The Core Trade-Off
Every landlord faces the same question: pay an agent and save time, or self-manage and save money? The answer is rarely simple — but many landlords are paying far more than they need to.
What Letting Agents Charge
Tenant find only (one-off: 40–60% of first month's rent): Advertising, viewings, referencing, tenancy agreement, Right to Rent checks.
Full management (8–15% of rent, ongoing): Everything above + rent collection, maintenance coordination (often with 10–20% markup), inspections, renewal negotiations, 24/7 emergency response.
The Real Cost of Full Management
2-bed flat at £1,200/month, 12% management:
5-property portfolio:
This excludes renewal fees, inventory fees, check-out fees and maintenance markups.
What Self-Managing Requires
Per new tenancy: Rightmove listing (via OpenRent from £49), tenant referencing (£20–£50), tenancy agreement template (~£50), Right to Rent checks (free), deposit protection (free via DPS Custodial).
Ongoing: Rent collection, maintenance coordination, inspection visits, compliance renewals, legal notices when needed.
The Critical Gap: Compliance
The most common failure for self-managing landlords isn't day-to-day tasks — it's the compliance calendar. Agents have reminder systems. When you self-manage, you are the system — unless you use LetCompliance.
LetCompliance tracks all certificates, sends reminders, and gives each property a live compliance score. From £9/month vs £144–£660/month in agent fees.
The Hybrid Approach
Most experienced self-managing landlords use:
1. Agent for tenant find (one-off cost, saves your time)
2. Self-manage day-to-day (save 10–12% monthly)
3. LetCompliance for compliance (certificates, reminders, scores)
Annual cost for this approach (1 property):
Saving: £1,300+/year per property.
When to Use a Full Management Agent
Use an agent if: you live 30+ minutes away, you work full-time with no flexibility, you're a first-time landlord, or you own an HMO or complex property.
For everyone else, the hybrid approach with LetCompliance is almost always the smarter choice.