Approximately 66% of property owners in Britain now rely on lettings agents for at least part of the management process, the strongest level of agent usage recorded in the past two years, according to a Pegasus Insight study. The share of landlords engaging professional agents has climbed from 61% in Q1 and 62% a year earlier, driven by rising demand for full management solutions. Currently, one in four rental units is handled by a full-service management firm, a rise of five percentage points from the 20% reported in the preceding quarter. This movement occurs as landlords handle an ever-more detailed regulatory system, highlighted by the rollout of the Renters’ Rights Act and evolving compliance standards.
Time commitment varies significantly
The survey highlights marked differences in the hours devoted to rental duties between owners who self-manage and those who enlist professional help. Landlords handling their portfolios directly allocate roughly 51 hours each month to rental tasks, whereas tenants of a full-service manager average just 11 hours. Across the board, the typical landlord spends about 33 hours per month overseeing properties. The workload scales with portfolio size, rising from roughly 18 hours for owners of one to five units to about 83 hours for those controlling eleven or more properties.
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When management is only partial, 34% of rentals engage an agent solely for tenant acquisition, an additional 6% use an agent for both letting and rent collection, and the remaining 34% are overseen without any agent involvement.
Portfolio size and management approach
Holding a larger number of buy-to-let mortgages does not automatically translate into a greater propensity to outsource management. Among landlords possessing four or more such mortgages, 39% of their units are self-managed; this contrasts with 31% for owners of one to three mortgages and 33% for those without mortgage borrowing. The trend may mirror the higher share of full-time landlords within larger portfolios. Approximately 37% of owners with four or more buy-to-let loans work full-time in the sector, compared with 13% of those with one to three loans and 18% of landlords who hold no mortgage.