Estate agent fees top £3k+ in prime central London as agents out earn doctors & lawyers

March 26, 2019

“Estate agent fees topping £3k+ in prime central London as agents out earn doctors, nurses and lawyers across the UK”

With no end in sight where Brexit uncertainty is concerned and the Land Registry recently reporting the slowest rate of price growth in almost six years, for sale by owner platform, OkayLah.co.uk has looked at how much high street estate agents are still making in commission fees despite wider market conditions.

With the current average fee of 1.4% Inc VAT across the UK and an average house price of £228,147, high street estate agents are still bagging commission fees of £3,240 per sale despite the rate of price growth deteriorating.

While the overall time to sell a house is around 15 weeks, the time actually spent by estate agents on an individual property sale equates to between five and 15 hours of total work. When dividing their commission by these hours (av.10), estate agents are taking home an eye-watering £319 per hour.

This surpasses other professions by quite some margin with a GP making just £35 an hour, a solicitor only bringing home £22 an hour and nurse earning just £18 an hour.

While London has been worst hit with Brexit based price reductions, the capital’s higher fees and house prices mean that its estate agents are still profiting at the expense of London home sellers.

The average hourly fee hits £963 in the capital, climbing to £1,295 across inner London.

The worst offenders are those in the prime central market and the much higher price of property means that agents in Kensington and Chelsea are bagging £3,209 an hour. Agents in Westminster, the City of London, Camden, Hammersmith and Fulham, Islington, Wandsworth, Hackney, Richmond, Lambeth and Southwark are all also making more than £1,000 per hour on each property they sell.

Elsewhere across the UK, high street agents in Cambridge (£625), Oxford (£561), Bristol (£390) and Edinburgh (£365) are also charging some of the highest fees per hour.

At £180 per hour, Glasgow is home to the lowest commission fee, along with Liverpool, Nottingham, Aberdeen and Newcastle.

Founder and CEO of OkayLah.co.uk, Paul Telford, commented:

“Despite the chaos of Brexit resulting in a market slowdown and many of us seeing the value of our bricks and mortar assets drop, high street estate agents continue to cash in at our expense as a result of an archaic commission-based structure.

There’s no other profession around that will see the money they make fluctuate based on an external influence such as the property market, while all the time offering the same service despite the fluid rates they charge. Even in uncertain times such as these, high street agents are earning over £300 an hour on each property they list while our doctors and nurses in the NHS continue to stretch themselves across a service that is under staffed and underfunded.

When you consider the service provided in comparison to an estate agent, the mind really does boggle at the contrast in pay and this coupled with notoriously low service levels is the reason I started www.OkayLah.co.uk to offer an alternative way for homeowners to sell without an estate agent for £65 or Free.”

Profession
Average fee per hour
Estate Agent
£324
Solicitor
£22
General Practitioner
£35
Plumber
£16
Postman / Mail Carrier
£11
Electrician
£17
Registered Nurse
£18

 

Area
Average house price
Average fee (%)
Average fee (£)
Average fee per hour
London
£472,230
2.04%
£9,633
£963
Inner London
£567,864
2.28%
£12,947
£1,295
Outer London
£425,588
1.80%
£7,661
£766
East of England
£288,494
1.40%
£4,039
£404
South East
£321,174
1.40%
£4,496
£450
South West
£253,926
1.40%
£3,555
£355
East Midlands
£192,757
1.40%
£2,699
£270
West Midlands
£184,544
1.40%
£2,584
£258
Yorkshire and the Humber
£160,420
1.40%
£2,246
£225
North East
£125,233
1.40%
£1,753
£175
North West
£160,811
1.40%
£2,251
£225
United Kingdom
£228,147
1.40%
£3,194.05
£319
Average fee per hour = average fee/10 hours work required to sell a single property

All average fees inclusive of VAT.

 

Average Estate Agent Fee by City
City
Average house price
Average Fee (£)
Average Fee per Hour
London
£472,230
£9,633
£963
Cambridge
£446,713
£6,254
£625
Oxford
£401,014
£5,614
£561
City of Bristol
£278,872
£3,904
£390
City of Edinburgh
£260,758
£3,651
£365
Bournemouth
£246,828
£3,456
£346
Southampton
£215,448
£3,016
£302
Portsmouth
£213,007
£2,982
£298
Cardiff
£210,803
£2,951
£295
Birmingham
£188,254
£2,636
£264
Leeds
£185,198
£2,593
£259
Manchester
£183,992
£2,576
£258
City of Plymouth
177620.95
£2,487
£249
Leicester
£175,350
£2,455
£245
Sheffield
£166,959
£2,337
£234
Newcastle upon Tyne
£159,389
£2,231
£223
City of Aberdeen
£150,381
£2,105
£211
City of Nottingham
£142,561
£1,996
£200
Liverpool
£135,089
£1,891
£189
City of Glasgow
£128,810
£1,803
£180

 

Average Estate Agency Fee by Borough
Location
Average house price
Average Fee (%)
Average Fee (£)
Average Fee per Hour
Kensington and Chelsea
£1,407,430
2.28%
£32,089
£3,209
City of Westminster
£959,466
2.28%
£21,876
£2,188
City of London
£868,258
2.28%
£19,796
£1,980
Camden
£788,656
2.28%
£17,981
£1,798
Hammersmith and Fulham
£732,206
2.28%
£16,694
£1,669
Islington
£631,737
2.28%
£14,404
£1,440
Wandsworth
£606,479
2.28%
£13,828
£1,383
Hackney
£536,344
2.28%
£12,229
£1,223
Richmond upon Thames
£653,388
1.80%
£11,761
£1,176
Lambeth
£502,321
2.28%
£11,453
£1,145
Southwark
£501,456
2.28%
£11,433
£1,143
Haringey
£543,143
1.80%
£9,777
£978
Tower Hamlets
£421,131
2.28%
£9,602
£960
Barnet
£516,916
1.80%
£9,304
£930
Lewisham
£405,135
2.28%
£9,237
£924
Merton
£513,077
1.80%
£9,235
£924
Ealing
£497,073
1.80%
£8,947
£895
Greenwich
£386,899
2.28%
£8,821
£882
Brent
£476,933
1.80%
£8,585
£858
Kingston upon Thames
£471,659
1.80%
£8,490
£849
Harrow
£452,046
1.80%
£8,137
£814
Bromley
£443,289
1.80%
£7,979
£798
Waltham Forest
£433,988
1.80%
£7,812
£781
Redbridge
£426,165
1.80%
£7,671
£767
Hillingdon
£413,038
1.80%
£7,435
£743
Hounslow
£406,300
1.80%
£7,313
£731
Enfield
£388,185
1.80%
£6,987
£699
Sutton
£381,289
1.80%
£6,863
£686
Havering
£373,653
1.80%
£6,726
£673
Croydon
£360,905
1.80%
£6,496
£650
Newham
£357,612
1.80%
£6,437
£644
Bexley
£341,060
1.80%
£6,139
£614
Barking and Dagenham
£299,399
1.80%
£5,389
£539

 

Properganda PR

National and local media coverage for property businesses. Journo quotes delivered in minutes.

You May Also Enjoy

Estate Agent Talk

London gardens can add more than £205,000 in value

Ahead of this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, research by Enness Global has revealed that a garden can add more than £205,000 to the value of a London home, whilst Chelsea fittingly boasts the highest degree of garden availability for high-net-worth homebuyers in the current market. Enness Global has also revealed the top five trends currently…
Read More →
Breaking News

RRA raises the cost of getting property management wrong

The latest insight from property management specialist, Rushbrook & Rathbone, suggests that the relatively modest cost of professional property management could help landlords avoid thousands of pounds in potential penalties and compliance failures as the rental sector becomes increasingly regulated under the Renters’ Rights Act.   Rushbrook & Rathbone analysed the average cost of a…
Read More →
Estate Agent Talk

The Future of Urban Real Estate: Trends and Predictions for 2026

Affordability pressures, hybrid work arrangements, and steep borrowing costs are heavy influences on urban real estate for 2026. We’re seeing an increase in mixed-use development and a renewed focus from investors on markets with a steady demand. Markets that can balance housing access, transportation, lifestyle amenities, and flexible workplaces will come out on top. Major…
Read More →
Estate Agent Talk

London’s prime residential market isn’t falling — it’s repricing

By Daniel Austin, CEO and co-founder at ASK Partners London’s prime residential market has looked subdued by global standards, but framing current conditions as a decline overlooks the more important underlying dynamic. The market is undergoing structural repricing driven by higher interest rates, shifting tax policy and a more volatile geopolitical environment. This is not…
Read More →
Breaking News

Foxtons Lettings Market Index – April 2026

Market activity strengthens with applicant demand recovering and supply remaining ahead of last year   After the implementation of the Renters’ Rights Act, April provides the final snapshot of market conditions ahead of implementation, offering a clear benchmark for how the sector is positioned entering this new regulatory environment. The lettings market strengthened through the…
Read More →
Breaking News

Five hidden costs catching home buyers out

FIVE hidden costs that’re catching home buyers out, AFTER they put their offer in, says expert • Buyers often focus on deposits and mortgages, but overlook thousands in extra costs • Delays, surveys and legal fees can quickly inflate budgets • Unexpected gaps in funding are becoming increasingly common A lot of home buyers think…
Read More →