What is a typical tenant-find fee in Plymouth?

Most Plymouth agents price tenant-find as one month's rent. Some charge 75% of the first month, and a few quote a percentage of the annual rent, typically around 8% to 10% including VAT.

How much does full management cost on an average Plymouth rent?

On the ONS average Plymouth rent of £1,004 a month (August 2026), the 14.4% median works out at about £145 a month or £1,735 a year, before any set-up fee.

Do letting agent fees in Plymouth include VAT?

Agents have to publish their fees, but some lead with the figure before VAT. Every figure in this guide includes VAT at 20%. When you compare quotes, convert each one to the VAT inclusive figure and add the set-up fee to see the first year cost.

Letting Agent Fees in Plymouth 2026: What Landlords Actually Pay

Q: How much do letting agents charge in Plymouth?

Across the Plymouth agents with published fees in AgentCheck's data, full management costs between 12% and 19.2% of the monthly rent including VAT, with a median of 14.4%. Most also charge a one-off set-up fee of roughly £350 to £600.

Q: Are there flat-fee letting agents in Plymouth?

Yes. Flat-fee agents charge a fixed monthly amount instead of a percentage. Atlantic Keys, for example, publishes full management at £50 a month plus VAT (£60 including VAT). On an average Plymouth rent that is about 6% of the rent.

25 September 2026 · AgentCheck Editorial · 5 min read

Part of our UK Landlord Legal Guide

Across the Plymouth letting agents we hold published fees for, full management costs between 12% and 19.2% of the monthly rent including VAT, and the middle of the range is 14.4%. Most agents add a one-off set-up fee of roughly £350 to £600. On an average Plymouth rent of £1,004 a month, that is the difference between about £1,450 and £2,300 a year, so the agent you pick matters more than most landlords expect.

Plymouth has a busy lettings market: a large student population around Mutley and the city centre, naval and dockyard workers around Devonport and Keyham, and settled family suburbs such as Plympton and Plymstock. That mix means a wide spread of agents, from national brands to one-branch independents and flat-fee online models, and their fees vary more than their marketing suggests. This guide sets out what Plymouth agents actually publish, how the fee structures differ, and how to compare them fairly.

The figures below come from AgentCheck's own data on letting agents serving Plymouth, taken from fees the agents publish themselves. We quote everything including VAT, because that is what you pay. Where an agent quotes fees plus VAT, we have added the 20%.

Full management fees in Plymouth

Full management means the agent finds the tenant, collects the rent, handles repairs, inspections, compliance reminders and the end of the tenancy. It is the most common service for Plymouth landlords who do not live locally or who hold more than one property.

Of the 13 Plymouth agency brands with a published percentage management fee in our data, the lowest charge 12% of the rent including VAT and the highest 19.2%. The median is 14.4%. Several branches of the same firm charge the same rate, so we have counted each brand once rather than letting one chain with four offices skew the picture.

Roughly, the market falls into three bands:

12% to 13.2% inc VAT: mostly independents and smaller firms.
14% to 15.6% inc VAT: the bulk of the market, including several long-established Plymouth names.
16.5% to 19.2% inc VAT: larger regional and national brands.

A higher percentage is not automatically worse value. Check what is included: some agents bundle inspections and deposit registration into the percentage, while others charge for each one separately.

Close-up of a house key on a table — Photo: Unsplash

Set-up and tenant-find fees

Most Plymouth agents charge a one-off set-up fee when a new tenancy starts, covering marketing, viewings, referencing and the tenancy agreement. Published set-up fees in our Plymouth data run from about £350 to £780 including VAT, with most between £450 and £600.

If you only want the agent to find the tenant and then manage the property yourself, look at the tenant-find (let-only) fee. In Plymouth this is most often priced as one month's rent. A few agents price it at 75% of the first month, and some quote a percentage of the annual rent instead, typically around 8% to 10% including VAT.

Flat-fee agents

Not every agent charges a percentage. Flat-fee agents charge a fixed monthly amount regardless of the rent. Atlantic Keys, for example, publishes full management at £50 a month plus VAT (£60 including VAT), a £200 plus VAT set-up fee (£240), and tenant-find at £250 plus VAT (£300). On an average Plymouth rent of £1,004, £60 a month works out at about 6% of the rent, which is why flat fees tend to suit higher-value lets and portfolios more than they suit cheaper properties.

The trade-off to check with any flat-fee model is scope: what is included for the monthly fee, and which extras are charged separately.

A golden key on a string on a wooden surface — Photo: Unsplash

A worked example on an average Plymouth rent

The ONS put the average private rent in Plymouth at £1,004 a month in August 2026. Here is what full management costs over a year at that rent, before any set-up fee:

At 12% inc VAT: about £120 a month, £1,446 a year.
At the 14.4% median: about £145 a month, £1,735 a year.
At 19.2% inc VAT: about £193 a month, £2,313 a year.
At a £60 flat monthly fee inc VAT: £720 a year.

Add a set-up fee of around £450 to £600 in the first year and the gap between the cheapest and most expensive options on a single average property is well over £1,000 a year.

How to compare Plymouth agents fairly

Convert everything to including VAT. Agents must show fees clearly, but some still lead with the ex-VAT figure.
Add up the first year, not just the monthly rate. Include set-up, inventory, tenancy agreement and any check-out charges.
Ask what inspections are included and how often. Twice a year is common.
Check redress and client money protection. Every letting agent in England must belong to a redress scheme, and agents who hold client money must have client money protection.
Read the notice terms. Look for how much notice you must give to leave the agent and whether any fee applies if the tenant stays after you switch.

You can see each Plymouth agent's published fees, ratings and coverage side by side on the AgentCheck Plymouth letting agents page, and there are separate pages for Plympton and Plymstock.

Is a Plymouth agent worth the fee?

For a landlord who lives away from the city, holds several properties, or does not want to keep up with gas safety, electrical checks, deposit rules and the Renters' Rights Act changes, full management is usually worth paying for. For a single property close to home and a landlord comfortable with the paperwork, tenant-find plus self-management can save well over £1,000 a year. The right answer depends on your time, distance and appetite for the admin, not only on the headline percentage.

Fee figures are taken from fees published by Plymouth letting agents and held in AgentCheck's data as at September 2026. Agents change their fees, so always confirm the current figure with the agent before you sign.

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