A letting agent is a phrase used in United Kingdom to refer to a person who mediates the making of an agreement between a tenant and a landlord in cases of residential properties. The letting agent is known to charge some commission for his/her services which is generally a fixed percent of the yearly rent.

These agents generally work along side with Real Estate Agents owing to the similarities in their line of work, but many letting agents are also known to work on their own and deal only in lettings.

The services that letting agents are known to offer can be divided into three (3) parts:
Their main service is introducing the landlord and the tenant. The landlord is generally charged a fixed percent of the agreement’s total tenancy term and this is charged up front. This is usually in between seven (7) and eleven (11) percent.
The tenant is charged, what is known as, the administration fee, and this is also charged at the start. This is towards the application being processed, and also normally takes care of probable tenants wishing to carry out credit searches. These fees can be wide ranging, and are generally in between