A new estate agent
Keeps open-market exposure. Worth it when the service failed, not when the price or property is the barrier.
- Check first
- The first agent’s tie-in, notice and six-month clause
Changing estate agents: a contract checklist so you do not pay twice
You can change estate agent. Whether it costs you anything depends on three clauses in the contract you have already signed: the agency type, the notice, and what happens after it ends.
On this page
The short answer
Changing estate agents is allowed, but you may still owe the first one. You can owe both if the new agent introduces your buyer during the first agent's sole agency period, or if a buyer the first agent introduced buys within its after-contract period.1 Check the current contract for the agency type, tie-in, notice and after-contract clause first.
Before changing estate agents, make sure the agent is what holds the sale back. Our guide to why a house is not selling helps you judge that. Choosing an agent for the first time is covered in how selling through an estate agent works.
Can you change estate agents mid-contract?
Yes. You can give notice under the terms at any time. Notice ends the contract, though, and does nothing about a fee the contract says is due. The sole agency period is the weeks when the first agent is meant to be your only agent. A buyer another agent introduces during that period leaves you owing the first agent too, even if that buyer exchanges after the period has ended.1 So take it in order. Read the contract, give notice and wait for the period to end before you instruct the new agent.
How to change estate agents: the contract checklist
Find these six items in your current agent's terms before you speak to a new one. The agent had to give you its terms in writing before you were committed, so ask for a copy if yours has gone missing.2
Sole agency against sole selling rights
Whether a switch can create a second fee turns on the agency type. Sole agency stops you instructing another agent without risk during the period, but leaves you free to find a buyer yourself. Sole selling rights entitle the agent to its fee whoever finds the buyer. The table follows the explanations the 1991 Regulations require agents to print in the contract.1
| Your contract | Risk if you instruct a new agent during the period | Risk after the period ends |
|---|---|---|
| Sole agency | First agent's fee is due if the new agent introduces a buyer during the period and that buyer exchanges, whenever exchange happens | Fee is due on a later exchange with a buyer either agent introduced during the period, or one the first agent negotiated with then. Beyond that, the after-contract clause applies |
| Sole selling rights | First agent's fee is due on any exchange in the period, whoever found the buyer | Fee is due on a later exchange with a buyer introduced or negotiated with during the period |
| Multi-agency | Set by the contract wording. Not a prescribed term | Set by the contract wording |
How long before you can change estate agents?
The earliest you can instruct a new agent without the sole agency risk is the day the tie-in and the notice have both run out. A tie-in is the minimum period you agreed to keep the agent. The notice period is how long the contract runs on after you ask to end it. Which? says the shortest tie-in typically available is six weeks, and that two weeks is a common notice period.4 Propertymark describes tie-ins of four to 12 weeks as typical.5 Some are longer. Purplebricks' Pay on Completion option makes it sole agent for at least 16 weeks.6
Work out the real end date. Take a 12-week tie-in that started the day the listing went live, with two weeks' notice. Notice given in week 10 ends the contract at week 12. Notice given in week 11 may run into week 13.
A 12 week tie-in, with two weeks' notice given in week 10
- Tie-in, before notice Weeks 1 to 10, from the day the listing went live.
- Notice runs Two weeks, a common notice period. The contract ends at week 12.4
- After the contract ends The after-contract clause can still let the first agent claim its fee. Its length is set by your contract.
Your own contract decides when the period starts and when notice takes effect.
Do not instruct a new agent until the old contract has run out, notice included. Under sole agency, a buyer the new agent introduces inside that period can leave you owing both agents, and a fortnight’s head start is not worth that.
Haroon Ali Author, The House Desk. Over 11 years in property and renovation Tie-in and notice checker
Put in the dates and periods from your own contract to see when the agreement can end and how long the old agent can still claim.
The agreement can end on
Enter the start date, the tie-in and the notice period.
| Tie-in runs to | |
|---|---|
| Notice given | |
| Notice runs to | |
| Old agent's claim period runs to |
Not sure which route suits you? Answer three questions.
The risk of paying two fees
- Sole agency. Instructing a new agent before the agreement ends risks two fees. If the new agent introduces the buyer before then, both agents can claim, even when exchange comes later.1
- Sole selling rights. The first agent's fee is due on any exchange before the agreement ends, whoever found the buyer, and on a later exchange with a buyer introduced or negotiated with during the period.1
- After the agreement ends. Your contract's after-contract clause sets how long a buyer the first agent introduced can still trigger its fee. If that buyer goes on to buy through the new agent, the first agent may claim as the effective introducer.7
- Before you instruct anyone else. Ask the first agent, in writing, for a list of every buyer it introduced, with viewing dates, and give it to the new agent.7
Every date here comes from the figures you enter. We add whole weeks and calendar months, so a 12 week tie-in from Monday 1 June 2026 runs to Monday 24 August 2026. Your contract's wording decides when each period starts and when notice takes effect, which can move a date by a day or more.
The introduction or effective-cause clause
The introduction or effective-cause clause lets the first agent claim its fee for a while after the contract ends, if a buyer it introduced goes on to buy. Look for one in your own contract before you give notice. Purplebricks' agreement dated 28 May 2026, which The House Desk read on 14 September 2026, sets two time limits. No fee is due if another agent issues a memorandum of sale, the note confirming a sale is agreed, more than six months after the agreement ends. With no other agent involved, no fee is due if exchange comes more than 24 months later.6
How long one agreement's fee claim lasts after it ends6
Ombudsman practice uses the same six-month window for a sale through another agent, and up to two years for a private sale. That is how the then Ombudsman described the approach in 2018.7 Only an effective introduction counts, meaning one that played a real part in the sale. Handing over particulars, or a viewing where the person showed no interest, is unlikely to be enough on its own.7 The code as revised in 2019 added a defined meaning of effective introduction.9
How you can end up owing two commissions on one sale
Two commissions on one sale always trace back to a clause in the contract. The three that cause it are sole selling rights, a buyer the new agent introduced inside the sole agency period, and a buyer who first viewed with the old agent. The Ombudsman has said no seller should unknowingly end up liable for two fees.7 That protection works through agents' duties to warn you and to ask buyers questions. It does not cancel a fee your contract allows.
Could a switch leave you owing two fees?
- Does your current contract give the agent sole selling rights?
- Yes The first agent can claim on a sale in the period Or later, with a buyer from the period, whoever found them.1
- No Under sole agency, would the new agent introduce the buyer before the period ends?
- Yes Both agents can claim Even if exchange comes after the period. Wait for the sole agency period and notice to end before instructing.1 Tie-in and notice periods
- No Did the buyer view with the first agent, inside its after-contract window?
- Yes The first agent may claim as the effective introducer The second agent can claim under its own contract.7 The introduction clause
- No None of the three double-fee situations applies Your contract’s wording still decides what is owed.
A case the Ombudsman published in 2024 shows how those duties work. The agent had not put changed agency terms in writing. Nor had it asked the buyer whether they had viewed through another agent. It was found in breach of the code, and the seller was compensated.8
Should you change estate agents, and when?
Changing estate agents is worth it when the agent's service is what failed, and it is safest early. The further along the sale is, the more a switch risks a claim from the first agent, and the more likely a new agent adds delay rather than buyers.
- 01 Listed, no offers Lowest risk. Give notice, wait out the tie-in and notice, collect the list of viewers, then instruct. Check whether the listing has been on long enough to judge.
- 02 Offers received, none accepted Collect names of everyone who offered. Any of them buying later through a new agent is the classic double-fee case.
- 03 Sale agreed, not exchanged A switch rarely helps. The first agent introduced the buyer. If that buyer proceeds, its fee is likely due. Take advice before ending the contract at this stage.
- 04 Sale fell through Decide whether the collapse was the agent or the buyer before switching.
If a buyer has already pulled out, the guide to a collapsed sale sets out the options and helps you judge whether the agent was the cause.
How to give notice to your estate agent
Give notice in writing, in the way the contract specifies, and keep proof of when it was received. The agent had to put its fee terms in writing, so put your notice in writing too.3
- Quote the contract date and the clause that allows you to end it.
- State the date you believe the contract, including notice, ends.
- Ask the agent to confirm that date in writing.
- Ask for the list of buyers it introduced, with viewing dates.
- Ask it to remove the listing and board on the end date.
- Ask it to confirm any fee or charge it believes is still due, and under which clause.
A contract signed at home or online within the last 14 days may be cancellable outright, with no notice period.10 Had you asked the agent to start marketing during those 14 days, you may owe a proportionate amount for work done.11
If an estate agent claims a fee after you switch
Ask the agent to state the clause and its evidence that it introduced the buyer. If you disagree, complain in writing. Every agent doing residential work has to be in an approved redress scheme, which settles complaints against its members.13 Go to that scheme once the agent's own complaints process has run out. Property Redress, for example, handles complaints through assessment, mediation and adjudication.12
Look back, too, at how the fee terms reached you. An agent that did not give them properly before you signed can enforce the contract only with a court order.3
Questions people ask about changing estate agents
Is there a penalty for changing estate agents?
Only what your current contract provides for. Look in it for a withdrawal or cancellation fee. Then check for the three ways a switch can leave you owing the first agent as well as the new one. They are sole selling rights, a buyer the new agent introduced during the sole agency period, and a buyer who first viewed with the old agent.
What can I do if I am not happy with my estate agent?
Complain to the agent in writing, and if its own complaints process gets nowhere, go to the redress scheme it must belong to. If you would rather leave, give notice in writing in the way the contract sets out, and keep proof of the date the agent received it.
Can I cancel a sole agency agreement?
Yes, by giving notice under its terms, though the sole agency period and the notice still have to run their course. A sole agency agreement signed at home or online within the last 14 days may be cancellable outright. You would then owe a proportionate amount only if you had asked the agent to start marketing in that time.
The house not selling check finds the stage a stalled sale is stuck at.
Change agent, or change route?
If the open market has not worked, weigh the other two routes before signing a second agent contract.
Not sure which fits? Answer three questions and we will suggest one.
Property auction
The auctioneer sets the timetable and, in a traditional auction, the sale is binding once the lot is knocked down. Check the first agent’s contract still allows it.
- Check first
- Whether an auction sale triggers the first agent’s fee
House-buying company
Quicker and more certain, paid for with a lower price. Under sole selling rights, a sale in the period may still trigger the first agent’s fee.
- Check first
- Sole selling rights in your current contract
Find the route that fits you
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Question 1 of 3
Your best fit
What you give up:
Why this route
Close second: Property auction.
Selling in Scotland works differently, with a Home Report and offers over a closing date. The guides note where Scottish rules differ.
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While you wait, the guide covers what to check before you agree to anything.
Sources
(13)
Numbers in the text link to these. Each was read on the date shown. How we research
- Estate Agents (Provision of Information) Regulations 1991, Schedule: explanation of certain terms
- Estate Agents (Provision of Information) Regulations 1991, regulations 2 to 6
- Estate Agents Act 1979, section 18: information to clients of estate agents
- Estate agent fees and contracts
- Estate agent fees for selling your house
- Service Agreement (version dated 28 May 2026)
- The Property Ombudsman speaks out about approach to dual fee situations
- The Ombudsman Files: dual agency fees
- The Property Ombudsman issues revised Codes of Practice
- Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulations 29 to 34: right to cancel
- Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 36: services supplied during the cancellation period
- Property Redress
- Who needs to join