Managing Agent Compliance: Beyond Landlords

Property managing agents sit between landlords and tenants, managing an estimated 40-60% of PRS properties in England. Yet enforcement activity has historically focused almost exclusively on landlords, often overlooking the role agents play in compliance failures. A landlord may be entirely unaware that their agent has failed to obtain an HMO licence, allowed gas safety certificates to lapse, or ignored tenant complaints about disrepair. The Renters' Rights Act 2025, the Housing Act 2004, and the existing client money protection and redress requirements create a web of obligations for managing agents. For council enforcement teams, understanding and targeting agent compliance is essential for effective PRS oversight.

Under the Housing Act 2004, the "manager" of a licensed property must be a fit and proper person and is responsible for complying with licence conditions. In many cases, the managing agent is named as the manager on the licence. This means the agent is directly liable for: - Providing annual gas safety certificates to the council - Maintaining electrical safety (five-yearly EICR) - Ensuring smoke and CO alarm compliance - Observing maximum occupancy limits - Managing refuse and anti-social behaviour per licence conditions Where the agent is not the named manager but is contracted to carry out management functions, the licence holder (usually the landlord) remains legally responsible. However, councils can and should consider whether the agent's failures contributed to the breach when deciding enforcement action against the licence holder. Agents can be prosecuted or issued civil penalties in their own right for certain offences, including failure to comply with management regulations for HMOs (Section 234, Housing Act 2004). The maximum civil penalty is £30,000 per offence.

All letting and property management agents in England must: 1. Belong to a government-approved redress scheme (The Property Ombudsman or Property Redress Scheme). Failure to join is an offence enforceable by local trading standards teams, with a civil penalty of up to £5,000. 2. Hold client money protection (CMP) insurance if they handle tenants' or landlords' money. Failure to hold CMP or to display the required transparency information is a criminal offence with an unlimited fine. 3. Display fees transparently under the Tenant Fees Act 2019. Charging prohibited fees is an offence with a civil penalty of up to £5,000 for a first offence and up to £30,000 for a subsequent offence. Councils should check agent compliance with these requirements as part of their PRS enforcement work. A managing agent who is not a member of a redress scheme or lacks CMP insurance is a significant risk indicator. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 requires all landlords to join the new PRS Ombudsman. Agents acting on behalf of landlords will also be subject to the Ombudsman's jurisdiction. Councils should ensure that agents understand these requirements as they come into force.

In practice, council enforcement teams encounter several recurring agent compliance issues: Passport responsibility: Agents frequently claim that compliance is the landlord's responsibility, even when the management agreement places it squarely on the agent. Officers should request copies of management agreements to establish who is contractually responsible. Poor record keeping: Agents managing hundreds of properties may lack systems to track gas safety certificate expiry, EICR due dates, and licence renewal dates. This is an explanation, not an excuse, and does not reduce liability. Inadequate inspection: Agents who rarely or never inspect the properties they manage may be unaware of overcrowding, disrepair, or unauthorised changes. Deposit protection failures: Despite the requirements being in place since 2007, agents continue to fail to protect deposits or provide prescribed information. Tenants can claim up to three times the deposit as compensation. Holding over after management agreement ends: When a landlord changes agent or takes back self-management, the outgoing agent may fail to transfer compliance documents (gas certificates, EICRs) to the new manager, leaving a gap. Councils encountering persistent compliance issues with a particular agent should consider whether a wider investigation into the agent's portfolio is warranted.

Effective enforcement against managing agents requires a slightly different approach than landlord enforcement: 1. Identify the agent: Council databases often record only the landlord. Build a register of managing agents operating in your area by requiring agent details on licence applications and checking lettings portals. 2. Portfolio analysis: When non-compliance is found at one property managed by an agent, check all other properties that agent manages. Systemic failures are common and provide a stronger basis for enforcement action. 3. Joint enforcement: Consider parallel enforcement against both the landlord and the agent where both share responsibility. This prevents each party blaming the other. 4. Trading standards coordination: Client money protection and redress scheme offences fall under trading standards. Housing and trading standards teams should share intelligence about agents. 5. Use the Rogue Landlord Database: Agents can be entered on the database for relevant offences, and this information will transfer to the PRS Database. This creates a national record that follows the agent. The £18.2 million enforcement fund provides an opportunity to develop agent compliance capacity alongside broader PRS enforcement.