Estate agent fees explained: what agents charge and when you pay
Published figures for agent fees disagree, and none of the averages we found comes with a method we could check. Your own quote can be checked, against the published range and against the contract.
On this page
- What estate agents charge: average fees
- Work out the fee on your price
- Percentage, fixed and tiered fees
- VAT on estate agent fees
- Sole agency against multi-agency pricing
- When you pay, and who pays
- Minimum, withdrawal and marketing fees
- What the fee includes
- Negotiating the fee
- Questions people ask
- Fees in Scotland
The short answer
Estate agent fees averaged around 1.3% including VAT in 2025, Rightmove says, about £3,600 on a £275,000 home.1 Other published averages are higher, and fixed-fee agents publish prices from under £1,000.46 Your own contract sets what you pay, including VAT, any minimum fee and the event that makes the fee payable.8
Judge a quote against the whole published range rather than any one average, then read the contract for when and why the fee is due. Legal fees and the other costs of a sale are added up on the cost of selling a house.
How much do estate agents charge on average?
Estate agents charged around 1.3% including VAT on average in 2025, on Rightmove's figures, and a typical sole agency fee runs from 1% to 1.8%.1 Other sources put the average higher. A 2018 seller survey that 2026 guides still carry gives 1.42%.3 Multi-agency costs more, and fixed fees start at a few hundred pounds.
| Publisher | Figure | Basis stated | Publisher's interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rightmove1 | About 1.3% including VAT in 2025. Sole agency 1% to 1.8%, sometimes 2.5%. Multi-agency 2.5% to 3.6%. Fixed fees £500 to £1,500 | Not stated on the page | Property portal |
| Which?2 | Roughly 1.3% including VAT, range under 1% to 3.5%. Sole agency 1% to 2%. Multi-agency 2% to 3.5% | Cites Rightmove 2025 data | Consumer organisation |
| TheAdvisory3 | Sole agency 1.18% plus VAT (1.42% including VAT). Multi-agency 2.5% plus VAT (3% including VAT) | Its survey of 2,137 sellers in England and Wales, May to July 2018 | Offers an agent search tool with GetAgent |
| HomeOwners Alliance4 | Average 1.42% for 2026. Sole agency 1.2% to 1.8% including VAT. Multi-agency 3% to 3.6% including VAT | Not stated on the page | Runs an estate agent finder service |
| Propertymark5 | Fixed fees start around £800 | Not stated | Trade body for agents |
| Purplebricks6 | £999 including VAT deferred, or £833 plus VAT paid upfront, for homes worth up to £200,000 | Its own published price | Online estate agent |
Check like for like, because some figures include VAT and some do not. 1.18% plus VAT and 1.42% including VAT are the same fee. Purplebricks compares itself with high-street agents at 1.3% plus VAT, while Rightmove describes 1.3% as including VAT.7
What the published range means on a £275,000 sale
These are The House Desk's sums on an illustrative price. Your own quote sets your fee.
Agent fees on a £275,000 sale, on Rightmove's ranges
- Fixed feea set price, not a percentage £500 to £1,500 1
- Sole agency1% to 1.8%, VAT basis not stated £2,750 to £4,950 1
- Multi-agency2.5% to 3.6%, VAT basis not stated £6,875 to £9,900 1
Work out the fee on your price
Put in your own price and the terms of your quote to see the fee in pounds, before and including VAT, set against the published ranges above.
Your agent's fee
Enter your price, the fee and whether the quote includes VAT.
| Fee before VAT | |
|---|---|
| VAT at 20 per cent | |
| Fee including VAT |
Not sure which route suits you? Answer three questions.
Your fee against the page's published ranges
| Published range | On your price | Your fee |
|---|---|---|
| Sole agency, 1% to 1.8%, VAT basis not stated1 | Needs your price | |
| Multi-agency, 2.5% to 3.6%, VAT basis not stated1 | Needs your price | |
| Fixed fee, VAT basis not stated1 | £500 to £1,500 |
Your figures: the sale price, the fee, any minimum and whether your quote includes VAT. Published figures: VAT at 20 per cent10 and the ranges above1, which do not come with a stated method. The ranges are context for your quote.
This covers the agent only. The estate agent fees calculator has its own page, with a table of fees at common rates and the price at which a fixed fee costs less. For legal, mortgage and moving costs as well, use the cost of selling a house calculator.
How do estate agent fees work: percentage, fixed or tiered?
An agent can charge a percentage of the sale price, a fixed fee, or a mix of the two. No law sets the level. What the law does require is that the agent tells you, before you commit, the amount or how it is calculated, and when it becomes payable.8
Percentage commission against a fixed fee
A third structure mixes the two. Tiered or banded fees set a different rate or price by property value band, or a higher rate above a target price. Purplebricks, for example, publishes its £999 price for homes worth up to £200,000.6 Ask for the band boundaries in writing. For two fixed-fee agents in detail, with the price and the point it falls due, read our Purplebricks and Yopa reviews.
Compulsory charges cannot be hidden behind a headline fee. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 bans drip pricing, where unavoidable charges are revealed only after the headline price. It also treats price as material information that must be given.11
Do estate agent fees include VAT?
Some estate agent quotes include VAT and some do not. The standard rate of VAT is 20%, so a quote given plus VAT ends up a fifth higher than its headline.10 Propertymark says quotes should include VAT,5 yet agents still quote both ways. On a £275,000 sale, a 1.2% fee is £3,300 before VAT and £3,960 with it.
The same 1.2% fee on a £275,000 sale
- Quoted plus VATthe headline figure £3,300
- With VAT at 20%what you pay £3,960 10
Asking every agent for the total in pounds, with VAT, at your likely price puts two quotes on the same basis.
Sole agency against multi-agency pricing
Multi-agency costs more than sole agency. Which? gives 1% to 2% for sole agency, where one agent has the home for a set period, and 2% to 3.5% for multi-agency, where you instruct several agents and pay only the one that sells.2 Each multi-agency agent prices in the risk of earning nothing. Sole selling rights are usually priced like sole agency but reach further. The fee is due even if you find the buyer yourself. Under sole agency as prescribed, a buyer you find with no agent involved does not trigger it.9
The cheaper sole agency rate comes with a condition. Say you instruct a second agent during the sole agency period and it introduces a buyer before that period ends. Under the prescribed meaning, the first agent's fee is due as well once that buyer exchanges, even if exchange comes after the period.9 Changing estate agents covers how not to pay twice.
When do you pay estate agent fees, and who pays?
The seller pays, usually on completion. Propertymark says that is the normal time, though some agents require payment upfront.5 In law the trigger is whatever your contract names. The prescribed agency meanings tie the fee to exchange of unconditional contracts, the point at which both sides are legally bound.9
| Payment trigger | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Upfront | Paid when you sign. You may not get it back if the home does not sell. Purplebricks' pay-now price is £833 plus VAT, which is £999.60 at 20%.6 |
| Deferred | Nothing at the start, payment by a later date. Purplebricks says pay in 10 months, on condition you use its allocated conveyancer.6 Check whether that date applies if there is no sale. |
| On exchange or completion | Due only if a sale goes ahead on the contract's terms. Under Purplebricks' 28 May 2026 agreement, fees fall due on exchange with a qualifying buyer.14 |
| Ready, willing and able purchaser | Due once the agent introduces a buyer prepared and able to exchange, even if you withdraw.9 Agree to it only if you are certain you will sell. |
Do buyers or solicitors pay estate agent fees?
No. The seller pays the estate agent under the seller's own contract, and the buyer is not a party to it.1 Nor does a solicitor or conveyancer pay out of their own money. Where the fee is due on completion, your conveyancer can pay the agent's invoice from your sale proceeds on your instruction. They handle the payment, but the money is yours.5 Agree that arrangement with them before completion. Their own charge for the legal work is covered in solicitor fees when selling.
Minimum fees, withdrawal fees and marketing charges
Quotes differ most in their extras. Section 18 requires the agent to tell you, before you commit, what any payment beyond its fee is for and how much it is, or an estimate.8
- Minimum fee. A floor that applies if the percentage would come to less. It matters most on lower-priced homes. Ask whether it includes VAT.
- Withdrawal fee. Some agents charge if you take the home off the market within a set time.5 Ask for the amount and the period.
- Marketing extras. Premium portal listings, hosted viewings and energy certificates. Purplebricks lists assisted viewings at £499 and an EPC at £199.6
- Identity check fees. Anti-money laundering rules require the agent to identify you and verify your identity once you sign, before the home is marketed.12 HMRC's guidance does not say who pays for that check. If an agent charges you for it, get the amount in writing with the rest of the terms.
- Referral fees. You do not pay these. The agent is paid when it refers you to a conveyancer or broker. National Trading Standards guidance says the arrangement and the amount should be disclosed in writing.13
Are the cheapest estate agent fees the lowest cost?
Not always. The lowest headline fee can turn into the higher total. To compare estate agent fees, start from each quote's total in pounds, including VAT, at your likely price. Then add any minimum fee, any withdrawal fee and the price of each marketing extra you would use.8 A quote given plus VAT grows by a fifth. A minimum fee can apply on a lower-priced home, and a withdrawal charge may fall due if you take the home off the market.105
Read the payment clause for the words ready, willing and able purchaser before you bargain over the rate. Under that term the fee is owed as soon as the agent introduces a buyer prepared and able to exchange, even if you then decide not to sell. I would ask for completion to be the trigger instead, and for no charge if you withdraw.
Haroon Ali Author, The House Desk. Over 11 years in property and renovation What do estate agent fees include?
An estate agent's fee covers only what the terms list, and inclusions vary by agent. The usual items are an appraisal, photography and floorplan, portal listings, a board, arranging or hosting viewings, negotiating offers, and progressing the sale to completion. Purplebricks' package, for example, lists all of these except hosted viewings, which are an add-on.6 Online and high-street agents sets the service models side by side.
Estate agents do not usually charge for valuations. The appraisal visit is normally part of winning your instruction, and Purplebricks includes it in the package.6 An appraisal is an agent's opinion, not a formal valuation by a surveyor. A lender's or probate valuation is a different service, and it is charged for.
How to negotiate estate agent fees
Negotiate from written quotes on the same basis, and bargain on terms as well as the rate. The agent owes you the fee, the extras and when they fall due before you commit, so asking for them in writing is ordinary.8
- Ask for a shorter tie-in. Which? says six weeks is the shortest typically offered and suggests going no longer than eight.2
- Ask for sole agency rather than sole selling rights.
- Ask for the fee to be due only on completion, with no withdrawal fee.
- If an agent proposes a fee above the published ranges, ask what the extra buys, in writing.
Questions people ask about estate agent fees
Is 1% a good estate agent fee?
It sits at the bottom of the 1% to 1.8% sole agency range Rightmove publishes, and under its 1.3% average for 2025, which includes VAT. Before counting it as cheap, check whether it is quoted plus VAT, which adds a fifth, and what the agency type, the tie-in and any minimum fee add to it.
How can I avoid estate agent fees when selling?
Mostly at the point you sign, by choosing terms that leave room for a buyer you find yourself. Sole selling rights make the fee due even when you find the buyer. Sole agency, as the 1991 Regulations define it, does not. A buyer you found with no agent involved triggers no fee to that agent. Read the contract for any wording that adds to the prescribed meaning.
Estate agent fees in Scotland
We found no named source publishing Scottish fee levels with a method, so we do not print one. The cost that differs is the Home Report. In Scotland, whoever markets the house must have one before it goes on the market.15 Its parts are a surveyor's report with a valuation, an energy certificate and a property questionnaire.16 Ask any Scottish agent whether its quote covers arranging the Home Report, and who pays for it.
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Sources
(16)
Numbers in the text link to these. Each was read on the date shown. How we research
- How much are estate agent fees and how do they work?
- Estate agent fees and contracts
- Estate Agent Fees: The Definitive Guide
- Estate Agent Fees, and how you can save
- Estate agent fees for selling your house
- Our packages
- Purplebricks homepage
- Estate Agents Act 1979, section 18: information to clients of estate agents
- Estate Agents (Provision of Information) Regulations 1991, Schedule: explanation of certain terms
- VAT rates
- Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Part 4 Chapter 1: unfair commercial practices
- AMLG2200: Sector specific guidance, estate agent business guidance
- NTSELAT referral fees guidance
- Service Agreement (version dated 28 May 2026)
- Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, section 98: duty to have prescribed documents
- Home Report