“What does a property management company actually do?” is one of the most searched questions in this industry, and it usually comes from someone who has never used one before and is trying to work out if it is worth the money. If you are weighing up your options in Southampton, Winchester, Portsmouth or anywhere on the south coast, here is a straight answer.
What a property management company actually does
Day to day: finding and referencing tenants, collecting rent and chasing it when it is late, arranging repairs and holding a list of vetted contractors, running periodic inspections, protecting the deposit with a government approved scheme, and keeping the property compliant with gas, electrical and EPC rules. A good one also keeps you informed without you having to chase for updates, and knows the current rules well enough that you are not the one finding out about a legal change after it has already caught you out.
What it does not do
It will not make ownership decisions for you: whether to sell, remortgage, or hold. It is not a source of insurance, tax advice, or financial advice, and any agent implying otherwise should make you cautious. What you are paying for is the day to day running of the tenancy, not investment advice. See our note on that if you are weighing up buy to let as an investment more broadly.
How much it costs
Most agents in this area charge somewhere between 10% and 15% of the monthly rent for a fully managed service, often plus VAT on top, which adds another fifth again. Tenant find only services are usually a fixed fee or a percentage of the first year’s rent. We charge 12%, we are not VAT registered so that is the actual figure, and every fee we charge is on one page. If an offer looks unusually cheap or comes with “guaranteed rent,” read what that actually trades away in our guide to guaranteed rent before you compare it to a standard percentage fee.
Who regulates them
Any agent handling deposits must protect them with a government approved scheme, TDS or mydeposits are the common ones. Letting agents are also legally required to belong to a redress scheme, either the Property Redress Scheme or The Property Ombudsman, so a tenant or landlord with an unresolved complaint has somewhere independent to take it. Membership of a body like the NRLA is not a legal requirement but it is a reasonable signal that an agent takes the sector’s standards seriously. Ask any agent you are considering which schemes they belong to, and check it on the scheme’s own website rather than taking their word for it.
What to do if it goes wrong
If you have a complaint an agent will not resolve directly, their redress scheme membership is where it goes next, the scheme can investigate and, where justified, award compensation. It is one of the few real checks on agent behaviour in a sector that is otherwise lightly regulated, which is exactly why it is worth confirming before you sign anything, not after.
Comparing your options in Southampton, Winchester, Portsmouth and the New Forest
There are independent agents, national chains, and a wide range of pricing and service levels across this area. The questions worth asking are the same wherever you look: what is actually included at that percentage, is there a markup on contractor invoices, what does it cost to leave, and are inspections and referencing part of the fee or an add-on. We cover the full list in our guide to letting agent fees. We are a single office, run from Winchester, managing properties across the south coast, we do not do HMOs, student lets or short stays, and every fee is published rather than quoted on request. If you want a straight answer on what your property should be earning and what it would cost to have us manage it, get in touch for a free rental appraisal.
Owner of HTG Property Group and HTG Mortgages, based in Winchester.
Free rental appraisal across Southampton, Portsmouth, Winchester and the New Forest, with straight answers and our whole price list published.