Many landlords use letting agents to find tenants and manage their properties. As a tenant, you may deal with the agent rather than the landlord directly, particularly for repairs, inspections, and deposit returns. In theory, a good letting agent should make the process smoother for everyone, but in practice, that's rarely true. Some agents are efficient, communicative, and responsive, but the majority primarily act as a billing layer between you and your landlord, adding unnecessary complications to otherwise simple tasks like communicating and arranging repairs.
All letting agents in England must belong to a government-approved redress scheme and a client money protection scheme if they hold tenants' money. They must also display their fees and charges, their redress scheme membership, and whether the landlord or agent is responsible for deposit protection.
Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, letting agents can't charge tenants any fees beyond rent, the capped deposit, and the capped holding deposit. If an agent asks you to pay for referencing, administration, or any other service, it's a prohibited payment.
If you have a complaint about a letting agent, you can escalate it through the agent's internal complaints process and then to their redress scheme, which can order the agent to pay compensation. It's a route worth using if the agent is slow, unresponsive, or making your tenancy harder than it needs to be — a regular occurrence with the majority of them.
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