Letting agent fees - what's normal % wise in London?

[cazzabazza]

We are about to let our flat out in London and are negotiating fees with the lettings agent. What % is normal for London? It would be for the letting service only, not managed.

Also, it seems ludicrous that the agent gets a % of your annual rental income each year for effectively nothing, once they've completed all inital referencing, checks, contracts, etc! Is this normal too?

yes, that's normal. That's how they recoup the initial costs. 10% + VAT for letting and rent collection is fairly standard.

lettings 11%, for mgmt as well an additional 6%

We found when letting ours in London (although not central) that fees were negotiable. We got a chain with a good rep down to less than 10% and got the renewal fees at less than the initial fee too. You may be able to get it on a 5 year sliding scale. ie if the tenant renews again after 3 years, the renewal fee is less than that charged after the first year.

We may have been lucky however (we have had tenants that have not changed for a couple of years) because at the time, there was a shortage of property for rent and several agents competing for our business.

Some will negotiate and others won't! Look out for special offers from new branches opening up in the area. I got a flyer with special Christmas offer of 10% managed.

I paid 9% managed previously, and now (a different property, different agent) I'm paying 8% managed. (Plus VAT on top of those both.)

Definitely worth negotiating in London with so many agents around wanting your business!