High street estate agent commission

Find out how much estate agent commission you will pay on your property purchase. With our calculator (above), select the expected sale price of your property and your estate agent’s commission rate including VAT. We have set the calculator with the average estate agent commission rate which is 1.42% including VAT. This is the average commission you are likely to pay for a sole agency contract which is the most common type of contract. Commission rates are usually higher for joint agency arrangements (typically 2.4% incl VAT) and higher still for multiple agency agreements (2.5% – 3% + VAT).

High street estate agent versus online estate agent fees

You can use the calculator to see how estate agent commission compares with fixed fee hybrid or online estate agents. We have set the calculator with the standard fee charged by Purple Bricks or Yopa which is £999 incl VAT. Fees for Purple Bricks and Yopa are a bit higher in London and the surrounding areas £1499 incl VAT.

No sale no fee estate agents

Agents will either charge a flat fee to be paid up front or a “no sale, no fee” commission to be paid only if you sell. With high street estate agents, the standard fee structure is for you to agree to pay the estate agent a percentage of the sale price of your property once the sale has completed. If your home doesn’t sell, you pay them nothing. But if your property is worth a lot, then the amount you are paying them, even if the commission charge is a mere 1%, could be several thousands of pounds. Many online estate agents (e.g. PurpleBricks) have a different way of charging homeowners. Rather than “no sale, no fee”, they charge a fixed upfront fee. This can work out cheaper than paying a percentage of the sale price, but you will have to pay it whether your home sells or not.

Is cheaper better when it comes to estate agent fees?

While comparing estate agent fees is important to ensure you don’t pay more than you should, it’s also important to compare estate agents on their performance. Top performing agents that achieve the asking price can be well worth their commission. For example, if a property is listed for £300,000 and the agent achieves this asking price and the commission is 1.42% incl VAT, you will pay commission of approximately £4,250. But, if another agent charges a lower fee than this or even no fee at all and achieves 98% of the asking price, this has cost you £6000 in a lower achieved sale price (in this instance, you are at least £1750 worse off with the cheaper agent).