Whitevale guidance
Can we change our managing agent? A guide for leaseholders and directors
You may be able to change your building’s managing agent, but the first question is who has the authority to appoint them. An RTM or residents’ management company may already have that power. An individual leaseholder usually cannot dismiss an agent appointed by the freeholder simply because they pay the service charge.
This guide concerns residential blocks in England. It separates choosing a new agent from changing the legal arrangements for management.
If emails go unanswered and repairs keep slipping, finding a better managing agent can feel urgent. It is tempting to collect a few quotations and send the current agent notice.
Before doing that, establish who the client is, who can make the decision and what the existing agreement says. A well-planned change can improve the way the building runs. An unclear change can leave two agents expecting payment, residents receiving contradictory instructions and essential tasks falling between them.
Who can change a block’s managing agent?
Start with the lease and the management arrangements, rather than assuming the company shown on the demand owns the building or controls every decision.
| Your situation | What to establish first |
|---|---|
| The freeholder appoints the agent | Whether the freeholder will agree to a change, or whether leaseholders need a different route to management control. |
| An RTM company has acquired management | Who can approve the appointment under the company’s rules and the terms of its agency agreement. |
| An RMC is responsible under the lease | The company’s actual powers, board decision requirements and existing contract. |
| Residents own the freehold together | Whether decisions sit with a company or joint owners, and what the leases and governing documents require. |
| There is a tribunal-appointed manager | The terms of the appointment order and the procedure for changing those arrangements. |
A company name in a lease, a share certificate or a title entry can be important, but none should be interpreted in isolation. Ask for advice if nobody can explain the structure clearly. This is especially relevant where there is a headlease, more than one management company or a mixture of block and estate responsibilities.
What if I am a leaseholder without management control?
You can raise concerns, make a complaint and ask the appointing party to review the agent’s performance. Set out the outcome you want: a repair plan, responses to unanswered questions, clearer accounts or a discussion about replacement.
If the agent belongs to a redress scheme, service failures may be suitable for that scheme after its complaints process has been followed. Check the scheme’s remit and referral rules. A redress complaint does not itself give you the right to appoint a different agent, and it is not the route for a binding determination that a service charge is reasonable. Read about complaints and redress schemes.
If cooperation does not resolve the wider problem, possible routes include Right to Manage, buying the freehold collectively or applying for appointment of a manager where the legal grounds are met. These routes have different tests and consequences. RTM does not require proof of poor management, whereas tribunal appointment of a manager requires a proper statutory basis and procedure. Read about the options for changing management.
Our Right to Manage overview is a useful next step if the main problem is a lack of decision-making control. If the immediate concern is a demand, our service-charge overview addresses a different question.
If your company has control, review the agreement first
Locate the signed management agreement, any renewal or variation and the latest fee schedule. Check the identity of the client, the contractual term, notice requirements, service method, exit provisions and responsibilities during handover.
Do not assume that every appointment ends at a financial year-end, or that an email from one director is sufficient notice. A proposed end date should follow the agreement and a properly authorised decision. Allegations of breach and early termination can raise legal issues, so take advice before treating the contract as immediately cancelled.
Write down the decision and the reason for it. Agree who is authorised to communicate instructions, receive proposals and sign the replacement agreement. Directors remain responsible for their company even where operational tasks are delegated. GOV.UK explains directors’ responsibilities.
Contract review questions for your board meeting
- Do we hold the complete signed agreement and any later changes?
- Who is the contracting client, and who has authority to act for it?
- When can the appointment end, and what notice must be given?
- What work, fees or final accounts will remain outstanding?
- What does the agreement require each party to do at handover?
- Does the proposed replacement arrangement raise section 20 consultation requirements?
This is an agenda for checking the documents, not a termination notice or legal conclusion.
Compare the work, not just the annual management fee
Give prospective agents the same building information and ask them to respond to the same service brief. Otherwise, one may price a routine appointment while another allows for inherited arrears, incomplete accounts or substantial outstanding works.
Describe the number of flats, the facilities, known defects, current contracts and the company’s priorities. Explain any disputes or gaps in the records. A difficult issue does not become easier by leaving it out of the proposal request.
Ask for the core fee, VAT treatment and additional charges to be shown separately. Check what happens with major works, insurance administration, meetings, company administration and sales enquiries. The aim is to understand the likely service and total arrangement, not to assume every extra fee is improper.
Ask each candidate the same practical scenario
“A roof leak is reported on a Friday afternoon, the reserve position is unclear and the board has not authorised major expenditure. Explain who responds, what can be authorised, who receives an update and how the decision is recorded.”
A concrete scenario can reveal more than a promise of proactive management. You are looking for clear responsibilities, escalation and communication, not a guarantee that every building problem has an instant solution.
Other useful questions include who will manage the block, how cover works during absence, how financial information is presented, how contractors are selected and how conflicts or commissions are disclosed. Verify relevant insurance, redress membership and any professional membership claimed. Membership of a professional body and membership of a redress scheme are different things. Read LEASE’s guidance on appointing a property manager.
The RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code provides a useful framework for discussing standards. Its fourth edition applies from 7 April 2026 in England. Referring to the code is not evidence that an agent is a RICS-regulated firm. Read about the current code.
Plan the handover before the old appointment ends
Agree a schedule showing the information required, the person responsible for each item, the transfer method and the date it is expected. Distinguish what must be ready on day one from what may follow after the final accounting reconciliation.
A statement that “the files have been sent” is not enough to establish that the new agent can operate the building. Check whether the records are complete, understandable and accessible. A folder of invoices does not explain an outstanding insurance claim unless the claim history and next action are also identified.
Handover readiness checklist
Use these prompts for your next discussion. Your selections are not saved or sent to Whitevale and do not confirm legal compliance.
Changing the agent does not automatically end the cleaner’s, lift contractor’s or insurer’s arrangements. Review who holds each contract and whether it continues, needs an instruction change or requires a separate decision. The statutory arrangements on an RTM acquisition are a different situation from an ordinary change of agent for the same client.
Personal information should move through a suitable secure process, with access limited to those who need it. Do not send resident records to competing agents merely because they have submitted a quotation. Share proportionate building information for tendering and arrange the operational data transfer once the appointment and responsibilities are clear.
Keep essential services and resident communication clear
Choose one confirmed date for the operational change and identify who handles emergencies immediately before and after it. Tell residents how to report repairs, where to send questions and how existing requests will be carried forward.
Payment changes deserve particular care. Give residents a safe way to verify instructions through a known contact route. An unexpected email containing new bank details should not be the only communication explaining a change.
Keep a live list of unresolved matters rather than reopening every old email conversation. Each item should have a short description, current position, next action and owner. That helps the new agent distinguish an urgent defect from a historical disagreement or a job already completed.
The first weeks should be judged against a realistic transition plan. Agree when the board will receive an opening position report, which missing records are being chased and when the first budget or maintenance review will happen. Clear milestones make it easier to tell whether the change is producing the improvement you wanted.
Questions that often come up
Do all leaseholders have to agree to a new agent?
There is no universal answer. The decision-making route depends on who controls management, the company’s articles, any relevant reserved decisions and the agreement. A board may have authority in one building while another needs a different approval process. Check rather than assuming a residents’ poll is legally decisive.
Does appointing a new agent require section 20 consultation?
It can. A qualifying long-term agreement lasting more than 12 months can trigger consultation where a leaseholder’s contribution exceeds £100 in an accounting period. Contract wording, duration and the arrangement matter. Check the proposed appointment before signing. Read the consultation overview.
Will a new agent fix the old accounts and disputes?
They may be able to help investigate and organise the position, but that work should be scoped. A new appointment does not automatically erase a deficit, resolve liability for earlier expenditure or supply missing records. Ask what the initial fee includes and what requires separate professional work.
Can we change agents while major works are under way?
It may be possible, but identify the employer under the works contract, the administrator, payment approvals, consultation history and the responsibility for decisions already made. A change during a live project needs a specific transition plan, not just the routine transfer of resident contact details.
Make the change about a better way of managing
Before choosing the replacement, write down three things you want to be different six months later. They might be a reliable repairs update, accounts the board can interrogate and a maintenance programme linked to the reserve position.
Use those priorities in the service brief and review meetings. They turn “better management” into something the board can assess, while leaving room for the building’s needs to change. Our block management page explains the support Whitevale offers.
When you want to talk it through
Planning a change of managing agent?
Tell us who currently controls management, the size of the building, your likely timescale and the main issues you want to improve. We can discuss the information needed for a management proposal and a considered handover.
Discuss your management arrangementsSources and scope
This guide concerns England and was researched on 14 October 2026. The linked LEASE, GOV.UK and RICS materials support the legal and professional context. The tender questions, scenario and handover checklist are practical discussion aids, not a prescribed legal process. Individual leases, company documents, appointment orders and contracts can change the appropriate route.