HMO
Can a new agent take over a struggling HMO?
Last updated 7 July 2026 · Reviewed by Nick Thorpe, founder
The short answer
Yes, taking over a struggling HMO is one of the most common jobs we handle: a compliance audit, a licensing check, transferring deposits and documents, re-referencing where needed, and a room-by-room condition review, with the property brought up to standard in about a month. A small assessment and takeover fee is agreed up front.
Yes, and it’s one of the most common jobs we take on
A struggling HMO doesn’t need to wait for a tenancy to end before you switch agents. Whether the current agent has let compliance lapse, stopped answering the phone, or just isn’t keeping rooms full, we take over HMOs mid-tenancy on a regular basis. Tenants stay in place, rent keeps coming in, and the property gets brought back up to standard without anyone needing to move out.
Landlords usually come to us at the point where they’ve stopped trusting what their current agent is telling them: a licence they’re not sure is current, repairs that get promised and never done, or rooms sitting empty with no clear reason why. None of that is a reason to wait. It’s the reason to move.
The takeover process, step by step
Taking over an HMO mid-tenancy follows the same order every time, whatever state the property is in when we start:
- Compliance audit. We check gas safety, the electrical report (EICR), fire precautions and any other certificates against what should be in place, and flag anything overdue.
- Licensing check. We confirm whether the property needs an HMO licence, whether one is already held, and whether it needs updating to name us as the managing agent.
- Deposits and documents transfer. Deposit protection, tenancy agreements, right to rent checks and any other paperwork move across from the outgoing agent.
- Re-referencing where needed. If a tenant was never properly referenced first time round, we put that right rather than leaving a gap in the file.
- Room-by-room condition review. Every room and every communal space gets inspected, so we know exactly what state the property is really in, not what we’re told it’s in.
- Bringing the house up to standard. Anything the audit and condition review turn up gets fixed in order of urgency, at contractor cost with no markup.
How long it takes
About a month, start to finish. That’s the same timeline as switching agents on any managed property. Being an HMO with more rooms, more tenants and more certificates to check doesn’t slow it down, it just means there’s more for the audit to look at.
What it costs
That depends on what the property needs. A straightforward agent-to-agent switch costs nothing. A rescue is more than a switch, so there is a small fee for assessing the property and taking it over, agreed with you up front before anything starts, and nothing is passed on to your tenants. Once we’re managing the property day to day, our HMO management fee is 12% of monthly rent plus VAT, published in full on our fees page, with no hidden extras on top.
Signs it’s time to make the move
| What you’re seeing | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Communal areas slipping, repairs promised but not done | Management capacity has run out |
| A licence you’re not sure is current | Licensing check overdue |
| Rooms sitting empty longer than they should | A referencing or marketing gap |
| You can’t get a straight answer from your agent | Time to look elsewhere |
If more than one of those sounds familiar, it’s worth a conversation before the problem gets more expensive to fix.
Where we fit
We built our HMO rescue service for exactly this: HMOs that have drifted out of compliance or condition under a previous agent, and need bringing back under control without disturbing the tenants living there. The switching process is the same one we run for any managed property, and once we’re in place HMO management covers the licence, the compliance and the day-to-day running of the house. Call 01484 981717 and we’ll tell you what a takeover of your property would actually involve.