LetCompliance vs A high-street letting agent

No. The landlord remains the regulated person under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, the Tenancy Deposit Schemes (TDS) framework, the Right to Rent Scheme, the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations and the Housing Act 2004 HMO licensing regime. An agent can perform the work; you stay liable for the breach. This is why audit-logged software is valuable even when you use a full-management agent, if the agent loses a record, the council still fines you.

Three common bands. Tenant-find-only: a single fee of £300–£700 + VAT. Let-only: typically 8–10% of the first year’s rent. Full management: typically 10–15% of the monthly rent ongoing, plus setup (£150–£400), inventory (£120–£250), renewal (£50–£120) and check-out fees. On a £1,500/mo single let, full management at 12% is £2,160/yr before extras.

Yes. The agent handles the tenant-facing work, and you keep your own record of the let in LetCompliance: the rent, the documents and the certificate dates, so a change of agent does not leave you without them. Upload the certificates the agent sends you, or photograph them from their portal, and LetCompliance reads the dates.

For a single let with a stable long-term tenant: closer to 10–20 hours a year of agent value (mostly inspections, certificate scheduling, rent chasing). For an HMO with quarterly inspections, supplier management and tenant turnover: 60–120 hours a year. The maths tilts to "agent" the more friction the property has, and to "self-management with software" the more stable it is.

The Tenant Fees Act bans agents from charging tenants most fees (referencing, inventory, check-in). Landlord-facing fees, setup, renewal, full-management percentage, are not regulated and remain at the agent’s discretion. This shifted income models in 2019–2020; expect a 12–15% management band rather than the 8–10% common pre-2019.

It is property management software for landlords and letting agents, and it runs the whole let, not just compliance. In one login you advertise, take applications and viewings, reference tenants, e-sign the tenancy, collect rent by Direct Debit and chase arrears, track a 0-100 compliance score, draft Section 8 and Section 13 notices, manage HMO rooms, book done-for-you property services and prepare your SA105 tax. The compliance score is one feature among many, not the whole product.

The page above sets what A high-street letting agent's own website says it does beside LetCompliance, and lists everything else LetCompliance does. For most UK landlords and small-to-mid agencies who want the whole tenancy in one place, LetCompliance covers more of the let; A high-street letting agent is the better pick for the specific areas it leads on, which are called out above. LetCompliance starts at £7.99 a month for one property, with a 3-day trial and no card.

LetCompliance ships an SA105-shaped Tax Pack, a Section 24 personal-vs-limited-company calculator, a capital-gains calculator and a mileage log, and it sends Making Tax Digital quarterly updates for UK property income to HMRC on every paid plan from £7.99 a month (not the free plan or the trial). It is recognised by HMRC for UK property income, and if your return needs self-employment, savings or dividend income you finalise the year with software that can add it, or with your accountant.

They are written by LetCompliance, which says so plainly. The A high-street letting agent column shows only what A high-street letting agent's own website says, with the date it was read, and every page names where A high-street letting agent is the better choice and the one thing LetCompliance does not do (Open Banking bank-feed reconciliation). Providers change their plans and prices without notice, so check theirs before you buy.