What estate agents actually charge in 2026
The average estate agent fee in 2026 is 1.42% of the sale price including VAT (1.18% plus VAT at 20%). On a property selling for £292,000 — the current UK average — this works out at approximately £4,146.
UK estate agents typically charge between 0.9% and 2.5% of the final sale price as their commission, inclusive of VAT. Multi-agency contracts — where several agents compete — are usually higher, often 2.5%–3% including VAT.
What that looks like in practice at common UK sale prices:
| Sale price | 1.42% (UK average) | 1.8% (higher end) |
| £250,000 | £3,550 | £4,500 |
| £300,000 | £4,260 | £5,400 |
| £350,000 | £4,970 | £6,300 |
| £500,000 | £7,100 | £9,000 |
| £750,000 | £10,650 | £13,500 |
| £1,000,000 | £14,200 | £18,000 |
All of those figures are paid from the proceeds of your sale, at completion.
LINK TO CALCULATOR TO GO HERE
What is included in that fee?
A standard estate agent commission covers:
Valuation, professional photography (sometimes), a listing on Rightmove and Zoopla, management of enquiries and viewings (in a full-service agreement), negotiation of offers, and progression of the sale through to exchange.
It does not cover:
Conveyancing (your solicitor), EPC (a separate cost if yours has expired), or removal costs.
The photography, listing management, and enquiry handling — the functions that most obviously justify a commission — are increasingly replicable by homeowners with the right tools.
The hidden structure of the commission model
Estate agents are not paid to sell your house. They are paid when your house sells. That sounds like alignment, but it creates a specific incentive structure worth understanding.
An agent who achieves your asking price of £300,000 earns 1.42% of £300,000 = £4,260. An agent who accepts your buyer's offer of £290,000 earns 1.42% of £290,000 = £4,118.
The difference in commission between the two outcomes is £142. The difference to you is £10,000.
This is not an accusation — it is arithmetic. An agent who encourages you to accept a lower offer to secure a faster sale is acting in the interest of their cash flow, not your profit. The commission model does not always align those interests.
As the seller of your own property, your interest is entirely aligned with achieving the best possible price.
What online and hybrid agents actually cost
Online estate agents — Purplebricks, Yopa, and similar — market themselves as a cheaper alternative. Fixed fees are most commonly offered by online estate agents. While fixed fees may seem cheaper, you'll usually need to pay up front. This means you'll pay a fee whether or not your house sells.
Online and hybrid agents quote lower headline fees but often bundle add-ons — premium portal placement, accompanied viewings, "no sale no fee" upgrades — that close most of the gap.
A typical online agent package with viewings included costs £1,000–£1,500, payable upfront. If the property doesn't sell, that money is gone.
Propeo is not an online estate agent. It is a marketing platform — and it costs £149, paid once, with everything included.
Portal listings are coming to Propeo as an optional add-on. Find out more about Portal Listings on Rightmove, OnTheMarket and Zoopla here →
What you get for £149 versus thousands.
This is not a fair comparison in one sense: an estate agent does things Propeo does not — they host viewings, they negotiate, they manage chains, they chase solicitors. If you want all of that done for you, an agent may be worth their fee.
But if you are willing to do those things yourself — and most of them are less complicated than they sound — the gap between £149 and thousands is real, and it stays in your pocket.
What Propeo provides:
- Professional property page with unique address
- QR code for your advertising board
- Advertising board and flyers (PDF, print-ready)
- In-depth Property Information Pack
- Access to Propeo Writer — AI-generated listing description
- Stripe Identity Verification
- Direct enquiries direct from your page
- Access to the Owner Resource Hub
What you do yourself:
- Prepare and photograph the property (covered in the Owner Resource Hub)
- Conduct viewings
- Negotiate offers
- Instruct a solicitor when an offer is agreed
The estate agent's actual value is in conducting viewings and helping to negotiate offers. Negotiation and sale progression are real skills. But they are learnable — and the guides in the Owner Resource Hub are written to help you do exactly that.
Find out more on the process of selling or letting direct here →
When an estate agent is still the right choice
Propeo is not right for every seller. An estate agent is still the right choice if:
- You do not have time to manage viewings and enquiries yourself
- You are selling a complex property (listed building, unusual tenure, multiple titles)
- You are in a high-pressure chain where active agent management adds real value
- You simply prefer the full-service model and the cost is acceptable to you
Propeo is for the owners who have looked at those conditions and decided they apply to someone else.
