Switching Letting Agent? How to Handle the Compliance Handover Without Gaps

Why handovers are a compliance risk

When a landlord moves their properties from one letting agent to another, the biggest danger is not losing tenants or rent payments — it is losing track of compliance certificates. Gas safety records, EICRs, and EPCs do not transfer automatically. If the outgoing agent does not hand them over, or the incoming agent does not ask for them, deadlines get missed.

This is not a theoretical problem. It is one of the most common reasons letting agents end up managing properties with expired or missing certificates — not because they were negligent, but because they inherited a mess and did not catch it in time.

The liability does not care whose fault it was. If a gas safety certificate is overdue on a property you manage, the fine lands on your desk.

What you need from the outgoing agent

Before you take on management of any property, you should request every compliance document. Do not assume anything is current. Treat every property as if it has zero valid certificates until you have seen the paperwork yourself.

Here is your handover checklist:

Mandatory certificates

Additional certificates (where applicable)

What else to request

Beyond the certificates themselves, ask for:

• Copies of all certificates as PDFs, not just confirmation they exist
• Contact details for contractors who previously carried out inspections — you may want to use the same Gas Safe engineer or electrician for continuity
• Any outstanding remedial work flagged on previous inspections
• Tenant communication records showing certificates were provided to tenants as required by law
• Renewal dates for every certificate so you can set up your own tracking immediately

The 48-hour audit

Once you have the handover documents, do not file them away and move on. Run an audit within 48 hours of taking on each property. This is your window to catch problems before they become your liability.

For each property, answer these questions:

1. 1Is the Gas Safety Certificate current? Check the expiry date. If it expires within 60 days, book a renewal immediately — do not wait.
2. 2Is there a valid EICR? If the property has no EICR on file, or it is older than 5 years, you need to arrange one. Since April 2021, all rented properties in England must have a valid EICR.
3. 3Is the EPC valid and rated E or above? Properties rated F or G cannot legally be let unless an exemption is registered on the PRS Exemptions Register.
4. 4Are smoke and CO alarms installed and tested? The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022 require alarms on every floor and CO alarms where there is a fixed combustion appliance.
5. 5Was the How to Rent guide provided? Without proof, the landlord cannot serve a valid Section 21 notice.
6. 6Is the deposit protected? Check the scheme directly — do not rely on the outgoing agent's word.

If any certificate is missing or expired, flag it to the landlord in writing on day one. Make it clear that the property is currently non-compliant and state what action is needed. This protects you professionally.

Common handover problems

The outgoing agent does not cooperate

Some agents drag their feet on handovers, especially if the landlord left on bad terms. They may delay sending documents, claim they cannot find certificates, or simply stop responding.

If this happens:

• Put the request in writing (email) with a specific list of documents needed and a deadline
• Contact the landlord directly — they may have copies of certificates, especially if they received them via email
• Check public registers — EPC certificates are publicly searchable on the government's EPC register. Gas Safe engineers can be verified on the Gas Safe Register website
• Arrange new inspections for anything you cannot verify. It costs money, but managing a property with unknown compliance status costs far more if something goes wrong

Certificates exist but have not been served to tenants

Having a valid gas safety certificate is not enough — by law, a copy must be given to the tenant within 28 days of the check, and to new tenants before they move in. If the outgoing agent did not serve the certificate to the tenant, the landlord cannot serve a valid Section 21 notice.

When you take over, re-serve all current certificates to tenants and keep a record. This covers you going forward.

Outstanding remedial work on an EICR

An EICR might show as "Satisfactory" or "Unsatisfactory". If it is unsatisfactory, there will be C1 (danger present) or C2 (potentially dangerous) codes that require remedial work within 28 days of the report.

Check whether the remedial work was completed. If there is no evidence it was done, you need to arrange it immediately and notify the local authority if required.

The previous agent used a different system

If the outgoing agent tracked compliance in their own property management software, the data stays in their system when the relationship ends. You get whatever they export or print out for you — which may be incomplete.

This is why it is critical to get actual certificate PDFs, not just screenshots of database entries. A PDF of the CP12 signed by the Gas Safe engineer is the legal document. A row in someone else's software is not.

Setting up tracking for inherited properties

Once you have completed your 48-hour audit, set up proper tracking so nothing slips through the cracks going forward.

For each property, log:

• Every certificate type with its issue date and expiry date
• The contractor or engineer who carried out each inspection
• Whether the certificate has been served to the tenant
• Any outstanding remedial work

Set automatic reminders starting at least 90 days before each expiry. Gas safety certificates in particular need early warning — booking a Gas Safe engineer at short notice during busy periods can be difficult, and you have zero grace period on the 12-month deadline.

If you are taking on multiple properties at once, a bulk import from a CSV or spreadsheet saves hours of manual entry. Most compliance tracking tools support this.

Protecting yourself professionally

The handover period is when you are most exposed. You are responsible for the property from day one, but you are working with information provided by someone else. Here is how to protect yourself:

1. 1Document everything in writing. Every request you make to the outgoing agent, every certificate you receive (or do not receive), every conversation with the landlord about compliance gaps — put it in email.

1. 2Send the landlord a compliance status report within the first week. List every property, every certificate, and its status (current, expiring, expired, missing). If anything is non-compliant, state clearly what needs to happen and by when.

1. 3Do not manage a property you know is non-compliant without the landlord's written commitment to resolve it. If a landlord refuses to arrange a required gas safety check, you are better off declining to manage the property than being the agent of record when the council comes calling.

1. 4Keep your own records from day one. Do not rely on the outgoing agent's record-keeping. Start fresh with your own system and your own audit trail.

Key takeaways

• Never assume inherited properties are compliant — verify every certificate yourself
• Request actual PDF certificates, not just database entries or verbal confirmation
• Run a 48-hour audit on every property you take on
• Re-serve all certificates to tenants when you take over management
• Check for outstanding remedial work on EICRs — unsatisfactory reports need action within 28 days
• Document everything in writing to protect yourself professionally
• Set up your own compliance tracking from day one with automatic reminders

This article is for general guidance and applies to England. Regulations may differ in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Always check current requirements with your local authority.