How to choose a letting agent

Last reviewed 3 October 2026 · Published by madeofmango · Covers England

Choosing a letting agent in England comes down to a few checks you can finish in an afternoon. Two of them are legal requirements for agents (client money protection applies where the agent holds client money), so there is no reason to skip them. This guide covers England; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have different rules.

A checklist before you appoint an agent

1. Ask which redress scheme the agent belongs to. Letting agents and property managers in England must belong to a government-approved redress scheme, which handles complaints you cannot settle with the agent. GOV.UK names two approved schemes: The Property Ombudsman and the Property Redress Scheme. An agent that cannot name one is a red flag.
2. If the agent will hold your money, ask for the client money protection (CMP) certificate. CMP is required only for agents who hold clients' money, for example rent collected on your behalf. It compensates landlords and tenants if the agent cannot repay money it holds, for instance if it goes into administration. The agent must give you the membership certificate free if you ask, and display it in any office where it deals with the public and on its website. GOV.UK lists the approved schemes (at our last review): Client Money Protect, Money Shield, Propertymark, RICS, safeagent and UKALA.
3. Confirm membership on the scheme's own website. A logo or a certificate on the agent's page is a claim. Each scheme runs its own member search, so use it. Newham Council gives the same advice to landlords.
4. Get the fees in writing and compare them like for like. Agents must display their fees, and Propertymark notes this applies in branch and on the website. Ask for every landlord charge: the management percentage, set-up, tenant-finding, referencing, inventory, renewal and check-out fees, and whether each is quoted with or without VAT. Our letting agent fees guide shows how to put them on one footing.
5. Match the service level to what you want to do yourself. Services range from finding a tenant only to full management. See fully managed vs let-only.
6. Treat accreditations as a bonus, not a substitute. Memberships such as Propertymark, safeagent, UKALA, RICS or NRLA are voluntary signals of professional standards. They do not replace the redress scheme and CMP checks above.
7. Ask practical questions. Propertymark suggests asking what checks the agent runs on tenants, how long it usually takes to find one, which documents tenants receive at the start, what happens when rent is late, and how often the property is inspected for safety. Ask for the answers in writing too.
8. Be careful with guaranteed rent. See the caution below.

Checking on madeofmango

madeofmango shows each agency's redress scheme, client money protection and accreditations, and marks each as verified only when the scheme's own register was checked. Anything else is shown as stated, meaning the agency says so and we have not confirmed it. Treat "stated" as a prompt to check the scheme's website yourself. Fees are compared on the same assumptions, with the source and date of each fact, and no agency can pay to rank higher. Read how it works for the details. Coverage starts in East London: Canning Town, Royal Victoria, Custom House and the rest of E16, expanding outwards.