Landlord Products / Services
Estate Agent Fees in London… OUCH!
Am I right?
According to the Home Owners Alliance, UK estate agency fees typically range from 0.75% to 3% (+VAT) of the final sale price — but in London, you’d be hard-pressed to find an agent charging anywhere near the lower end of that scale.
We all know house prices in London are the highest in the country – frankly, it’s obscene – which means sellers often end up shelling out a small fortune in agency fees.
House price stats on Zoopla show that the average sale price in London in the last 12 months is £730k’ish. So if we take the median estate agency fee (1.9%), the average cost to sell a house in London is currently £13,870 + VAT *vomit*
So what’s a cheaper (and effective) solution to beat London estate agency fees?
Online estate agents!
That’s it!
The reason I wanted to touch on the subject of loopy estate agency fees in London, is because too many people still don’t know that online estate agents even exist – even though they could be the cure to all your property-related headaches.
Online estate agents explained in a nutshell
- Much cheaper one-off fixed costs: Typically charges a fixed fee (often upfront), making it significantly cheaper than traditional high-street agents. From as little as £50.
- Online-first service: Operates primarily online, reducing the need for physical branches, hence why they’re so much cheaper.
- DIY-friendly: You manage parts of the process yourself, such as viewings and communication (unless you pay extra for hosted viewings).
- Flexible packages: Offers optional add-ons like photography, EPCs, and floorplans – you choose what you need.
- Your property gets listed on major portals like Rightmove & Zoopla – exactly where most buyers are looking, and the same places high-street agents rely on to generate their leads.
- No local branch: No high-street presence – everything is handled remotely, often with call/email support.
- Ideal for confident sellers: Best suited for sellers comfortable handling parts of the sale themselves to save money.
Now, don’t get it twisted – I’m not saying online estate agents are the best option for everyone. I genunely believe both traditional high-street and online agents have their place, and they each cater to different types of sellers. That said, I’m confident many sellers – especially in London – are forking out a shitload in fees when they’re actually ideal candidates for an online agent, and could be making massive savings as a result.
For a deeper dive, I can only encourage you to check out my full guide on Online Estate Agents.
High-street Estate Agency fees in London
This article on propertyindustryeye.com shows a league table of the biggest UK Estate Agents. I have grabbed a few of the agents (many of which you’ll be aware of, because they’re literally scattered on every street corner in London) to highlight what their fees are.
Side note, it was quite concerning and extremely frustrating to discover that most estate agents don’t disclose their sales fees on their website, because, I quote, “costs will vary depending on the value of your property and its location”.
Urgh, spare me! Sounds like BS. We all know they could list their prices if they really wanted to. Funny enough, they seem to be more than happy to flaunt their letting service fees. Anyways…
I ended up using getagent.co.uk to collect their average fee across all their branches around the country, which of course, won’t necessarily reflect their London prices.
| Estate Agent | Average Fee |
|---|---|
| Connells | 1.28% |
| Dexters | 1.69% |
| Fine & Country | 1.29% |
| Foxtons | 1.71% |
| Haart | 1.34% |
| Your Move | 1.32% |
To be honest, I think it’s safe to assume that most agents in London will charge roughly the same fees (before and after negotiating).
The presumption is that you understand the difference between online estate agents and high-street agents in practical terms, so this is purely to bring home the fact that using Purplebricks free service is remarkably alluring.
Other fees to pay attention to (and how to also keep them at bay)
Estate agents, both online and high-street, make a large portion of their revenue by upselling additional services (e.g. conveyancing) required to complete a house sale. Generally speaking, they won’t offer you a great deal on those services because they mark-up the prices, but arguably, they will provide convenience, since you can order everything from the same place.
Below is a list of services you may need to budget for beyond estate agency fees. These are the services you’ll likely be offered by your agent as an “add-on”. I’ve also provided alternative outlets providing the same services, which are likely to offer you significantly better rates.
| Service | Cost (approx) | |
|---|---|---|
| Remortgaging | £1,500 – £3,000 | Competitive Mortgage Quotes from Habito |
| Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) | £60 – £120 | Order Online for £69 |
| Removal costs | £300 for a 1-2-bedroom house £500 for a 3-bedroom house £700 for a 4-bedroom house £900 for a 5-bedroom house Costs are based on moving 10 miles away in 2018. | Get Competitive Quotes from ReallyMoving.com |
For more details, you can jump over to my in-depth blog post on the costs of selling a house (and how to keep them down).
Happy selling.
Landlord out xo
Disclaimer: I'm just a landlord blogger; I'm 100% not qualified to give legal or financial advice. I'm a doofus. Any information I share is my unqualified opinion, and should never be construed as professional legal or financial advice. You should definitely get advice from a qualified professional for any legal or financial matters. For more information, please read my full disclaimer.
