The short answer
Ten percent plus VAT for full management is the Scottish norm. That is twelve percent including VAT, and on a property let at one thousand pounds a month it is one hundred and twenty pounds a month, or one thousand four hundred and forty pounds a year.
Most agencies also apply a minimum monthly fee, usually around seventy five pounds, which matters if your rent is below about six hundred and twenty five pounds a month, because at that point the minimum is more than the percentage.
What Scottish agencies actually publish
Across the thirty eight Scottish agencies ranked on this site, eight publish a landlord tariff. Every figure below comes from the agency's own published material.
| Agency | City | Management | One off charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| SouthSide Property | Edinburgh | 9 percent plus VAT, falling to 6 percent at seven years | Advertising 165 pounds plus VAT |
| Western Lettings | Glasgow | 10 percent plus VAT, minimum 75 pounds | Letting and marketing 400 pounds plus VAT |
| Umega | Edinburgh | 10 percent plus VAT | Marketing 250 pounds plus VAT |
| Gallus Sales & Lettings | Glasgow | 10 percent plus VAT | Let only from 500 pounds |
| Glasgow Property Letting | Glasgow | 10 percent plus VAT, minimum 75 pounds | Set up 450 pounds plus VAT |
| Rent Flats Dundee | Dundee | 10 percent, or 12 percent for an HMO | Set up 149 pounds, or 300 pounds for an HMO |
| Martin & Co Aberdeen | Aberdeen | 12 percent including VAT, minimum 72 pounds | Tenancy set up 396 pounds |
| Westport Property | Dundee | Publishes a market guide of 12 to 15 percent | Guide of 200 to 500 pounds |
Two of these are worth pausing on. SouthSide in Edinburgh is the only tapering fee we have found anywhere in the United Kingdom: nine percent plus VAT at the start, eight percent after three years, seven percent after five and six percent after seven. A landlord who stays is rewarded for staying. Martin and Co Aberdeen is the only agency in that entire city publishing a tariff at all.
The honest range
Stated consistently in VAT inclusive terms, so the numbers are comparable, Scottish published management fees run from ten point eight percent to fifteen point six percent. The premium tier at fifteen point six percent buys additional inspections and a wider scope of included work rather than a different core service.
Rent collection, without repairs or inspections, sits around seven point two to nine point six percent including VAT. Tenant find, where the agency hands the property back once someone moves in, is priced either as a flat fee from about five hundred pounds or as a percentage of the first month's rent, commonly one hundred and twenty percent.
The charge that is easy to miss
The percentage gets negotiated. The one off charge is where a surprising amount of the money is, and it recurs every time the tenant changes.
In Scotland it ranges from one hundred and forty nine pounds at the cheapest published tariff to four hundred and eighty pounds including VAT at Western Lettings. That is a spread of more than three hundred pounds for what is broadly the same work, and it is charged again on the next tenancy.
Ask what triggers it. A new tenant almost always does. A renewal with the same tenant sometimes does, and sometimes does not.
What cannot be charged at all
Tenant fees have been unlawful in Scotland since 2012, seven years before the equivalent ban in England. A tenant cannot be charged for referencing, administration, inventory or renewal. Only rent and a deposit are permitted. If a tenant has paid one of these, the money is recoverable.
This matters to landlords too, because it means the whole cost of letting falls on you. An agency that quietly recovers some of its costs from tenants is not cheaper. It is breaking the law.
How to tell if your quote is fair
- Ask for the figure in pounds per month on your rent, not as a percentage. A number in pounds cannot be quoted two ways.
- Ask for the year one total, including the set up charge, and the year two total without it.
- Ask whether the fee is charged on rent due or rent received.
- Ask for the complete schedule, including inventory, renewal, additional visits, serving notice and the year end statement. One Glasgow agency charges fifty pounds plus VAT for the last of those.
- Ask whether commission continues if you leave and the tenant stays. This one clause can cost more than everything else combined.
If a quote sits at ten percent plus VAT with a set up fee of three hundred to five hundred pounds and a schedule you can read, it is a normal Scottish quote. The full guide works through the arithmetic on a one thousand pound property.
Common questions
Is ten percent plus VAT normal in Scotland?
Yes. It is the single commonest published figure across Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee, and it works out at twelve percent including VAT. Anything materially above fourteen percent including VAT is at the top of the Scottish market and worth questioning.
Do Scottish letting agents charge less than English ones?
Slightly, on the ongoing fee. The Scottish tariffs collected for this site cluster at ten percent plus VAT, while the Manchester ones run from nine percent plus VAT up to fourteen point four percent including VAT. The bigger difference is the upfront charge, which is more often a flat fee in Scotland and more often a percentage of a month's rent in England.
Can I be charged a fee when the property is empty?
It depends on whether the fee is calculated on rent due or rent received. On rent received, an empty property costs you nothing in commission. Ask which basis applies before you sign, because it also changes how motivated the agency is to fill a void.
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