A change of agent, or a sale: what moves and who is told

A property can move to a new agent, or to a new owner. Abide.Rent moves control with whoever is now responsible, keeps each side's evidence, and sends the tenant the letters the law requires.

Who this is for: letting agencies, landlords and tenants.

The handover: the old agreement ends and the new agency accepts.

Chain of custody: each holder of the file, with dates.

What you are deciding

Whether the property is changing agent, changing owner, or both, and from what date.

Your options

• Change of agent. The new agency takes over from the agreed date. Duties the old agency accepted in writing end with its agreement.
• Sale. The buyer becomes the landlord on completion. The tenant must be told the buyer's name and address.
• The landlord takes the property back. The landlord's own account takes control from the date the agreement ends.

The journey at a glance

Step	Who	The law
The old agreement ends; authority to serve and duties accepted in writing end with it	Landlord and old agency	—
The new agency accepts the handover	New agency	—
The tenant is given the address in England or Wales where notices can be served	Abide.Rent sends the letter	Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 s.48
On a sale, the tenant is told the buyer's name and address by the later of the next rent day and two months after the sale	Abide.Rent sends the notice of assignment	Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 s.3
The deposit is moved, or re-protected, by whoever now holds it	Both sides	Housing Act 2004

What each party does

Outgoing agency

• Hands over open repairs, jobs, draft notices and reviews in the exit wizard. Your own internal notes stay with you.

Incoming agency or buyer

• Accept the handover, check the duties table and the certificates, and confirm who holds the deposit.

Landlord

• Agree the end date with the old agency and the start with the new one. The rent increase timing does not reset.

Tenant

• You are sent a letter with the new name and address for service. Your past notices and copies stay in your portal.

A worked example

Helen Shaw moves 14 Mill Lane from Ainsworth Lets to Northgate Residential from Monday 1 February 2027. Ainsworth's authority to serve ends that day and Northgate accepts the handover. The tenant is sent Northgate's address for service the same day. Helen then sells the house; completion is on Friday 26 February 2027 and rent is due on the 1st. The buyer must tell the tenant by Monday 26 April 2027, two months after the sale, and Abide.Rent sends the notice of assignment on completion.

What Abide.Rent does for you

• Moves control with whoever is responsible, and keeps each side's own evidence.
• Sends the tenant the address for service and, on a sale, the notice of assignment.
• Keeps the earliest date for the next rent increase as it was.

If something goes wrong

• The old agency can still see the property
  What to do: Its access to the property ends when the handover is accepted. It keeps its own copies of what it sent, as evidence.
• The tenant was not sent the new address
  What to do: Check the tenant's email on the tenancy, then send the letter again from the property.

Common mistakes

• Assuming duties the old agency accepted in writing carry over to the new one. They end with the old agreement.
• Leaving the deposit protected in the old agency's name without recording who now holds it.

What to do next

• Who can see what
• How Abide.Rent works
• Open handovers