Letting agent Job Information | National Careers Service

Job profiles

Letting agent

Hours

40 per week
Starting salary

£15,000 + per year

The work

Letting agents (also known as letting negotiators), let property on behalf of the owner.

As a letting agent, you would take responsibility for all aspects of the let, which could include:

advising clients about the letting process
setting up viewings and showing potential tenants around the property
selecting responsible, reliable tenants
preparing tenancy agreements and inventories
making sure all aspects of the letting meet legal requirements
advising on rents
arranging for maintenance to be carried out
working with a wide range of people, such as solicitors, builders, cleaners and suppliers
handling any problems with the property
keeping up to date with changes in the law related to lettings.

Hours

You will usually work around 40 hours a week. This will often be between 9am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday, but you may also work in the evenings or on Sundays.

You will be based in an office, but will spend a lot of time visiting properties.

Income

Trainee letting agents can start on around £15,000 a year.
Experienced agents can earn between £16,000 and around £35,000.

Lettings agents often earn a basic salary, plus commission based on the business they generate for their agency.

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Entry requirements

You will usually start as a trainee and learn on the job. Employers are likely to be more interested in your skills and experience than your qualifications, although it could be useful if you have GCSEs (A-C) or similar qualifications, especially in English and maths. Experience that shows you have customer service skills will be an advantage.

A driving licence is usually essential.

You can study for the National Federation of Property Professionals (NFOPP) Level 3 Technical Award in Residential Letting and Property Management before looking for work. This will give you the knowledge of building construction and relevant law which you will need in your job. However, you are likely to find your studies more relevant, and possibly easier, if you have experience.

The NFOPP qualification is assessed by multiple-choice exam papers. You can gain the knowledge you will need to sit the exams by distance learning or by attending a course run by a training provider, such as a local college. See the NFOPP website for details.

You may be able to get into this job through an Apprenticeship scheme. The range of Apprenticeships available in your area will depend on the local jobs market and the types of skills employers need from their workers. To find out more about Apprenticeships, visit the Apprenticeships website.

Apprenticeships

Training and development

If you do not already have the NFOPP Level 3 Technical Award in Residential Letting and Property Management you can complete this once you start work (see above for more details).

With experience you can also complete the NFOPP Level 5 Diploma in Residential Letting and Management. You can study for the Diploma in-house (if you work for a large company), by distance learning, or by part-time study at colleges.

Visit the NFOPP website for details of qualifications.

National Federation of Property Professionals

Skills and knowledge

excellent spoken and written communication skills
IT skills
negotiation, sales and marketing skills
the ability to make good working relationships with a wide range of people
good market knowledge
the ability to work under pressure
good organisational skills.

More information

National Federation of Property Professionals (Opens new window)
Arbon House
6 Tournament Court
Edgehill Court
Warwick
CV34 6LG
0845 250 6008
www.nfopp.co.uk/qualifications

Asset Skills (Opens new window)
2 The Courtyard
48 New North Road
Exeter
Devon
EX4 4EP
Tel: 01392 423399
Careers Advice: careers@assetskills.org
www.assetskills.org

Opportunities

You could work as a letting agent anywhere in the UK.

With experience, you could progress to a management role, or move into estate agency work – see the Estate Agent profile for details of this career.

Vacancies are advertised in newspapers, or you can find details of companies that are recruiting by searching on the internet for ‘letting recruitment agencies’.

You may also find the following links useful for job vacancies and further reading (links open in new window):

Job profiles are based on the latest information supplied to us by industry bodies, such as Sector Skills Councils. Please be aware that with the introduction of the Qualifications and Credit Framework there has been, and will continue to be, changes to vocational qualifications. For more information, please check with industry bodies directly.

We do not accept responsibility for the content of external sites.

Related industry information

Industry summary

The property and planning industry is part of the facilities management, housing, cleaning and support services, and parking sector, represented by Asset Skills Sector Skills Council. The sector workforce, which has continued to grow since 1998, represents 3% of the total UK workforce.

The property and planning industry covers both the private and public sectors and includes: acquiring, planning, surveying and valuing of commercial and residential property; plus valuing, selling, letting and managing of commercial and residential property.

Key facts:

The property and planning industry includes key areas of commercial and residential sales and lettings and property management.
There are 155,300 people working in the property industry in 37,200 companies.
There are significantly more full‐time than part‐time employees in the industry.
96% of all housing and property organisations have 10 or less employees.

Jobs in the industry include: estate agent; letting agent; surveyor; town planner; auctioneer; residential property or block manager; domestic energy assessor; and emerging jobs such as commercial energy assessor, housing energy adviser and community energy adviser.

National and regional data

The following provides a breakdown of the number of property sector employees in each of the Nations and English regions.

Region	Number of employees	Regional key characteristics
East Midlands	9,400	Nearly half (46%) of the property sector workforce in the East Midlands is aged over 50. A higher than average proportion is employed on a part‐time basis (43%)
East Of England	13,100	A significant proportion of the property sector workforce in the East of England is male (53%) and employed on a full‐ time basis (85%)
London	29,500	London is the largest employer of the property sector in England (19%). A significant proportion of employment is full‐time (81%), and a large proportion of the workforce is black and ethnic minorities (17%)
North East	6,300	The North East employs the smallest proportion of the property sector workforce across the English regions (4%)
North West	14,400	The North West employs 9% of the property sector workforce in England. A significant proportion of the workforce is female (61%)
South East	26,500	After London, the South East region is the second highest employer of the property sector (17%)
South West	15,200	The South West employs a significantly higher proportion of males (51%) compared to the workforce across England. 98% of the workforce is white
West Midlands	15,100	The West Midlands accounts for 10% of the property sector workforce in England.
Yorkshire & The Humber	11,000	Compared with other English regions, a significant proportion of the workforce is female (64%) and the majority is white (98%)
Northern Ireland	*	A significant proportion of the property sector workforce in Northern Ireland is female (66%) and the majority (58%) of the workforce is aged between 20‐29 years
Scotland	9,400	Scotland employs 6% of the total UK property sector workforce. Women make up 60% of employees, 98% of the workforce is white, with the majority employed on a full‐time basis (81%)
Wales	4,600	Wales employs 3% of the total UK property sector workforce. The majority, (60%) of the workforce is female and 99% of the workforce is white. Compared to the UK, high proportions are employed on a part‐time basis (36%)

Source: Annual Population Survey, Housing and Property Labour Market Intelligence Update, Asset Skills, 2008
* Due to a low sample base this figure is excluded.