This content applies to Scotland only.

Housing laws vary between Scotland and England. Get advice relating to England

Letting agencies (also known as accommodation or management agencies) are private companies that can help you find private rented accommodation that suits you. Most agencies also manage the day-to-day running of the tenancy.

What do letting agencies do?

Letting agencies act as 'go betweens' between tenants and landlords. They can:

• help you find suitable property to rent
• collect your rent on behalf of the landlord
• arrange for any repairs to be done.

Why use a letting agency?

There are several advantages to using a letting agency:

• the rent you'll be paying will usually be fair for the area
• all legal requirements, for example fire safety measures, are more likely to be met
• if something goes wrong, a letting agent is more likely to sort it out for you promptly.

Will I have to pay any extra fees?

It depends. It's illegal for letting agencies to charge you for certain things before you agree to rent a property. For example:

• they can't charge you for registering with them or for providing you with a list of properties
• they can't ask for a deposit before they have found you anywhere.

Once the agency has found you a property, they are entitled to ask you to pay a deposit, but they have no legal right to ask you to pay any other charges. They may, however, ask you to cover certain additional costs incurred by them in their business. If they ask you to pay fees for credit checking, administrative work or anything else, you will have to decide whether or not you are willing to pay these things. Ask them for a breakdown of these costs and, if you think they're too much or you're not prepared to pay them, you may have to walk away and find another agency or landlord. 

If an agency charges you a premium, talk to an adviser at a Shelter advice centre or Citizens Advice.

If you have already paid a premium, you should complain to the agency. You may be able to take them to the small claims court to get the sum of money back although there's no guarantee that you'll get the money back. There may also be extra costs involved in going to court and you will have to decide if you're willing to pay these and take the risk of going to court.

How do I find a letting agency?

Don't go with the first letting agency you find: shop around. Make sure any agency you choose is a member of the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) or accredited by the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) or Landlord Accreditation Scotland and that it is registered with the council.

You can find letting agencies listed in the Yellow Pages and on the NALS website. You can also register online with all the letting agencies in your area at the Pastures New property website.

Legal liability

Although the letting agency may be responsible for the day-to-day maintenance of your tenancy, such as rent and repairs, your contract is with your landlord. For that reason, your landlord's name and address must appear on your tenancy agreement.

Any legal action arising from your tenancy (for example, over the return of your deposit) would be raised against your landlord, not the letting agency. In particular, your landlord is legally responsible for ensuring that all safety regulations concerning furniture, gas and electrical installations and appliances and smoke alarms are met. Landlords can be prosecuted if they don't comply with safety regulations.