Nottingham is home to Britain’s busiest letting agents, with agencies handling more than twice the average number of available rental properties seen across the UK’s major cities, according to new research from Propoly.
The analysis examined rental listings and active letting agencies across 21 major cities during July 2026. It found an average of 13.1 available properties per agency across the country.
Nottingham topped the rankings with 31.4 available listings per agency, based on 3,078 rental properties being marketed by 98 letting agents.
Newcastle ranked second with 23.5 listings per agency, followed by Aberdeen (18.2), Birmingham (17.2) and Leeds (16.5).
Plymouth (15.6), Bournemouth (15.3), Leicester (15.1), Portsmouth (15.1) and Sheffield (14.9) also recorded above-average activity.
Despite having by far the largest rental market, London ranked below the national average. Its 33,473 available rental properties were spread across an estimated 2,744 agencies, equating to 12.2 listings per agency. Cardiff recorded the same average.
Manchester also fell below the overall average with 10 listings per agency, while Glasgow (8.0) and Newport (6.8) recorded the lowest levels of activity in the study.
| Data tables | |||||
| Estimated number of lettings agents and lettings listings sourced from Rightmove (03/07/2026) | |||||
| Table shows the estimated number of lettings listings per lettings agencies in 21 major British cities | |||||
| Location | Est number of lettings agents | Est number of available lets | Est available lets per letting agent | ||
| Nottingham | 98 | 3,078 | 31.4 | ||
| Newcastle | 123 | 2,886 | 23.5 | ||
| Aberdeen | 32 | 583 | 18.2 | ||
| Birmingham | 241 | 4,139 | 17.2 | ||
| Leeds | 228 | 3,757 | 16.5 | ||
| Plymouth | 50 | 778 | 15.6 | ||
| Bournemouth | 72 | 1,101 | 15.3 | ||
| Leicester | 114 | 1,720 | 15.1 | ||
| Portsmouth | 49 | 738 | 15.1 | ||
| Sheffield | 124 | 1,853 | 14.9 | ||
| Southampton | 73 | 1,045 | 14.3 | ||
| Liverpool | 162 | 2,241 | 13.8 | ||
| Bristol | 179 | 2,391 | 13.4 | ||
| London | 2,744 | 33,473 | 12.2 | ||
| Cardiff | 123 | 1,497 | 12.2 | ||
| Edinburgh | 88 | 1,053 | 12.0 | ||
| Sunderland | 39 | 465 | 11.9 | ||
| Swansea | 15 | 166 | 11.1 | ||
| Manchester | 696 | 6,962 | 10.0 | ||
| Glasgow | 180 | 1,448 | 8.0 | ||
| Newport | 24 | 162 | 6.8 | ||
| City overall | 5,454 | 71,536 | 13.1 | ||
Sim Sekhon, group CEO at Propoly, commented: “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.
“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.”
