Letting Agents

Before you want to take up a house or land on rent, most of us like to check the availability, price negotiations, and the good will of the owner by getting in touch with a broker, who is generally called a Letting Agent in UK. Even when you are a landlord who wants to give in his property for rent, you could do away with a lot of worries if you hire a Letting Agent. The Letting Agent makes all the negotiations between the tenant and the landlord. He pursues the case till a formal contract is signed between the landlord and the tenant and earns a percentage of the annual rent as a commission for his work.

When you hire a Letting Agent, the first and foremost service that he is to provide to you is to introduce the landlord and the residential property to be rented, to you. The commission charged by an agent varies from 7% to 11% of the annual rent paid to the landlord. At times, an additional 2 to 3% of the rent is charged from the tenant. When the managerial work is taken up on a day to day basis, the commission is anywhere between 4 to 6%. These sorts of commissions are generally charged on a monthly basis. When the first period of contract of the tenant with the Letting Agent is over, the contract is generally renewed, if the tenant so wants. The renewal fee is typically lower than the introduction fees. There could be additional fees charged so as to draw the Assured Shorthold Tenancy. This is a precaution taken to protect the tenant’s stand in accordance with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme Legislation.

There is no particular legislation that governs Letting Agents. So they have the freedom to regulate themselves. The two major organizations of reputed Letting agents are the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Association of Residential Letting Agents. These two organizations have a say over their respective members and can regulate them substantially. Not all reputed Letting Agents are, however, members of these bodies.

A good and reputed Letting Agent is identified best by the word of mouth of the local people. You should always prefer a local agent over one who though reputed, is far from the locality you want to pay a rent for. You should also be sure that the agent is in business for at least a couple of years if not more. If you are unsure about the advice of the local people, the best thing you can do is to meet the agents personally. For this, we have provided in our site, the contact numbers and addresses of the various reputed Letting Agents. We have also added a map route for your convenience. We encourage our clients to rate the agents on various criteria like customer service, knowledge and price quotes. These ratings should definitely help you to zero down on the Letting Agent you would like to hire.