Change agent when the work is not being done. Loyalty to a firm that misses certificates and ignores arrears is an expensive habit.
Signs the management has slipped
You do not need a dramatic failure. Any of these, more than once, is enough to review the instruction:
- Repairs have no appointment and no completion note
- You discovered an expired gas safety record or electrical report yourself
- Inspections were in the agreement and then did not happen
- Rent has not been reviewed, and nobody can say when it last was
- Arrears sat for weeks before anyone wrote to the tenant
- You cannot tell which contractor was used, or why
- The statement does not match the invoices
- There is no out-of-hours number
- The person who answers does not know the property
Score that properly on the health check. A score under 12 is a reason to move. A score between 12 and 19 is a reason to ask what you are paying for. Above 20, stay if the fee is fair, and still ask for the comparison in writing.
When not to move
Do not move in the middle of a court claim, a serious disrepair complaint, or a licensing investigation unless the new agent has read the file and agreed to take it. A handover at that point can drop a deadline. Finish the urgent step, or move only with both firms clear about who is doing what this week.
Do not move because a competitor promised a higher rent with no comparable lets to show. A void caused by an unrealistic asking rent costs more than a modest renewal.
How a clean handover works
Ask the current agent for the tenancy agreement, inventory, deposit certificate, prescribed information, compliance documents, arrears ledger, open repairs, and keys. Give notice under your management agreement. Check the termination clause before you assume it is one month.
NPS will read that pack before recommending a transfer. If the current agent is already doing the work, we will say so. The point of the free review is a second opinion, not a script that always ends in "switch today".