New research shows that, on average, each letting agency branch in Britain’s major cities manages 13.5 rental listings, with Nottingham having the highest workload at 35 properties per branch.

Propoly analysed rental listings across 21 major cities and compared them with the number of letting agency branches to identify where agents are handling the largest portfolios. Across these cities, there are an estimated 72,537 rental listings and 5,382 branches, averaging 13.5 listings per branch nationally.

Localised figures highlight significant variation. Nottingham has around 3,714 rental listings across 106 branches, resulting in 35 properties per office. In Leeds, there is one branch for every 30.5 properties, while Newcastle branches manage an average of 21.1 listings. Other cities with higher-than-average workloads include Birmingham (18.7), Leicester (18.6), Sheffield (18.6), Bournemouth (18.2), Plymouth (17.7), Bristol (16.4), and Southampton (16).

The cities with the lowest ratios of listings per branch are Newport (5.2), Glasgow (7.2), Manchester (10.1), Swansea (10.2), Sunderland (10.7), and London (10.7).

Sim Sekhon, group CEO at Propoly, commented: “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.

“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.”