Letting agents in Nottingham manage an average of 35 rental properties per branch, the highest workload among Britain’s major cities, according to new data from Propoly.
The research analysed rental listings across 21 major UK cities and compared them with the number of letting agency branches. Across these cities, there are an estimated 72,537 rental listings and 5,382 branches, averaging 13.5 listings per branch nationally.
Regional variations
Nottingham has approximately 3,714 rental listings across 106 branches, resulting in 35 properties per office. Leeds recorded one branch for every 30.5 properties, while Newcastle branches manage an average of 21.1 listings.
Cities with above-average workloads include Birmingham (18.7 properties per branch), Leicester (18.6), Sheffield (18.6), Bournemouth (18.2), Plymouth (17.7), Bristol (16.4), and Southampton (16).
The cities with the lowest ratios of listings per branch are Newport (5.2), Glasgow (7.2), Manchester (10.1), Swansea (10.2), Sunderland (10.7), and London (10.7).
Operational pressure
Sim Sekhon, group CEO at Propoly, said: “These figures highlight just how operationally stretched many letting agents are, particularly in high demand cities such as Nottingham, Leeds and Newcastle, where the volume of listings per agent is well above the national average.”
Sekhon added: “When an agent is responsible for 30 or more properties at any one time, the pressure is not just about marketing and viewings. It extends to referencing, compliance checks, document management, landlord communication and ensuring every tenancy progresses smoothly from offer to move-in.”
The data suggests significant regional disparities in agent workload, with cities in the Midlands and North of England showing higher property-to-branch ratios compared to major metropolitan areas such as London and Manchester.
