Property Management Fees
Property management fees in Nottingham: what landlords actually pay in 2026
Property management fees in Nottingham typically run 10 to 12 per cent of monthly rent inclusive of VAT for full management, with a setup or tenant-find fee of around £300 to £500 on top. Nottingham percentages sit below the southern cities because rents are lower, but the city carries one of the most comprehensive property licensing regimes in England, and that is the single biggest local factor for a landlord here, because it can require a licence even on an ordinary single-family let.
This guide covers what Nottingham agents actually charge, how the city’s licensing schemes affect landlords, and when self-managing makes financial sense. For the generic mechanics of how management fees are structured across the UK, the full guide to UK property management costs is the place to start. This page focuses on Nottingham.
What Nottingham property managers charge
Full management in Nottingham clusters in the 10 to 12 per cent inclusive of VAT band, with setup or letting fees charged separately. The examples below are representative of Nottingham agents.
Agent type | Management fee | Setup / letting fee |
|---|---|---|
Local property manager | 12 per cent | Setup fee £495 |
National agent | 12 per cent inclusive of VAT | Setup fee £420 inclusive |
Large estate agency | 10 per cent plus VAT (around 12 per cent inclusive) | Setup fee £300 plus VAT |
Regional agent | Full management 10 per cent plus VAT, part-management 7 per cent plus VAT | Letting fee around £474 inclusive |
As elsewhere, the percentage rarely captures the full cost, because inventory, inspections and contractor mark-ups sit on top. Always ask for a full written schedule of fees before instructing an agent, and confirm whether each figure includes or excludes VAT.
Nottingham’s licensing regime: the one cost landlords miss most
Nottingham runs all three property licensing schemes at once, which makes it one of the most heavily licensed rental markets in the country, and the part that catches landlords out is that you can need a licence even if you are not running an HMO. Mandatory HMO licensing applies, as across England, to any HMO housing five or more people. On top of that, Nottingham’s additional licensing scheme has been citywide since January 2024 and covers all smaller HMOs of three or more unrelated people in two or more households, running to the end of 2028. Most significantly, Nottingham’s selective licensing scheme requires every privately rented property in the designated wards to be licensed regardless of how many people live there, so an ordinary house let to a single family still needs a licence if it falls within a designated area. The current selective scheme runs from December 2023 to November 2029, with a licence fee of around £918, and the earlier scheme it replaced covered more than 30,000 properties across the city.
The practical effect is that a large share of Nottingham lets need a licence of one kind or another, each with conditions on safety and management that the council enforces, with penalties for letting an unlicensed property running up to £30,000 plus rent repayment orders. Because the designated areas and scheme boundaries are specific, check a property’s position using Nottingham City Council’s My Property tool before letting. The selective licensing definition explains how these schemes work.
This goes further than Oxford, which licenses all HMOs and restricts them through planning but does not apply selective licensing to ordinary lets. The Oxford guide sets out that HMO-focused regime, and the contrast matters: in Nottingham, a standard family let in the wrong ward needs a licence, whereas in Oxford it would not.
How Nottingham differs from a Welsh city such as Cardiff
Nottingham is in England, so the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 applies here in full, including the abolition of Section 21 and the move to assured periodic tenancies from 1 May 2026. A Welsh city such as Cardiff runs on the separate Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, so a landlord with property in both nations should treat the two regimes as distinct. The Renters’ Rights hub covers the English position in full; this page does not reproduce it.
What pushes Nottingham fees up or down
Location and tenant profile drive most of the variation. The student and young-professional areas of Lenton, Beeston and Radford, close to the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, see high turnover and wear, which pushes agent costs up because each re-letting carries work, and most of these areas fall within the additional HMO licensing scheme. The city-centre flats of NG1 and NG2 attract strong demand with more wear. The settled suburbs of West Bridgford, Wollaton and Sherwood see lower turnover but higher tenant expectations. Commuter areas such as Arnold and Carlton bring longer tenancies, while parts of Bulwell and Basford carry lower rents, so a 10 to 12 per cent fee bites harder proportionally on yield, and many of these areas also fall within selective licensing wards.
Worked example: a Nottingham flat at £1,000 a month
For a Beeston flat let at £1,000 a month on full management at 11 per cent inclusive of VAT, the first-year figures with a single tenant-find look like this.
Cost item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Management fee (11 per cent inclusive) | £110/month, £1,320/year | Ongoing monthly charge |
Setup / letting fee | around £420 to £495 | One-off, on a new tenancy |
Inventory and inspections | £120 to £250 | Often charged separately |
First-year total | around £1,900 to £2,050 | Roughly 17 per cent of annual rent |
If the property falls within a selective licensing ward or is a licensable HMO, the licence fee, around £918 for a selective licence, plus any works to meet its conditions, sits on top and is a material cost in a lower-rent market. In a year with no new tenant-find, the recurring cost falls to around £1,350 to £1,550. A flat software subscription covering the same rent collection, compliance and document tasks costs a small fraction of that regardless of portfolio size. The rental yield calculator shows how a fee of that size moves net yield on a Nottingham property.
Self-managing in Nottingham with August
In a city where so many lets need a licence and the documents that support a licence application are the same ones a landlord must keep current anyway, self-managing suits software well. August lets Nottingham landlords collect rent automatically through Open Banking, track compliance tasks such as gas safety, EICR, EPC and licence conditions, and store certificates and tenancy documents in one place through the document store, with tenant maintenance requests logged and timestamped. Since a Nottingham licence application requires a current gas safety record, EICR and EPC, keeping those organised is both a licensing necessity and the bulk of what an agent would otherwise charge to handle. Even landlords who outsource the occasional inventory or legal task keep the management margin rather than paying a percentage every month. Landlords who manage this way are often called digital landlords, and the guide to what a digital landlord is explains the model.
See how August handles rent, compliance and documents for self-managing landlords.
Are Nottingham property management fees tax deductible?
Yes. Letting agent and management fees are allowable expenses that can be deducted from rental income before income tax, including management fees, tenant-find fees, inventory charges and licence fees. With Making Tax Digital for Income Tax live from 6 April 2026 for landlords with qualifying income above £50,000, keeping accurate digital records of these costs matters more than before. The national guide covers the tax treatment in full.
Frequently asked questions
How much do letting agents charge to manage a property in Nottingham?
Full management in Nottingham typically costs 10 to 12 per cent of monthly rent inclusive of VAT, with a setup or letting fee of around £300 to £500 on top. Rates are lower than the southern cities, reflecting lower Nottingham rents.
Does my Nottingham property need a licence?
Quite possibly, and not only if it is an HMO. Nottingham runs mandatory HMO licensing for five or more occupants, citywide additional licensing for smaller HMOs of three or more, and selective licensing that requires a licence for every privately rented property in designated wards regardless of occupancy. So an ordinary single-family let can still need a licence depending on its ward. Check the position using Nottingham City Council’s My Property tool.
Does the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 apply in Nottingham?
Yes. Nottingham is in England, so the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 applies in full, including the abolition of Section 21 and the move to assured periodic tenancies from 1 May 2026. This differs from Welsh cities such as Cardiff, which are governed by the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016.
Can letting agents charge tenants fees in Nottingham?
No. The Tenant Fees Act 2019 bans most fees charged directly to tenants in England, so costs that were once split now sit with the landlord, which is part of why management and setup fees are structured as they are.
Disclaimer: This article is a guide and not intended to be relied upon as legal, financial, or professional advice, or as a substitute for it. August does not accept any liability for any errors, omissions, or misstatements. Every effort was made to be accurate at the time of writing.
Author
August Team
The August editorial team lives and breathes rental property. They work closely with a panel of experienced landlords and industry partners across the UK, turning real-world portfolio and tenancy experience into clear, practical guidance for small landlords.
