UK estate agents facing heightened competition as agency numbers up 24%

June 12, 2025

The latest research by eXp UK, the platform for personal estate agents and estate agency businesses, has revealed how competition has grown within the UK estate agency sector, with the estimated number of estate agency businesses increasing by 24% since 2017, with this figure expected to keep climbing over the coming years.

eXp UK analysed ONS data* on the number of real estate agencies registered across the UK and how this level of competition has changed since 2017.

The analysis shows that there were some 25,155 estate agency businesses registered in 2024. This marked a 24% jump versus 2017, with an estimated annual average of 691 new estate agencies registered each year between 2017 and 2024.

The North East has seen the largest increase in estate agency competition in this time, with the number of agencies registered up 34%, with the North West (+30%), Scotland (+28%), London (+28%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (+27%) also seeing some of the largest increases.

In fact, every area of the UK has seen an increase in estate agency numbers during this period and eXp UK forecasts that we’re only set to see more competition enter the market over the coming years.

eXp UK forecast that there will be a 4% increase in the number of estate agencies registered across the UK come the end of this year.

The firm also forecasts that 2026 will see this figure rise by a further 3% in 2026, pushing the number of UK estate agency businesses to almost 27,000.

Head of eXp UK & Europe, Adam Day, commented:

“We’ve seen market conditions improve notably in the last year or so and this heightened activity, along with stable house price growth, improving mortgage affordability and greater demand for estate agency expertise are all helping to drive a continued increase in the number of agents operating within the market.

Of course, a greater degree of competition can prove problematic when it comes to profit margins, retaining talent and maintaining market position and so whilst a buoyant market is great news for the nation’s agents, they can’t afford to rest on their laurels.

It’s no surprise that, given this continued competition, we’ve seen so many of the nation’s top agents join the eXp ranks, as the ability to build their own brand and business not only gives them full autonomy on how they operate, but it also allows them to dramatically increase their earnings.”

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