
04Related
Block management in Essex, the handover checklist, the three letters, how we hold your money, the first ninety days. The free switching pack for Essex directors is at essexblockmanagement.co.uk. For a written quotation, the form takes two minutes.