About this form
Form 8 is the exclusive tenant-side appointment: for the agreed period, a prospective tenant works with one agency to find residential property to rent. It is the counterpart to Form 4, and is most often used for relocations and corporate lettings where a single point of contact is wanted.
When you need it
- A tenant commits to working with your agency alone for a defined search period.
- You are handling a relocation where the search is substantial and time-boxed.
- A corporate client wants one agency accountable for housing a group of arrivals.
How to complete it
- Record the tenant’s particulars from identification.
- Set the exclusive period with explicit start and end dates.
- State the search brief — type, area, budget and intended lease term.
- State the commission, its basis and its trigger, including the position for a property introduced during the period and signed afterwards.
- Complete the salesperson’s CEA registration number.
- Explain exclusivity before signing and give the tenant a copy.
Common mistakes
- Acting for the landlord as well on a property the tenant is considering.
- Leaving the intended lease term out, when the commission usually depends on it.
- Leaving the exclusive period undefined.
- Using Form 8 for a commercial letting, which the prescribed agreements do not cover.
Legal basis
Prescribed under the Estate Agents (Estate Agency Work) Regulations. CEA publishes the current forms and accompanying guidance. Read the issuer’s guidance.
Questions
- Can Form 8 be used for a corporate tenant?
- The form records an appointment by a prospective tenant. Where the tenant is a company, the particulars are the company’s and the signatory must have authority to bind it — which is worth confirming rather than assuming.
- Does an exclusive tenant appointment prevent viewing through other agents?
- It records the tenant’s agreement to work with one agency for the period. What follows from a departure is a matter of the agreement’s terms.
- What is the non-exclusive equivalent?
- Form 4 — the estate agency agreement for the lease of residential property by a tenant.