Last Updated on September 17, 2026
In England, letting agents cannot charge tenants for references, admin, renewals or check-outs. Tenant deposits are capped at five weeks’ rent for most tenancies. Landlords typically pay around one month’s rent for tenant find, or roughly 15 to 20 per cent of monthly rent for full management, often quoted excluding VAT.
Checked on 11 September 2026.
Most fee confusion in lettings comes from mixing up two different questions. What an agent can charge a tenant is set by law. What an agent charges a landlord is a commercial price. This page covers both.
If you are a tenant: most fees are banned
Since the Tenant Fees Act 2019, letting agents and landlords in England cannot charge tenants for most things they used to charge for. Propertymark’s consumer guidance puts it plainly: you cannot normally be charged for applications, references, inventories, check-ins, check-outs, tenancy renewals or general administration.
What you can be asked to pay, as listed by Propertymark on 11 September 2026:
| Permitted payment | Limit |
|---|---|
| Rent | Up to one month in advance |
| Refundable tenancy deposit | Five weeks’ rent, or six weeks if the annual rent is £50,000 or more |
| Refundable holding deposit | Up to one week’s rent |
| Change to the tenancy agreement (at your request) | Up to £50 |
| Late rent | Interest only, once rent is 14 days late, capped at 3% above the Bank of England base rate (per Shelter) |
| Lost keys or fobs | Reasonable replacement cost, if the tenancy agreement says so |
| Bills you agreed to | Council tax, utilities and similar |
Anything outside that list is a banned fee. A “referencing fee”, a “check-out fee” or an “admin charge” on a tenancy that started on or after 1 June 2019 is not a grey area. It is prohibited.
Your tenancy deposit must also go into one of three government-approved schemes within 30 days: the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits or the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (gov.uk, checked 11 September 2026). If the agent cannot tell you which one, that is a problem.
If you are charged a banned fee, Shelter’s advice is: report it to trading standards at your local council, complain through the agent’s redress scheme, and you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal to get the money back.
If you are a landlord: fees by service level
Landlord fees are not capped. They are a market price, and they vary by service level. Propertymark’s consumer guidance, checked on 11 September 2026, describes the three standard tiers:
| Service level | Typical fee | What is usually included |
|---|---|---|
| Tenant find (let-only) | A one-off fee of around one month’s rent | Photos, advertising, viewings, references, Right to Rent checks, tenancy agreement, inventory |
| Rent collection | A percentage of monthly rent, from around 5% | Tenant find services plus rent collection, arrears chasing, deposit protection |
| Full management | Around 15 to 20% of monthly rent | Everything above plus repairs, inspections, tenant correspondence, deposit disputes |
Three things to pin down before you sign:
VAT. Percentages are often quoted excluding VAT. A “12% management fee” from a VAT-registered agent is 14.4% of your rent in practice. Ask for the VAT-inclusive figure in writing. Agents are required to display fees inclusive of VAT.
Renewal fees. Agents cannot charge tenants for renewals, but some still charge landlords when a tenancy renews. Ask whether a renewal triggers a new fee and how much.
Exit clauses. Check what you pay if you leave the agent mid-tenancy, or sell to the sitting tenant. Some agreements claim a fee on any tenancy the agent originally arranged, for years afterwards. Read that clause before you sign, not after.
What moves the price
- Service level. The jump from let-only to full management is the biggest single factor.
- Location. London and the South East sit at the top of the ranges. Independent agents in smaller towns often sit below them.
- Portfolio size. Agents commonly discount management percentages for landlords with several properties. Ask.
- What is bundled. Inventories, gas safety arrangement, deposit dispute handling and rent protection insurance are included by some agents and billed separately by others. Two 12% quotes are rarely the same quote.
Two-minute check (tenant or landlord)
- Find the fees page. Agents must display their fees on their website and in branch. It is the law (Consumer Rights Act 2015). No fees page is your first red flag.
- Check the redress scheme. Every letting agent in England must belong to a government-approved redress scheme: The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme. Both have public member search pages. Look the agent up by name.
- Ask who protects client money. An agent holding rent or deposits must have client money protection (CMP) and name the provider. Deposits must be in one of the three schemes above.
- Get the VAT basis in writing. One line in an email: “Is that fee inclusive of VAT?”
- Tenants: compare any charge against the permitted list. If it is not on the list, do not pay it.
If you run a letting agency
Publish your fees on your website, inclusive of VAT, by service level. Name your redress scheme and your CMP provider on the same page. This is not marketing advice dressed up as law. Displaying fees is a legal duty, and redress membership and CMP are legal requirements, as Propertymark’s guidance confirms.
It also converts. Landlords comparing three agents will shortlist the one whose costs they can see. A fees page with real numbers answers the question every landlord is already asking, and it is what search engines and AI assistants quote when someone asks what agents near you charge. Whito’s guide to redress and client money on the website covers where to put it.
Red flags
- No fees on the website. Displaying them is a legal requirement, not a courtesy.
- A percentage quoted with no VAT basis. “12% plus VAT” hiding as “12%”.
- Tenant charges outside the permitted list. Referencing, admin or renewal fees on the tenant side are banned in England.
- No redress scheme named, or a name that does not appear on the TPO or PRS member search.
- No CMP provider named by an agent who will hold your rent or deposit.
- A deposit request above five weeks’ rent on a normal tenancy under £50,000 a year.
What this page does not cover
Wales and Scotland have their own rules. Both also ban most tenant fees (Wales under the Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019, Scotland since 2012), but caps differ, so check the national guidance.
Sales commission for estate agency work is a separate market with separate fees.
Rent-to-rent and guaranteed rent schemes are not covered here.
This page is not legal advice on a specific dispute.
Method and limits
Tenant-side rules and figures were taken from Propertymark and Shelter consumer guidance, fetched on 11 September 2026, and cross-checked against gov.uk deposit protection pages. Landlord fee ranges (around one month’s rent for let-only, from around 5% for rent collection, around 15 to 20% for full management) are Propertymark’s published typical figures, not Whito averages, and individual agents vary widely: treat them as indicative and get written quotes. The government’s original Tenant Fees Act 2019 guidance pages were withdrawn on 8 May 2026 and are being replaced by guidance under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, so the fine detail of tenant-side rules may change; the figures here reflect the consumer guidance live on the date checked.
Sources
- Propertymark: Ban on fees charged to tenants. Permitted payments, deposit caps (five weeks, six weeks over £50,000), £50 change fee, Wales and Scotland position.
- Propertymark: What does a letting agent do for a landlord?. Landlord fee levels by service tier, fee display duty, redress and CMP requirements.
- Shelter England: Letting agent fees for tenants. Banned fee list, late rent interest cap, tenant remedies including the First-tier Tribunal.
- gov.uk: Tenancy deposit protection. The three approved schemes and the 30-day protection deadline.
Related Whito research: Which estate agents does AI actually recommend?
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