Using Estate Agents: Buying, Selling and Renting

Estate and letting agents handle sales or rentals for their clients. The links below lead to an agent directory or an estate agency’s own website, not a housebuilder or a property-advertising portal.

• Propertymark — find a sales or letting agent

  UK member directory — choose residential sales or lettings and search your location. Lists Propertymark members, not every agent.

• Savills — find a local estate-agency office

  England, Scotland and Wales — this firm's own office finder. Check the selected office handles residential sales or lettings in your area.

• Connells — find an estate-agent branch

  England — this firm's own branch directory. Check your location and the branch's services.

• Slater Hogg & Howison — find a branch

  Scotland — this firm's own branches, including West Central Scotland and other listed locations; not every Scottish area.

• John Minnis — contact an estate-agent branch

  Northern Ireland — branches in Belfast, Holywood, Donaghadee, Comber and Bangor. Use the relevant local branch; not a directory for all Northern Ireland.

Property portals are different: Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket advertise property from other businesses; they are not the estate agent handling your sale or tenancy. Developers build and sell new homes. Check which business you are dealing with.

Sixpence Support UK has no referral or commercial arrangement with any agent. Listings are not endorsements; fees, services, branch coverage and availability vary.

For sellers and landlords, invite two or three local agents to visit. Compare on more than price:

• Recent sales or lets of similar homes in your street or area, and how long they took.
• The total fee in pounds including VAT, not just a percentage, and what it covers.
• Contract length, notice period, and whether a fee is owed if a buyer introduced during the contract buys later.
• Who will do viewings, how often you will get updates, and who your named contact is.
• Membership of a redress scheme and, for lettings, client money protection and any required licence or registration.

Be cautious of an agent who suggests a much higher asking price than others without evidence. An inflated price can win the instruction but leave a home unsold and lead to price reductions later.

Buyers and tenants do not choose the agent, but can still check the branch's redress scheme and reviews from more than one source.

• Compare more than one agent's service, local knowledge, fees, contract and complaints process.
• Check which government-approved redress scheme covers the branch: The Property Ombudsman or Property Redress Scheme.
• For lettings, check any licensing, registration and client-money rules that apply in your nation.
• Confirm the branch address and telephone number independently before sending money or identity documents.

The agent normally acts for the seller or landlord, even when helping a buyer or tenant. Sixpence Support UK has no referral or commercial arrangement with any agent.

Selling

1. Get appraisals from more than one agent and compare written terms.
2. Choose a solicitor or conveyancer early and gather documents such as guarantees and certificates.
3. Arrange the required energy performance certificate and, in Scotland, the Home Report.
4. Agree the advert details and check them for accuracy before they go live.
5. Consider offers with the buyer's position (chain, mortgage, deposit) in mind, not only the amount.

Buying

1. Work out your budget, including legal fees, survey, moving costs and any property tax.
2. Get a mortgage agreement in principle if you need a loan, and register with local agents.
3. View more than once if you can, and ask about anything not shown in the advert.
4. Make an offer, then instruct your own conveyancer and arrange a survey.

Renting

1. View the home in person, or by a live video call with someone you trust present.
2. Ask in writing what you must pay, when and to whom, before handing over money.
3. Read the tenancy agreement, inventory and deposit details before signing.
4. Record the property's condition with dated photographs on moving in.

GOV.UK publishes plain-English guides for England: How to sell a home, How to buy a home and How to rent. Processes differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Make offers clearly, preferably in writing, and ask for written confirmation that they were passed to the seller. In England and Wales an accepted offer is not normally legally binding until contracts are exchanged; Scotland and Northern Ireland follow different processes.

You do not have to use an agent's suggested broker, conveyancer or surveyor. Ask whether the agent receives a referral fee and compare independent options.

Tell the agent about access or communication needs when arranging a viewing. Ask about steps, lifts, door widths, parking, bathroom access and whether another format or a video viewing is available.

Do not rely only on photographs or floor plans for measurements that matter. Ask permission before taking photographs and arrange a second visit where needed.

Before paying, get the property address, amount, purpose, refund conditions and recipient's legal name in writing. Tenancy deposits should be protected under the rules for the nation where the home is located.

In England and Wales most tenant fees are prohibited and holding deposits are controlled, but the detailed rules differ. Scotland has separate letting-agent regulation and tenancy rules. Northern Ireland has its own deposit scheme and fee rules. Use the nation-specific official guidance before paying.

• A price far below similar local properties or pressure to pay before viewing.
• A person who will communicate only through social media or messaging apps.
• A request for cash, cryptocurrency, gift cards or payment to an unrelated name.
• Copied photographs, an address that cannot be verified or refusal to provide written terms.
• Changed bank details sent by email shortly before payment.

If money may have been sent to a scammer, contact the bank immediately. Report fraud to Action Fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or Police Scotland on 101 in Scotland.

• England: use GOV.UK guidance on tenant fees, deposit protection, redress and client money protection.
• Scotland: check the letting-agent register and Code of Practice through mygov.scot; home sales commonly involve a Home Report and missives.
• Wales: check a landlord or agent on the Rent Smart Wales register and use Welsh guidance on permitted payments.
• Northern Ireland: use nidirect estate-agent guidance and its separate tenancy-deposit information.

This page gives general UK information, not legal or financial advice. Property and renting law differs across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and can change. Check the current official guidance for the property's nation and get independent advice about your circumstances.