Guide to Commercial & Residential Letting Agent Fees in the East Midlands

When you are deciding whether to use a letting agent to manage your commercial or residential property, one of the key factors in your decision will likely be the costs involved. A professional property management service can provide valuable expertise and handle complex tasks, but you will want to make sure that you are getting good value for your fees.

Letting agent fee structures can vary significantly, as too can the quality of services and level of services they provide. This guide provides a detailed overview of letting agent fees and services for residential and commercial properties in East Midlands areas including Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland.

What are letting agent fees for landlords?

Letting agent fees or property management fees are the charges applied by letting agents for providing a set of services for managing rental properties. The types of services included will determine the fees, but for a full management service the agent will usually apply a fee based on a percentage of the monthly rental income.

Some agents might offer a tenant-finding or rent collection only service with a flat fee but using this type of service means that landlords will have many time-consuming activities to take on themselves. And, if your agent is not delivering the service you deserve, you should consider switching letting agents to get the most for your money.

Letting agent services & costs explained

Here’s a breakdown of the typical costs you can expect to pay for different types of letting services:

Commercial lettings – Commercial property letting agents generally charge a fee of between 5% to 12%. The percentage will depend on which services are required, as some commercial property owners may already have a maintenance team, for example. The letting agent services include finding tenants, lease renewals, maintenance and rent collection.

Residential lettings tenant find – If you only require an agent to find a tenant for your rental property and you are happy to manage the other aspects of property management yourself, a tenant find service will cost around 50% to 100% of the first month’s rent. You may also have the option to pay additional fees if an agent also collects rent, completes inventories or conducts inspections.

Full management service – For a full property management service, including finding and screening tenants, rent collection, writing up tenancy agreements, viewings, inspections and arranging maintenance, the fee will be around 8% to 15% of monthly rent, plus VAT. A flat fee of around £500 to £700 might be offered by some agents.

Rent collection service only – A fee for just collecting rent each month ranges from 5% to 10% of the monthly rent, plus VAT.

Typical letting agent fees in the East Midlands

For commercial properties, rent is usually applied on an amount per square foot, but this can vary depending on the property type, as offices in England had an average rent of £183 per square foot in 2024, while the average for all commercial properties was £94.

A 6,000 square foot office space in Nottingham commands around £7,000 pcm, so an average 10% letting fee would be £700 plus VAT, so £840 per month. For example, a retail space in the Birchwood Shopping Centre in Lincoln rents for around £1,500 pcm for 800 square feet, so a 10% letting fee plus VAT on this type of property would be around £180 per month.

For residential properties, the average rent in the East Midlands is close to £900 per month, so a 10% plus VAT letting agent fee would be £108 per month.

Are letting agent fees tax deductible?

Yes, letting agent and management fees and tax deductible, as they are classed as an allowable expense.

How are letting agency fees charged?

Letting agent fees are charged based on the services that are included. For a full management fee, you can expect to pay at least 10% of the monthly rent for the agent to manage the property. For commercial properties, the size, type of commercial asset, timescale and workload involved will determine the fees. Some services also include security for commercial properties for an extra cost.

Residential letting fees for a full management service are simpler, they will charge average letting agent fees of around 8% to 15% of the monthly rent each month, and the services included are fairly standard.

Is it worth hiring a letting agent in the East Midlands?

Choosing whether to use a letting agent will usually depend on whether you have the time and expertise, either within your company or as a private landlord, to handle all the work involved.

Letting agents undertake many time-consuming and complex activities. For commercial properties, using a letting agent can be an alternative to employing facilities managers and maintenance teams and they take care of the legal aspects of lease agreements, for example.

Private residential landlords have many regulations to comply with including health and safety, the Housing Act 2004, the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Tenants Fees Act 2019.

The incoming Renters’ Rights Bill will add to the existing list of landlord responsibilities, so many landlords prefer to delegate their property management tasks to an experienced lettings service.

Understand commercial & residential letting fees for landlords?

If you would like to find out more about our lettings services for commercial and residential properties in Oundle, Stamford, Oakham and other East Midland areas, please get in touch to see how we can help.