Letting agent missed rent renewal and then gave me conflicting advice?

Hello, I would appreciate other landlords’ views on a dispute I am having with my letting agent – a well-known national chain.

I have used them to manage my property for about four years and currently pay approximately £350 a month in management charges.

There have been several previous service issues, but the handling of my latest rent review has left me particularly frustrated.

The property was originally let for £1,850 a month. When I later decided to sell, the tenants were keen to remain and offered to increase the rent to £2,350 from December 2023.

I accepted and have not increased it since.

The agents suggested a further increase last year, but I decided to leave the rent unchanged and review it in 2026.

Earlier this year, they recommended increasing the rent by £100 to £2,450 as part of a proposed renewal due at the end of March.

I approved this and understood that the agents would contact the tenants and complete the process.

The renewal invitation was apparently sent on 3 February.

However, the agents have since admitted that no follow-up reminders were sent to the tenants and that I was not informed when they failed to respond.

The member of staff handling the matter was away for an extended period, and it says the issue was missed by colleagues monitoring her workload.

I first discovered there was a problem on 5 May, when the agents told me that the tenancy had become periodic and that no renewal or rent increase had been completed.

It initially said it would arrange a section 13 notice increasing the rent to £2,450.

The following day, however, they reversed its position.

It said the existing £2,350 rent was already above market value and cancelled the proposed increase.

It also warned that the tenants might challenge the rent at tribunal and referred to the possible risk of fines and a rent repayment order.

I questioned this because the agents had recommended the £2,450 rent.

I also asked repeatedly whether the tenants had ever responded to the original proposal.

I was told more than once that they had not.

A senior manager wrote that the tenants had “never responded to the original proposal of a rent increase”, despite saying she had reviewed the relevant emails.

I subsequently learned that the tenants had sent the agents a positive reply, saying: “We are extremely pleased and happy for another renewal.”

The agents have now admitted that this response was received but overlooked.

After initially saying £2,450 was above market value and too risky, the senior manager carried out further research and reversed that decision as well.

It now says £2,450 is achievable and has offered to serve a section 13 notice, with the new rent taking effect from 30 August.

It has also offered to waive its usual £150 plus VAT notice fee.

I accept that the tenants’ response may not, by itself, have completed a legally binding renewal or rent increase.

However, had the agents followed up properly before the end of March, I believe there was a realistic prospect that the agreement would have been completed before the law changed.

My concerns are that the agents:

• failed to chase the tenants after sending the renewal proposal
• failed to tell me that the renewal had stalled
• repeatedly gave me inaccurate information about the tenants’ response
• changed its view several times about whether £2,450 reflected the market rent
• warned me about fines and a possible rent repayment order without properly explaining the legal basis
• took almost three weeks to respond to my formal attempt to resolve the complaint.

I employ a managing agent as a company, rather than relying on one individual, precisely so that holidays or extended absences do not cause important matters to be missed.

I have proposed that the agents compensate me through a reduction in its management fees, backdated to 1 April, reflecting the rent increase I believe has been lost because of its admitted failure to manage the renewal properly.

The agents have not addressed that proposal directly.

Instead, it appears to regard its offer to waive the section 13 fee and serve a fresh notice as bringing the matter to a close.

Would other landlords accept that outcome, or should I pursue a formal complaint and, if necessary, take the matter to the agents’ redress scheme?

Would it be reasonable to seek compensation for the lost opportunity to increase the rent, even though I cannot prove with certainty that the tenants would have completed the agreement before 1 May?

I would also be interested to know whether other landlords consider the agents’ contradictory advice and inaccurate statements serious enough to justify changing managing agents.

Thank you,

Kelly