You can change letting agent without ending the tenancy. Your tenant's Private Residential Tenancy is with you, not with the agent, so a change of agent does not end it, start a new one or change the rent. What changes is who collects the rent, holds the keys and answers the tenant. This guide covers the order to do it in and what the law requires of each side.
1. Read your current terms of business
Every registered letting agent in Scotland must give you written terms of business, and the Letting Agent Code of Practice requires them to say clearly how you change or end the agreement and what, if anything, it costs to leave (paragraph 32). The Code also says termination charges and related terms must not be unreasonable or excessive. Find the notice period and any charge before you decide on a date.
2. Give notice in writing
Give notice as your terms set out, in writing, and keep a copy. Set the end date to fall just after a rent day, so one agent collects a whole month and the next starts clean. Tell the new agent the date before you send the notice, so the handover is planned rather than discovered.
3. What the old agent must do when it ends
When either side ends the agreement, paragraph 37 of the Code requires the outgoing agent to:
- Confirm in writing that they are no longer acting for you, with the date the agreement ends, any fees you owe and any money they owe you.
- Set out how and when the property is handed back: the keys, the relevant certificates and the other documents you need.
- Return any money due to you, less anything you owe them, at the point the final bill is settled, unless you agree otherwise.
- Tell your tenant they no longer act for you, and give the tenant your name and contact details or the new agent's, and any change that affects them.
Ask for the handover in one list: every set of keys, the gas safety record, the electrical installation condition report, the EPC, the legionella assessment, the tenancy agreement and its notes, the inventory and check-in report, the deposit scheme's reference, the rent account and any open repair.
4. The deposit stays where it is
A tenancy deposit must be held by an approved scheme from when it is paid until it is repaid at the end of the tenancy (Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011, regulation 3). A change of agent does not release it. What needs updating is the contact on the scheme's record, so the scheme reaches the right person when the tenancy ends. Ask the outgoing agent which scheme holds it and for its reference.
5. Tell the council
Your landlord registration holds the name and address of anyone acting for you on the let (Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, section 83). When that changes you must tell the council in writing as soon as practicable (section 87). Update it on the landlord registration service once the new agent is acting.
6. Your tenant
The outgoing agent must tell the tenant they have stopped acting for you. Write to the tenant yourself as well, or have the new agent do it, with who to pay the rent to from which date, who to call about a repair, and the emergency number. A tenant still paying into the old agent's account is the loose end to close first.
Moving the tenancy to us
Full Management is 10% of rent collected + VAT: the rent collected and paid over, and repairs, inspections and certificate renewals run for you. It is on the published schedule of fees.
Whether you found the tenant yourself or are moving from another agent, we take the tenancy on as it stands under Full Management, at the percentage shown. The letting fee is not charged, because there is nothing to let, and there is no charge for taking the tenancy on: the percentage starts with the first rent we collect.
Frequently asked
- Does changing letting agent end my tenant's tenancy in Scotland?
- No. The Private Residential Tenancy is between you and your tenant. A new agent takes over collecting the rent and looking after the tenancy; the tenancy itself, its rent and the deposit carry on as they are.
- Does the deposit have to move to a new scheme when I change agent?
- No. The deposit must stay with an approved scheme until it is repaid at the end of the tenancy (Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011, regulation 3). Update the contact details on the scheme's record instead.
- What does my old letting agent have to hand over?
- Under paragraph 37 of the Letting Agent Code of Practice: written confirmation that they have stopped acting for you, with the end date and what each side owes; the keys, certificates and other necessary documents; and any money due to you once the final bill is settled. They must also tell your tenant.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Law and practice change, and individual circumstances vary. Check current guidance at mygov.scot and take professional advice on anything affecting your specific position.
