Letting agent fee calculator
Agents quote a percentage, usually before VAT. This works out what that means in pounds over a year, adds the other fees on your statements, and shows the total as a share of your rent.
For comparison: Flatward's planned fee is £149 a month including VAT, £1,788 a year, with finding a new tenant included. Flatward is in development; the price is planned.
How the numbers add up
Most London agents quote full management at somewhere between 10% and 15% of the rent, and the quote is usually before VAT. VAT at 20% applies to the fee, so 15% becomes 18% of the rent. On £2,500 a month that's £5,400 a year, before anything else.
Then come the fees that aren't in the headline: statement or admin fees, inspection fees, renewal or extension fees, charges for arranging safety certificates, and sometimes a mark-up on repairs. Add up a year of them from your statements and enter the total above.
What to leave out
Repairs, safety certificates and inventories are costs you'd pay whoever manages the flat, so they don't belong in the comparison. What matters is what the agent charges for managing: the fees that would stop if you left.
Want the real figure from your statements?
A calculator only knows what you type in. The free fee audit reads a year of your actual statements and sends back one page with every fee, the VAT, the share of your rent, and your earliest switch date. See an example report.
For the background on typical fees, read what London letting agents really charge landlords living abroad. If you're thinking of moving, read how to switch letting agent when you live abroad, and work out your date with the notice period calculator.
Find out what your agent really costs
Send us your last 12 months of letting agent statements and we'll send back a one-page breakdown: management fees and VAT, every other charge, and the same year at Flatward's planned flat fee of £149 a month. Free, and no commitment.
Get a free fee audit