the house desk

Estate agent fees calculator

Your price and your agent's quote in, the fee in pounds out, before and including VAT, and where it sits against the ranges agents' fees are published at.

On this page
  1. The calculator
  2. How to calculate estate agent fees
  3. Fees at common rates
  4. Fixed fee or percentage
  5. Where the ranges come from
  6. What it leaves out
  7. Questions people ask

The short answer

In the UK an estate agent's fee is a fixed sum or your sale price times the agreed percentage, plus 20 per cent VAT if the quote excludes it.2 The estate agent fees calculator below takes your price and quote and shows the fee in pounds both ways, and where it sits against the ranges Rightmove publishes.1

How the agent charges

A minimum fee is read on the same VAT basis as the rate.

Does the quote include VAT?
Type of agency

Your agent's fee

Enter your price, the fee and whether the quote includes VAT.

Your fee against the page's published ranges

Published fee ranges, worked out on your price
Published rangeOn your priceYour 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 cent2 and the ranges above1, which do not come with a stated method. The ranges are context for your quote.

How do you calculate estate agent fees?

Multiply the sale price by the agreed rate, then add a fifth if the quote says plus VAT.2 If the terms set a minimum fee higher than the result, the minimum is what you pay.

  1. 01 Multiply the price by the rate £320,000 at 1.5 per cent is a fee of £4,800.
  2. 02 Add a fifth if the quote says plus VAT VAT at 20 per cent adds £960, so the bill is £5,760.2
  3. 03 Check the minimum fee Where the terms set a minimum fee higher than your result, the minimum is what you pay.
The three steps on an illustrative price, not an average or a valuation.

Section 18 of the Estate Agents Act 1979 requires the agent to tell you, before you sign, the amount or how it is worked out, when it becomes payable, and any other charges.6 If a quote leaves any of that out, ask for it in writing before you put numbers into anything.

Get each quote turned into one sum in pounds, with VAT, at the price you expect to sell for. A percentage on its own leaves open whether VAT goes on top, and that alone can move the bill by a fifth.

Haroon Ali Author, The House Desk. Over 11 years in property and renovation

Estate agent fees at common rates

At rates from 1 to 3 per cent, the fee on a sale of £200,000 to £450,000 runs from £2,000 to £13,500 before VAT. Each cell gives the fee plus VAT, with the total including VAT underneath. The rates sit inside the ranges Rightmove publishes for sole and multi-agency.1 The prices are round numbers to read across from, not averages.

Agent fee in pounds at each rate and sale price. VAT at 20 per cent, the standard rate since January 2011
Rate£200,000 sale£300,000 sale£450,000 sale
1 per cent £2,000
£2,400 with VAT
£3,000
£3,600 with VAT
£4,500
£5,400 with VAT
1.2 per cent £2,400
£2,880 with VAT
£3,600
£4,320 with VAT
£5,400
£6,480 with VAT
1.5 per cent £3,000
£3,600 with VAT
£4,500
£5,400 with VAT
£6,750
£8,100 with VAT
1.8 per cent £3,600
£4,320 with VAT
£5,400
£6,480 with VAT
£8,100
£9,720 with VAT
3 per cent, multi-agency £6,000
£7,200 with VAT
£9,000
£10,800 with VAT
£13,500
£16,200 with VAT

Worked out by the same arithmetic the calculator runs. If your quote already includes VAT, the upper figure in the cell is the whole fee.

Is a fixed fee cheaper than a percentage?

A fixed fee is cheaper than a percentage once the sale price is above the fixed fee divided by the rate. It wins on a dearer home and can lose on a cheaper one. On The House Desk's arithmetic, against a 1.2 per cent fee including VAT, a £1,500 fixed fee including VAT costs less on any price above £125,000, and a £999 one above £83,250. Rightmove puts fixed fees at £500 to £1,500.1

The profiles of Purplebricks and Yopa set out what two fixed-fee agents charge and when, and online or high-street agent weighs the service behind each kind of fee.

Where the published ranges come from

The published ranges come from Rightmove, HomeOwners Alliance and TheAdvisory, read on 14 September 2026. None gives a method The House Desk could check, so the calculator shows where your fee sits against them rather than calling any of them normal.

  • 1.3% Rightmove: what sellers paid in 2025, including VAT. No method given1
  • 1.42% HomeOwners Alliance: its 2026 average, including VAT. No sample or method3
  • 2,137 Sellers surveyed in May to July 2018 for TheAdvisory’s 1.42 per cent sole agency figure4

Rightmove also puts sole agency at typically 1 to 1.8 per cent, and multi-agency at 2.5 to 3.6 per cent, without saying how these or its fixed fee range were measured or whether the ranges include VAT.1 HomeOwners Alliance runs an estate agent finder service.3 TheAdvisory's page is labelled as updated for 2026, though the survey behind it is from 2018.4

Because Rightmove does not say which VAT basis its ranges use, the calculator places your fee against them both ways, and says so when the two answers differ. How fees are structured, what they include and how to negotiate one are covered in estate agent fees explained.

What this calculator leaves out

The calculator works out the agent's fee and nothing else a sale costs.

What the fee calculator leaves out, and where each is covered
Left outWhere to find it
Everything else a sale costs: conveyancing, the EPC, removals and the mortgageThe cost of selling a house calculator, with each explained in the cost of selling a house, and the legal bill in solicitor fees when selling
Withdrawal and marketing chargesSome agents charge to withdraw, or for extras such as premium listings.5 Add them from your contract
Your home's valueThe price is always your own figure. To set it against real sales, see sold prices near you
Scotland's Home ReportA seller in Scotland usually pays for one before marketing,7 and it is not part of the agent's fee

Questions people ask about estate agent fees and this calculator

Are estate agent fees quoted with VAT?

Some are and some are not. Propertymark says quotes should include VAT, but agents still quote both ways, and a quote written plus VAT costs a fifth more than its headline figure. The calculator asks which basis your quote uses and shows the fee both ways.

Find the route that fits you

Three questions, about 30 seconds. Your answers stay in your browser.

Sources

(7)

Numbers in the text link to these. Each was read on the date shown. How we research

  1. How much are estate agent fees and how do they work? Rightmove. Company's own published information. UK. Read 14 September 2026.
  2. VAT rates GOV.UK. Government guidance. UK. Read 14 September 2026.
  3. Estate Agent Fees, and how you can save HomeOwners Alliance. News report. UK. Read 14 September 2026.
  4. Estate Agent Fees: The Definitive Guide TheAdvisory. Published survey or market data. England and Wales. Read 14 September 2026.
  5. Estate agent fees for selling your house Propertymark. Trade or professional body. UK. Read 14 September 2026.
  6. Estate Agents Act 1979, section 18: information to clients of estate agents legislation.gov.uk. Legislation. UK. Read 14 September 2026.
  7. Home Report mygov.scot. Government guidance. Scotland. Read 14 September 2026.