The latest research from Propoly has found that Nottingham is home to the busiest letting agents in Britain, with an average of 31.4 available rental listings per agency. That's more than double the average seen across 21 major British cities.
The research analysed available rental property listings and active letting agency numbers across the 21 cities in July 2026, using estimated figures based on market data sourced via Rightmove to calculate a snapshot average of available rental listings handled by each agency in every city.
Across the cities analysed, there were an estimated 71,536 available rental properties being marketed by 5,454 letting agencies, equating to an average of 13.1 available lets per agent. Nottingham recorded by far the highest level of activity, with 3,078 available rental listings being handled by 98 agencies, resulting in an average of 31.4 listings per agent.
Newcastle ranked second, with an average of 23.5 available lets per agency, based on 2,886 available rental listings and 123 active letting agents. Aberdeen ranked third with an average of 18.2 listings per agency, followed by Birmingham (17.2) and Leeds (16.5).
Elsewhere, Plymouth recorded an average of 15.6 available lets per agency, ahead of Bournemouth (15.3), Leicester (15.1) and Portsmouth (15.1). Sheffield averaged 14.9 listings per agency, followed by Southampton (14.3), while Liverpool (13.8) and Bristol (13.4) both sat broadly in line with the overall average.
At the lower end of the rankings, several cities recorded activity well below the national average:
London and Cardiff each averaged 12.2 available lets per agency
Manchester averaged 10 listings per agency, while Sunderland recorded 11.9 and Swansea 11.1
Glasgow averaged 8 available lets per agent, with Newport recording the lowest figure of any city at 6.8
Despite having by far the largest volume of rental stock, London's 33,473 available listings were spread across an estimated 2,744 agencies, resulting in an average of 12.2 available lets per agent.
"The volume of rental stock that letting agents are managing varies dramatically across the country and that creates very different operational challenges from one market to the next," said Sim Sekhon, group chief executive at Propoly.
"For agencies handling a high number of available properties, efficiency becomes increasingly important. As workloads grow, having the right systems and processes in place can make a significant difference to how quickly properties are marketed, enquiries are managed, and tenancies progress.
"What these figures highlight is that there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to running a successful lettings business. Local market conditions, levels of competition and the volume of stock all influence how agencies operate, making it more important than ever that agents have technology that helps them adapt, streamline day-to-day operations and deliver a consistently high standard of service."
