How do I choose a letting agent?

Choosing a letting agent is a hiring decision. You are handing someone your rent, your tenants and your legal obligations, so interview them like it matters. Here are the legal checks to run first, the ten questions to ask, and the answers that should worry you. Use them on every agent you speak to, including us. The legal requirements below apply in England. If a term trips you up, the lettings glossary defines it in plain English.

Run the legal checks before you ring anyone

Three requirements are set by law for letting agents in England, and you can check all of them from your desk in ten minutes. If an agent fails any of them, stop there.

Requirement	What the law says	How to check
Redress scheme	Every letting agent and property manager must belong to a government-approved redress scheme. Councils can fine up to £5,000.	Search the agent’s name on The Property Ombudsman register of businesses or the Property Redress Scheme agent finder. If it is on neither, it is not covered.
Client money protection	An agent holding client money (your rent, deposits, repair floats) must belong to an approved client money protection scheme. Councils can fine up to £30,000.	The certificate must be displayed in the office and on the website. Ask for a copy, which they must give free, and check it with the scheme it names.
Published fees	An agent must display its fee list in the office and publish it on its website, with each fee shown including VAT, and say which redress and client money schemes it belongs to.	Find the fee list on the website without asking. If you cannot find it, ask why.

These rules can change, so check the current position on gov.uk and legislation.gov.uk. Livdin confirms the current requirements on every tenancy we set up. The Competition and Markets Authority’s guidance for lettings professionals also says landlords should know what they will pay and what each charge is for, which is why “we’ll confirm that once you sign” is never an acceptable answer on fees.

The ten questions to ask any letting agent

Ask every agent the same ten questions and get the answers in writing. Vague answers now become expensive surprises later.

1. What are your full fees, including VAT, and do you add a markup to maintenance invoices? A good answer is a published schedule you can take away and compare, like our fees page, and a markup figure, or “none”, in writing. Some agents add a percentage to every contractor bill, and it never appears in the headline fee. What a Huddersfield management fee should cover sets out what to compare.
2. Who holds the deposits? A good answer confirms deposits go into a government-approved deposit protection scheme within 30 days of payment, names the scheme, and explains who serves the prescribed information.
3. How do you reference tenants? A good answer covers credit checks, employment and previous landlord references, and right to rent checks, and tells you who actually does the work.
4. How long do your properties sit empty between tenancies? A good answer is a measured number. An agent who cannot tell you their average void is not managing voids, just experiencing them. Our post on reducing void periods in Yorkshire shows what a void plan looks like.
5. Who is my day-to-day contact, and how quickly do they reply? A good answer is a name, a direct phone number and a reply time they will put in writing. You want one person who knows your property because they have stood in it.
6. How do repairs and emergencies work? A good answer includes an out-of-hours route for tenants, an agreed spend limit above which you approve the work first, and clarity on whether contractor invoices reach you at cost.
7. How do you keep me compliant? A good answer lists gas safety, electrical checks, energy certificates, deposit rules, alarms and any licensing, with reminders before deadlines rather than apologies after them. Ask to see how they track it.
8. How often do you inspect, and what do I receive? A good answer is a fixed schedule and a written report with photographs each time, not “we keep an eye on it”.
9. What happens when rent is late? A good answer says when the first chase goes out, when you hear about it, when notices are considered and what court action involves. Be suspicious of any agent who says arrears never happen to them.
10. What is the notice period to end our agreement, and is anything payable after I leave? A good answer is a notice period in the terms of business, in plain words, and a clear yes or no on any fee that continues after the agreement ends.

Red flags that should end the conversation

No redress scheme, no client money protection and no published fees end it on the spot. The first two mean you have no independent complaint route and your rent and deposits are exposed, and both break the law. The third means the real cost only appears after you have signed.

Three more worth watching. No local office means viewings, inspections and contractor visits all depend on someone making a long journey, and they will not. That matters most if you manage a Yorkshire let from abroad. A rent valuation noticeably higher than every other agent’s is usually flattery to win the instruction, followed by a reduction once the property has sat empty. And a guaranteed rent offer that nobody can quite explain deserves far more scrutiny before you sign anything.

Where Livdin stands on the same checks

Fair is fair, so here are ours. Client Money Protect for client money, The Property Ombudsman for redress, NRLA membership, and a full fee schedule published for anyone to read: single let management is 10% of monthly rent plus VAT, and maintenance is billed at contractor cost with no markup. We work to a 7-day void target from checkout to move-in, our average tenancy runs to 24 months across more than 200 tenants, and the office is at 24 Huddersfield Road, Holmfirth. Ask us the ten questions along with everyone else and compare the written answers. If you are still deciding how much service you need, start with fully managed vs tenant find.

Already with an agent who fails the test?

Choosing wrong the first time is fixable. Switching agents takes as long as your current agreement’s notice period, usually one to three months, costs nothing with Livdin, and your tenants barely notice. Check the notice period in your current terms of business before you commit to anyone new, then let the new agent run the handover.