Letting agents in Nottingham manage the busiest workloads among Britain’s major cities, according to new research from Propoly.
The analysis examined rental listings across 21 major cities and compared them with the number of letting agency branches operating in each location. Across those cities, agents manage an estimated 72,537 rental listings through 5,382 branches.
That works out to an average of 13.5 rental properties per letting agency branch nationwide. However, the research shows that workloads vary widely between cities, with some locations operating far above that average.
Nowhere is the pressure greater than in Nottingham. The city currently has an estimated 3,714 rental listings across 106 letting agency branches, leaving each office responsible for around 35 properties.
Other cities also show significantly heavier workloads than the national benchmark.
For example:
Leeds agents handle around 30.5 properties per branch
Newcastle upon Tyne agents manage roughly 21.1 listings per office
Birmingham averages 18.7 listings per branch
Leicester and Sheffield both record 18.6 properties per branch
Further down the list, workloads remain above the national average in cities such as Bournemouth (18.2), Plymouth (17.7), Bristol (16.4) and Southampton (16).
At the other end of the scale, some markets show much lighter workloads.
Newport ranks as the quietest city in the study, with 5.2 listings per branch. It is followed by Glasgow at 7.2 properties, while Manchester (10.1), Swansea (10.2), Sunderland (10.7) and London (10.7) also sit below the national average.
"These figures highlight just how operationally stretched many letting agents are, particularly in high demand cities such as Nottingham, Leeds and Newcastle, where the volume of listings per agent is well above the national average," said Sim Sekhon. "When an agent is responsible for 30 or more properties at any one time, the pressure is not just about marketing and viewings. It extends to referencing, compliance checks, document management, landlord communication and ensuring every tenancy progresses smoothly from offer to move-in. As portfolios grow, so too does the risk of delays, administrative bottlenecks and compliance oversights."
Operational pressures
"What this research really underlines is the growing need for smarter systems and streamlined processes. Agents are not short of demand. In many cases, they are short of time. Platforms that automate repetitive tasks, centralise documentation and provide full transparency across the tenancy journey allow agents to maintain high service standards without increasing headcount," he explained.
He added,"Ultimately, landlords judge their letting agent on efficiency, compliance and communication. In today’s market, where some agents are juggling more than double the national average number of listings, having the right progression infrastructure in place is no longer a luxury. It is essential to delivering a professional, scalable and class-leading service."
