How to Choose a Letting Agent in the UK: A Complete Guide

By Jeff Brown, Rent Right Estates

I’ve been in lettings since the year 2000 — twenty-six years now. I’ve worked for big corporate estate agents and small independents. I’m a landlord myself. I’ve been a property manager. And, at different points in my life, I’ve been a tenant too. I’ve genuinely seen every walk of life come through a tenancy, and across all of it I’ve tried to do one thing: help wherever I can and get the best outcome for everyone involved — landlords and tenants.

So when people ask me “How do I choose a letting agent?”, I don’t answer it like a marketing brochure. I answer it the way I’d answer a friend. Because choosing the wrong agent costs people real money, real time, and a lot of stress — and choosing the right one can quietly set you free.

Here’s everything I wish every landlord and tenant knew before they signed anything.

First, understand what’s actually at stake

Let me start with the story that sits at the back of my mind every time I take on a property.

I’ve sat next to landlords in court. Long-standing tenants had fallen behind on the rent, the landlord had no choice but to take legal action, and we had to go through the court process together. It can take months. And the thing that catches most landlords out isn’t the drama — it’s the paperwork. The court system demands enormous accuracy. One box filled in wrong, one date out, one missing document, and you’re back to square one. This is where a lot of landlords fall down, because they simply don’t know what “thorough” looks like in that context.

What usually happens is this: the tenant stops paying, then stops talking. They don’t speak to the landlord or the agent — they just go quiet. The property starts to fall into disrepair. Other problems pile up on top. And by the time it reaches court, the landlord is months out of pocket and emotionally exhausted.

I tell you that not to frighten you, but to make a point: the right agent isn’t a luxury, it’s protection. The whole reason you choose carefully is so that, on the day something goes wrong, you’ve got someone beside you who has done it a hundred times before.

What a genuinely good agent does differently

Plenty of agents will collect the rent and pay it over. That’s the easy bit. The difference between a good agent and a bad one usually comes down to something very simple: do they actually care?

Here’s a concrete example. We recently took over a HMO in Barnsley town centre from another managing agent. When I went round and made a point of speaking to most of the tenants in the building, the complaints came out quickly — and one of the biggest was that the previous agent hadn’t given the place a proper deep clean in a very long time. So that was one of the first things we actioned. A proper deep clean, then redecorating rooms as they became available.

The change has been visible. The property is already improving. The existing tenants are looking after it better, because when someone shows the place respect, people tend to return it. And the rooms we’ve redecorated are now attracting a better calibre of tenant. None of that is rocket science — but it only happens if your agent treats the property like it matters.

That’s the test. A good agent checks in. We deliberately check in with our tenants every so often, just to make sure everything’s running smoothly and to catch problems before they grow. Because a happy tenant looks after the property and keeps paying the rent — and an ignored tenant becomes disillusioned, starts complaining, and eventually becomes a problem for everyone.

The compliance checklist: what a professional agent must have in place

This is the part most people skim, and it’s the part that protects you most. A serious agent will know all of this cold and will handle it on your behalf. If an agent is vague about any of it, that’s your warning sign.

Before a property can be legally let, you (or your agent on your behalf) need:

• Photo ID and proof of ownership — passport or driving licence, plus a Land Registry document, mortgage statement or solicitor’s letter.
• Landlord-specific building insurance in place.
• A Gas Safety Certificate — renewed annually, carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
• An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) — every five years, by a qualified electrician.
• An EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) — rated E or above to legally let, valid for ten years.
• Working smoke alarms on every floor, and carbon monoxide alarms in any room with a gas or solid-fuel appliance.

And then there are the ongoing legal obligations every landlord must meet — and which a good agent manages for you:

• Right to Rent checks on every adult tenant before they move in.
• Compliance with the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (more on that below).
• Deposit protection — every deposit registered with a government-approved scheme (DPS, MyDeposits or TDS) within 30 days, with the prescribed information given to the tenant.
• Fit for human habitation — the property must meet the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018: safe, healthy and free from serious hazards.
• HMO licensing where required — if the property is occupied by five or more people forming more than one household, it may need a mandatory licence from the council.
• Tax on rental income — declared to HMRC. That’s the landlord’s responsibility, though for overseas landlords an agent will either deduct the tax or arrange a Non-Resident Landlord form. (Always speak to a qualified accountant about your personal position.)

If an agent can walk you through that list without breaking a sweat, you’re talking to a professional.

Credentials, client money protection and redress — the non-negotiables

Here’s where you separate the regulated professionals from the rest. Ask any prospective agent these three things:

1. Are you a member of a professional body, and do you have Client Money Protection?

We’re members of PropertyMark — also known as ARLA — and our Client Money Protection sits with them. Our certificate and the level of cover are available on our website for anyone who wants to see them. Client Money Protection matters because it protects your rent and deposits if anything ever happened to the agent. No CMP, no deal.

2. Do you abide by a code of conduct?

Because we’re PropertyMark members, we have to abide by their code of conduct and hold ourselves to their standard. That means acting in the best interests of both the landlord and the tenant — not just whoever pays the bill. That dual responsibility is, to me, the heart of doing the job properly.

3. Are you signed up to a redress scheme?

Every agent must belong to a redress scheme such as the Property Ombudsman (PRS). It gives you somewhere independent to go if things go wrong.

If an agent fumbles any of those three, walk away. They’re the floor, not the ceiling.

Fees and contracts: where people get caught out

Don’t go with the cheapest agent. I say that as someone who could compete on price if I wanted to — but it’s the wrong question. The right question is: who’s going to give me the most value?

For me, earning a fee isn’t just collecting the rent and making sure the landlord gets paid. It’s making sure the property is looked after to a high standard, so the tenants stay happy and keep paying. That’s what the fee is for.

When you compare agents, look closely at:

• The management fee. Ours is 10%, and we’re not currently VAT registered (that may change as we grow). All our fees are listed openly on our website — transparency you should expect from anyone.
• Tie-in periods and notice. We don’t tie landlords into long contracts. It’s 30 days’ notice and you can leave. My view is simple: if you like the service, you won’t want to go anywhere else.
• Set-up and exit costs. Be clear up front. For example, our set-up cost is £150, and the only exit fee would apply if you left within the first six months — and even then it’s just the difference between our let-only cost and the management fees paid to date.
• What’s included vs. “extras.” Make sure tenant-finding, referencing, arrears chasing and notices are part of the deal, not surprise add-ons.

Cheap agents who cut corners cost you far more when something breaks. Pay for value.

The questions to actually ask — a real example

The best way to show you what “asking the right questions” looks like is to show you a real one. A landlord named Mo recently instructed us on two properties in Sheffield. Before signing, Mo sent through a brilliant list of questions — exactly the kind every landlord should be asking. Here’s the gist of what was asked and how I answered:

On service options and fees: We offer two options — Full Management (10%, no VAT) and Let Only (a fixed fee of one month’s rent or £500, whichever is greater). There’s a £150 set-up cost, and all fees are on our website.

On tenant referencing: We use a third-party referencing agency. We usually require an annual income of around 30 times the rent, rising to 36 times in some cases. We do reject applicants with adverse history unless they can provide a suitable guarantor. The checks include credit checks, open banking, employer checks and current or previous landlord references — if any of those fail, they don’t get in. We can also offer rent guarantee insurance on a passed reference, at additional cost.

On arrears: We were honest — as a newer business we currently have one tenant in arrears, inherited from a previous agency, and we’re actively working with the tenant and landlord to bring it down. If it can’t be resolved, we’ll go through the eviction process with the landlord.

On contract terms: Minimum 30 days. No long tie-in. Exit fees only apply in the first six months, as described above.

On credentials: Members of PropertyMark (ARLA), with Client Money Protection held there, and registered with the PRS redress scheme. All certificates are on our website — and I always invite people to confirm directly with PropertyMark.

Mo’s follow-up questions were just as sharp, and these are worth borrowing too: How do you find tenants, and is portal and social media advertising included? What’s the typical time to let? Will I have the final say on tenant selection? Are there call-out fees or mark-ups on contractor work, and will I be consulted before non-urgent works? Beyond the headline fee, what other charges should I expect?

If you ask an agent those questions and listen carefully to the answers — clear, specific, confident, and honest even when the answer isn’t flattering — you’ll learn everything you need to know about whether they’re the right fit.

The local angle: why area knowledge matters

I’ve lived in South and West Yorkshire for twenty years. I know the area, I know the people, and over two and a half decades in the industry I’ve become fairly well known locally. People know they can come to me directly, and that if I don’t have the answer immediately, I’ll go and find it and come back to them. That’s worth more than it sounds.

Take Article 4 in Barnsley as an example. It’s had a big impact on the HMO market here. You can’t simply convert a property into an HMO locally anymore — the rules have been in place for about five years now — and yet I still see people making that mistake, often because they hired an agent who didn’t really know what they were doing. This is exactly why local, qualified expertise matters. Selective licensing, Article 4 areas, HMO demand, typical rents, the right local contractors — a good local agent carries all of that in their head, and it saves you from expensive missteps.

My honest take on the Renters’ Rights Act 2025

It’s had a real impact, and I’d call it both positive and negative.

On the positive side, it’s forced landlords and agents across the board to genuinely get compliant and prove to their clients that they know what they’re talking about. That’s no bad thing. The Act abolishes Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, moves everyone to rolling periodic tenancies, and limits rent increases to once a year with two months’ notice.

Tenants need to give 2 months notice if they want to leave under the Renters Rights Act.  That two-month notice requirement is a good example of where real-world judgement comes in. Two months doesn’t always suit both parties — so we often work with landlords and tenants to find an arrangement that actually fits everyone, rather than rigidly applying the letter of the rule and leaving people stuck. That day-to-day flexibility, within the law, is a big part of what an agent is for.

Do you even need an agent? My honest answer

I’ll be straight with you, because it’s the right thing to do: no, not everyone needs an agent.

Any landlord who takes the time to educate themselves and genuinely knows their stuff can absolutely self-manage. I’d never take that away from a switched-on landlord. If you know what you’re doing, you could manage fifty to a hundred properties — but understand that it would be your full-time job.

So the real question isn’t “can I do it myself?” It’s “what’s my time worth?” If you’ve got another full-time job, or a family, or simply a life you’d rather be living, then employing an agent isn’t really a cost — it’s what gives you back your time to do the things you enjoy. As I often put it: employing an agent is the key that will set you free.

The philosophy I run on

Strip everything else away and it comes down to this: treat others with respect. Be the person to others that you’d want them to be to you. Manners cost nothing. If you see something that isn’t right, sort it there and then.

I try to work that same philosophy into everything I do. If I see a landlord who needs a bit of help, I help them — no cost, no catch. It’s just being a decent human being. And I genuinely believe the best agents are the ones who feel the same way, because in the end this business is about people, their homes, and their livelihoods.

Ready to rent right?

If you’d like a hand — whether you’re choosing your first agent or you’ve had enough of your current one — I’d love to help. The easiest way to reach Rent Right Estates is through our website, www.rentrightestates.co.uk, or just call 01226 448 222 and ask for Jeff.

We offer a free, no-obligation consultation: we’ll visit the property, walk you through everything, and give you a clear, honest picture of what it could achieve.

Your property. Done right.