Are you earning enough? Majority of agents to seek alternative careers

Letting agents have shared details of how they feel about their jobs and salaries as part of the Goodlord & Vouch State of the Industry report.

The research found that more than 50% of letting agents are not sure whether they want to work in the sector in five years time. In addition, the insights show that only 40% of letting agents believe they are paid fairly for the job they do.

Goodlord will be hosting a webinar alongside market experts on Thursday 28 September at 10am to discuss the issues affecting letting agents right now, from salaries and stress, through to work satisfaction and industry legislation.

Some 60% of letting agents do not believe or are not sure if they are being paid fairly for their work.

Unsurprisingly, letting agents in London are commanding the biggest salaries – with survey respondents earning £47,200 per year, on average. However, agents in the West Midlands aren’t far behind, with salaries for professionals in that region hitting an average of £46,700.

No agents in London claimed to earn less than £20,000, whereas the North East saw the highest percentage of agents earning less than £20,000. And 10% of those whose job title is director or CEO said they earn more than £100,000 per year.

The majority of agents do not see a long-term future working in the letting sector.

When asked if they want to be working in the sector in five years time, less than half – 48% – of respondents said yes, while 21% said no and 30% were unsure.

The data indicated that the longer an agent had worked in the industry, the more likely they were to say they wanted to remain in lettings.

Some 50% of agents said that most days they feel stressed in their job and 62% agreed that their workload has increased in the past year.

Goodlord’s Oli Sherlock will be discussing the findings at the upcoming webinar. He will be joined by Gina Peters, partner at Dutton Gregory, Glenn Perry, founder and MD of Zest Property, and Neil Baldock, director at Charles David Casson.

The panel will cover salaries, stress, and satisfaction at work for letting agents, and how new legislation changes are impacting agents’ attitudes, as well as what landlords and tenants think of agents and how the industry can improve those sentiments. They’ll also be taking questions from the audience.

Oli Sherlock, director of insurance at Goodlord, said: “Our recent State of the Lettings Industry report highlighted the wide range of pressures agents are under. This is a brilliant industry, full of opportunity, but it’s been a tumultuous few years, with new challenges on the horizon. This webinar will be an opportunity to analyse some of these emerging trends and discuss practical measures to support agents and their teams.”

You can register for Thursday’s webinar here.

 

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16 Comments

  1. MrManyUnits

    I can imagine a lot of disgruntled letting agents asking for pay rises in the next coming days and sales agents scratching their heads.

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  2. jan-byers

    The thing is it is an unskilled job
    What else can they do ?

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    1. HAM

      they have learnt how to deal with all sorts of people, problem resolution, organisation, efficiency, building rapport and general selling. i think these skills can make someone a lot of money.

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      1. jan-byers

        When In was an agent in Reading in the mid 80.s I was earning around 50k
        Fully expensed BMW
        My young negs has escorts earning 25-30k
        Most agents do not earn that 40 years later
        Most agents do NOT earn a lot of money
        I saw a report the other day that said the average salary for a manager was about 46k
        For working mega hours
        Dealing with staff issues
        That is not a good salary

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      2. jan-byers

        If they were earning a lot of money so many would not be looking for other jobs as per this article !

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      3. jan-byers

        Oli Sherlock from Goodlord says many agents want to move onto something new, as 60% complain they are not remunerated fairly.

        When asked if they want to be working in the sector in five years’ time, only 48% of survey respondents said yes, 21% said no and 30% were unsure.

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    2. AcornsRNuts

      Jan, they could always become property developers.

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      1. MrManyUnits

        You’ve got to have funds to back yourself up with Development.

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        1. jan-byers

          and balls
          and get off your backsides to knock on doors and get sites
          most agents would never be able to do that

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      2. jan-byers

        No they could not they would never be able to deal with the complexity
        It needs more than a suit and tie!!!

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    3. Woodentop

      Unskilled, lol. Just because they may not have a diploma doesn’t mean they are not skilled. I haven’t found a diploma in how to deal with all the issues/attitudes these staff have to cope with everyday.

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      1. jan-byers

        The public have always been demanding
        On my first day as an EA I sold a house in Southall to a guy I rang from the mailing list
        I was an inexperienced kid
        It is not rocket science

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        1. htsnom79

          Bruv, please get over yourself, well done for picking up the phone in the mid eighties.

          Fact is, 20yrs experience doesn’t count in the sense that we’ve had broadband since what 2002? Some of us wouldn’t bat an eyelid if the internet went off overnight.

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  3. Hit Man

    Just think how much agents would save if they didn’t use referencing agencies they could pass the savings on to staff. Job Done…

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    1. A W

      Not much. The man hours and liabilities involved just isn’t worth it.

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  4. alexevo91

    I’m afraid it’s just not a very nice job. To earn a mediocre salary dealing with some of the public, working long hours without any chance of WFH & flexibility, is just not appealing anymore.

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