{"id":1216,"date":"2019-08-12T20:11:33","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T20:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rentila.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1216"},"modified":"2025-11-12T17:10:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T17:10:43","slug":"should-you-operate-as-a-private-landlord-or-should-you-use-a-letting-agent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rentila.co.uk\/blog\/should-you-operate-as-a-private-landlord-or-should-you-use-a-letting-agent\/","title":{"rendered":"Should you operate as a private landlord or should you use a letting agent?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Should<\/div>\n

Many homeowners throughout the UK, who are considering letting out a property they own, have to make a tricky decision long before any paperwork even gets signed. The question is whether they should work as a private landlord, or whether they should make use of a letting agent.<\/p>\n

The path you ultimately end up choosing will significantly impact the overall experience, so it\u2019s important to think this through carefully.<\/p>\n

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Definitions and differences<\/h2>\n

The main difference between a private landlord and a landlord who uses a letting agent has to do with the amount of distance between the landlord themselves and the person renting the property. A letting agent is somebody who manages properties on behalf of private landlords. Because it\u2019s part of their job to ensure that any and all legal requirements are being met by the landlord, this can be a good way to outsource a lot of the tricky, bureaucratic aspects of the process. This comes at a cost, however, since letting agents are paid for their services.<\/p>\n

Landlords themselves can be either of the professional variety (which means they derive their main source of income from managing properties and renting them out), or they can be regular individuals who invest in one or more properties and decide to generate a little extra income by renting them. The main difference between these two kinds of landlords is usually to be found in the way in which they handle their properties. Somebody who ended up with a property as a result of inheritance, for example, is likely to be more lax when it comes to procedures and precautions than somebody who treats their rental properties as a professional task.<\/p>\n

Advantages of operating as a private landlord<\/h2>\n

The biggest advantage of becoming a private landlord as opposed to using a letting agent is remarkably simple: cost. Because there\u2019s nobody else who needs a fee to be paid to them, this can be a good way to cut down on operating expenditure; this will be especially appealing to somebody who has never been a landlord before, and would like the sole experience to be as straightforward and hassle-free as possible.<\/p>\n

Self-managing your rental property is more cost-effective and you\u2019re in control of what goes on. Nobody cares more about your money than you do.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another reason to consider operating as a private landlord is the fact that you\u2019ll have control of everything that happens with regards to the property. Again, whether this is the right choice for you will probably come down to the particularities of your own personality. Some of us like to get elbow-deep in everything we do, while others prefer taking a hands-off approach when possible.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not an especially detail-oriented person, becoming a private landlord might not suit you, since there are tons of boxes that need to be ticked for everything to run above board.<\/p>\n

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Disadvantages of operating as a private landlord<\/h2>\n

At the end of the last paragraph, we mentioned that there are boxes that need to be ticked; here, we\u2019ll go into these a bit more. Broadly speaking, landlords have two main areas of responsibility. These are responsibilities with regards to the property itself, and responsibilities with regards to the tenant.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth noting that without a letting agent, you\u2019ll have to market and advertise the home yourself, but that\u2019s not the same kind of responsibility as the ones we\u2019re about to go through.<\/p>\n

Responsibilities to the property include:<\/h3>\n