My letting agent is retiring. Who looks after my tenancy now?

Your agent was acting on your behalf, not as a party to the tenancy. When they stop, the tenancy, the rent, and the tenant's rights all carry on unchanged. What does need action is everything the agent was executing for you:

• Where the rent is paid. If the tenant pays into the agent's client account, they need new payment instructions before the next rent day, in writing, from you or the new manager.
• Who holds the deposit. See the next section; this is the one that most often goes wrong.
• Who serves documents. Renewal notices, safety certificates, and statutory paperwork all had a sender. They need a new one.
• Who the tenant calls. Repairs and emergencies need a route that works from day one of the handover, not from whenever you get round to it.

Deposits in England must be protected in a government-approved scheme, and the scheme type decides how much work the handover involves. Under a custodial scheme the scheme itself holds the money, so the closure of the agency does not move the deposit anywhere; you or the new manager simply take over as the registered contact. Under an insured scheme the agent holds the money and pays the scheme to insure it, so the deposit is physically in the closing agency's account and must be transferred and re-protected before they shut the doors.

Two checks are worth making whatever the scheme. First, confirm the deposit was protected within 30 days of receipt and that the tenant was served the prescribed information; a closing agency is a good moment to find gaps while someone is still answering the phone. Second, if the deposit moves or the registered holder changes, check whether fresh prescribed information should be served so the paperwork matches reality.

Agents serve documents as your representative; the legal duty never left you. That matters more now than it used to, because the paperwork burden on landlords has grown. Since 1 May 2026, under the Renters' Rights Act, a new tenant must receive written information about the key terms before the tenancy is signed, rent increases need a Form 4A notice, and possession needs a section 8 ground now that section 21 has ended. Our Renters' Rights Act guide covers what changed.

The practical point is not the detail of any one obligation, it is that serving documents correctly, at the right time, with proof, was a service your agent quietly provided. Whichever route you choose next, make sure it includes a system that tracks what has been served, what is due for renewal (gas safety, electrical reports, energy certificates: our compliance certificates guide covers each one), and what the Act will require next.

Another percentage agent. Full management typically runs at 12–18% of the rent including VAT. You get a local office and a familiar model, and if your retiring agent was good, a well-chosen local successor can replicate the service. The cost compounds with every rent rise, and quality varies enormously between branches.

Self-management. Free of fees, and entirely workable if you live near the property, enjoy the admin, and are confident tracking the statutory paperwork yourself. The honest risk is not the big decisions, it is the quiet deadlines: a lapsed certificate or a mis-served notice costs more than years of agency fees.

A flat-fee platform. Platforms like Cheerfulrent charge a fixed monthly fee (our plans are £40 a month, or £99 for overseas landlords) and handle rent collection, compliance tracking, contracts, and repairs coordination while you keep the decisions. The worked comparison between fixed and percentage pricing is in fixed fee versus percentage.

An agent who has managed your property for years knows your tenant, your boiler, and your paperwork. When they pick a successor, they are usually putting their reputation behind that choice, and the handover comes with the history attached. Before you say yes, ask the successor four things: what their fees are and what they cover, whether they hold client money protection, how they track compliance renewals, and what migration support they provide.

A good handover is quiet. The outgoing and incoming managers write jointly to the tenant, the deposit registration is transferred or re-protected as needed, the tenant changes one standing order, and nothing is re-signed unless the tenancy genuinely needs new terms. If a prospective successor wants to re-sign everything and re-charge setup fees for a tenancy that is already running, ask why.

Most of this page is written for your landlords, but the smoothest closures we see are the ones where the agent chooses the destination rather than leaving each landlord to search alone. Cheerfulrent's Succession programme is built for exactly this: you introduce your managed landlords, we handle the migration, and you receive 20% of their transferred fees for 24 months. No sale, no valuation, and your landlords get a named handover rather than a goodbye letter.