Do letting agent fees include VAT?

Not always, and it changes the real cost. A fee quoted at 12% plus VAT is 14.4% of your rent once VAT is added. Some agents publish fees including VAT, some excluding, and some do not say. Livdin's schedule is quoted plus VAT throughout, so 10% management on a single let is 12% of rent all in. Always ask which basis a quote uses.

What is a tenant find fee?

A one-off charge for finding and setting up a tenant: marketing, viewings and the tenancy paperwork. Livdin charges £400 plus VAT for a single let, with referencing at £35 per tenant and the inventory at £55. Locally, published tenant find fees range from 50% of the first month's rent to £780 including VAT, so check exactly what each agent's fee covers.

How much does HMO management cost in Huddersfield?

Livdin charges 12% of monthly rent plus VAT for HMO management, with tenant find at £300 per tenant and deposit registration included. HMOs cost more to manage than single lets because there are more tenancies, more turnover and more compliance to track. If an agent quotes you one rate, ask in writing whether it holds for an HMO.

Do letting agents add a markup to maintenance bills?

Some do, some do not, and fee schedules do not always say. It matters, because a percentage on every contractor invoice adds up over a long tenancy. Livdin passes maintenance at contractor cost with no markup. Whoever you use, ask whether repair invoices are passed on at cost and get the answer in writing.

Fees and costs

How much does a letting agent cost in Huddersfield?

Last updated 4 July 2026 · Reviewed by Nick Thorpe, founder

The short answer

Full management in Huddersfield costs between 10% and 14.4% of monthly rent depending on the agent and whether VAT is included. Livdin charges 10% plus VAT for single lets and 12% plus VAT for HMOs, with a £400 plus VAT tenant find fee and every other charge published on a fixed schedule.

What should a management fee include?

Everything it takes to run the tenancy, not just collect the rent. A proper full management fee covers rent collection and arrears chasing, repairs and contractor coordination, inspections, deposit registration, compliance tracking (gas, electrics, EPC) and being the person your tenant rings instead of you.

The percentage on the homepage is rarely the whole bill. The real cost of an agent is the management fee plus the set-up fee, plus VAT if it is not already included, plus any renewal fees, minimum monthly fees or markups on maintenance invoices. Those are the four things to pin down before you sign anything.

What does Livdin charge?

For a single let, management is 10% of monthly rent plus VAT. For an HMO, it is 12% plus VAT. Those rates come from our published April 2026 landlord schedules, and the full schedule is public on our fees page.

The fixed fees for a single let: tenant find £400, referencing £35 per tenant, inventory £55, DPS deposit registration £30, all plus VAT. For HMOs, tenant find is £300 per tenant and deposit registration is included. Maintenance is passed on at contractor cost with no markup, and there are no hidden charges. What is on the schedule is what you pay.

What does that cost on a £750 rent?

On £750 a month, close to the Kirklees average of £759 reported by the ONS for March 2026, Livdin’s fees work out like this.

Item	Fee	Including VAT
Monthly management (10% of £750)	£75.00	£90.00
Tenant find (one-off)	£400	£480
Referencing (one tenant)	£35	£42
Inventory	£55	£66
Deposit registration (DPS)	£30	£36

First year, with a new tenant found, referenced and moved in: £1,420 plus VAT, £1,704 in total. From year two, if the tenant stays, it is management only: £900 plus VAT, £1,080 a year, which is 12% of the £9,000 annual rent all in. Our average tenancy runs 24 months, so most landlords pay the set-up costs once every couple of years, not every year.

Compliance certificates are extra only when one is due: gas safety £80, EPC £125, EICR £200, all plus VAT.

How do Huddersfield agents’ fees compare?

Published full management fees among Huddersfield agents currently run from 10% (VAT treatment unstated) to 14.4% including VAT, and two of the six local agents we checked do not publish landlord fees at all.

Agent	Full management	Set-up or tenant find	Notes
Livdin	10% plus VAT single let (12% inc VAT); 12% plus VAT HMO (14.4% inc VAT)	Tenant find £400 plus VAT (£480 inc VAT)	Full schedule published; maintenance at contractor cost, no markup
ADM Residential	Not published	Not published	Describes fixed fees and management packages but publishes no figures
Bramleys	From 12.5% of rent, subject to minimum fees (example minimum £75 a month inc VAT)	Letting fee £420 inc VAT for managed clients; tenant find only £780 inc VAT	Schedule notes not all fees apply to every let; VAT basis of the 12.5% not stated
Huddersfield Sales & Lettings	Fully managed 10% (shown as 12% reduced to 10% on the current statement of charges)	Tenant find only 50% of first month’s rent, minimum £450; first tenancy agreement free	Statement of charges does not say whether fees include VAT
Martin & Co Huddersfield	Managed 14.4% inc VAT (12% exc); rent collection 10.8% inc VAT	Set-up from 72% inc VAT; tenant find 90% inc VAT; the schedule does not state what these percentages apply to	Branch fee schedule PDF
Simon Blyth	Not published	Not published	No landlord fee figures found on the live site
Whitegates Huddersfield	Fully managed 14.4% inc VAT (12% exc); rent collect 8.4% inc VAT	Tenancy set-up £420 inc VAT (managed and rent collect); £570 inc VAT let only	Branch terms of business PDF, 2026

These figures were checked on 4 July 2026 against the published schedule on each agent’s website. Fee schedules change, so confirm current rates directly with each agent before you commit.

One thing the table makes obvious: agents quote on different bases. Some include VAT, some add it, some do not say, and some express set-up fees as a percentage without stating a percentage of what. That is why comparing headline rates alone will mislead you.

How do you compare quotes fairly?

Put the same rent through every quote and ask each agent for the first-year total in pounds, including VAT. Then ask these five questions:

Is that fee plus VAT or including VAT?
What does the set-up fee cover, and what costs extra?
Are there renewal or re-let fees when the tenant stays or changes?
Is there a minimum monthly fee?
Do maintenance invoices carry a markup?

Our fee calculator does the sums on your own rent in about a minute. And if you are already with an agent and the numbers no longer stack up, switching to Livdin takes about a month, costs nothing, and your tenants barely notice.

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