Estate Agent incompetence, Form 6A (Section 21), and backdated contract issues

Michy78

Hello,

I have been renting a flat in London since 2021 through an estate agent acting on behalf of the landlord. My tenancy deposit is protected as per certification, and the old agent also asked month's rent on account due to low income.

In July 2025, a new estate agent took over management of the property. Since then, I have experienced numerous issues due to what appears to be poor record-keeping ,administration no maintenance in the communal areas and communal garden.

The new agent has repeatedly failed to update their records with my correct address, flat number, tenancy details, and rent payment information despite repeatedly supplying the correct information (at least four times via email).

I have always been a good tenant and paid the rent on time or earlier and even made some repairs where the agency failed to rectify the issue .

Since the new agency took over, I have falsely been accused on multiples occasion of paying my rent late despite providing the evidence that the payment was made on time or in advance. I have recently discovered that the new Estate agent does not appear to have copy of my tenancy agreements, also the other two flats in the same building, which are owned by the same landlord. I strongly suspect they do not have any copy of DBS, inventory and any other relevant tenancy information which is highly concerning.

I submitted a formal complaint more than two months ago but it has been ignored, despite attaching evidence of the rental payment on time or earlier , i never received a single apology.

I wanted to inform my landlord of ongoing issues i am facing and i suspect that the agency is ruining my reputation by telling my landlord false information about my rental delayed payment . I discovered that the original name identified as the landlord does not match the details stated in my tenancy agreement therefore I requested the landlord's details over 30 days ago and the agent has not yet responded .

Most recently, the new agency emailed me 2 days ago , on Friday demanding a copy of my tenancy urgently. Because I didn't see the email until today, they issued a new Tenancy contract .This document contains several inaccuracies, including incomplete address with just street name no door ,an incorrect rent payment date, and only the company landlord's name with no further details. The agreement has also been backdated to last year using a date were they were not in charge of the management of the property.

Also on the 29th April , they put the form 6A of section 21 under my door without the EPC and gas certificate asking to vacate the property with no reasons by the end of June. The form 6A does not contain the name of the landlord just the name of the Agent and my address is inaccurate which i believe makes the document invalid.

I am becoming increasingly concerned about the agent's conduct and lack professionalism. I am considering making a complaint to the Property Redress Scheme, but my main priority is protecting my tenancy, my deposit, and the month's rent that the old agent is holding on account.

Can you please advice what it will be the best course of actions?

Thank you in advance

TroubledTarts

A few things

1. Any AST Assured Short hold Tenancy is now void due to the renters rights act so there is no point signing an old tenancy agreement
2. Did the lettings agent send you all the information about the renters rights act? If not save that in your back pocket for leverage
3. If your original complaint with the letting agent has gone unresolved for 8 weeks yes escalate it to the redress scheme applicable
4. You should write to them formally advising them they are interfering with your "quiet enjoyment" of the property.

From what you have shared it sounds like you have found yourself being managed by a bunch of cowboys.

saajan_12

They sound like a mess, but honestly other than the S21, I'd just ignore it. Even if you manage to demonstrate the inaccuracies, they don't seem capeable of remembering that in 6 months time and meantime you'll drive yourself crazy.

• Accusations of paying rent late - all they can do is take it to court when you can easily defend with the original contract and your bank statements. Your reputation with the LL is irrelevant.
• Missing DBS, inventory, etc - only benefits you as they won't be able to prove the property's condition at the start when it comes to deposit deductions. Ignore for now and if/when you move out, challenge any deductions, asking for proof from the inventory if they want to claim the property is worse than at the start.
• Ignore the new tenancy contract, just reply to state that its not the one you signed which remains in place, then ignore future correspondence on this.
• Upfront rent paid - as long as you have the records that you paid it (bank statement / original tenancy agreement) then when you move out, live that out for the last month. Ignore their protests, you can successfully defend any deposit deduction etc.
• Deposit - if its protected then you can just claim through the scheme.

• S21 - the minor typographical errors may not be sufficient to invalidate it, a judge may decide its clear what was meant. There are however a long list of criteria including gas cert and EPC - are you sure these weren't in place before the S21 was served (they don't have to be re-served with the S21 notice).

IMO a complaint will be counter productive, there's no benefit to you in sorting the agent out. Even in their mess, they can't affect you, so just (try to) ignore. I'd just check on the S21, if that's invalid youre safe. Don't worry.

Michy78

1 )The most important fact is that they issue a backdated contract when they were not even managing the property and the address is incomplete. They issue a new AST under their management

2) They put is under my door alongside the 6A form which has a wrong door number , without EPC and Gas certificate i also believe is invalid and they are basically taking charge of the eviction where in fact the eviction needs to come from the landlord

They are definitely cowboys but i am equally worried that my landlord want to go to very incompetent estate agents to run their multiple properties in London

silvercar

You do you, let the landlord worry about the failings of their agent.

The AST is now irrelevant. Concentrate on whether the S21 is valid, there is no need for them to supply the EPC or Gas certificate with the S21, though they will need to show them in court. The eviction doesn’t need to come from the landlord, the landlord can chose to use their agent to manage the situation if they choose.

Myci85

Rather than wasting effort on whether the agent is getting information wrong, your effort may be better spent finding a new rental. Yes the S21 may be invalid (when was it served?) and you may be able to delay eviction, but ultimately it sounds like eventually you will be being evicted, and if the agency is as terrible as you've described, it sounds like you may be better off renting through a different one anyway.

As someone else said, cancel your rent payment a month ahead of when you normally would, to account for the extra month you paid when moving in (hopefully you have evidence of this agreement in writing) and if they don't refund your deposit, request it through the deposit scheme when you leave.

Yorkie1

Just on the late rent payment issue, I remember there being threads on here where the rent was scheduled to be paid from the tenant's bank account on the due date in each month, but sometimes was paid (and therefore received) late owing to the bank not processing the payment until the next working day. Might that have occurred in your case?

Michy78

Hello All,

Thank you for your advice.

I would definitely like to proceed with the complaint to the Redress .

Today i spoke with one of the Leaseholder in the same block where i live and she also confirm that the Agency did not pass the detail of the freeholder who is also the landlord for all the rented flats, 3 in total . There is something very suspicious about this behaviour. Also the other 2 tenants who rents from the same landlord have received the form 6A on the 29th April and we all suspect that the Agency want to increase substantially the rental price and somehow cashing in the extra rent price.

The agent did not inform any of us about this and simply wrote we need to vacate the property by June . I also read that Form 6A (used for Section 21 "no-fault" evictions) strictly requires the name and address of the landlord. Leaving this blank or using only the estate agent's name makes the notice invalid in court which is exactly what the estate agent did

I am also worried about my future inability to obtain good reference due to false defamation claims and possibly alteration of false credit note scoring.

@Yorkie1Just to clarify the rent payment always reached on time as i always ensure i processed it manually earlier when dates were falling on Bank holidays or weekend so their accusation are completely inaccurate and although i told them several times the date when my rent is due each months , they are still recording wrong as the new contract they issued has a wrong due date

FlorayG

If you are sure the S21 is invalid then YouCan just ignore it! They won't be able to issue another.

Also, just don't move out and let them take you to court if they dare. Are all the safety certificates current? Did they issue you with the new renters document by 31stMay?

These sort of landlords are the ones the new law is aimed at and good landlords have been caught in the crossfire