New research suggests that when it comes to tenant satisfaction, self-managed landlords are outperforming letting agents. Analysis of thousands of tenant reviews submitted to the Marks Out Of Tenancy platform reveals that direct-to-landlord experiences consistently receive higher ratings.

The Key Findings

• Overall Satisfaction: Self-managed landlords achieved a higher average satisfaction score of 2.48 out of 5, compared to a lower score of 2.32 for letting agents.
• Communication & Service: The data, which reflects real-world experiences, indicates that direct communication with a landlord often leads to faster service for things like repairs, while dealing with agents can be a slower, more stressful process. As one tenant commented, “when I dealt directly with the landlord, things got done quickly…But through the letting agent, even basic repairs took weeks.”

Where Agents Are Winning

Despite the lower overall satisfaction, letting agents are doing a better job with one crucial aspect: deposit protection. The research shows that 75.1% of deposits handled by agents were fully safeguarded, a significantly higher rate than the 66.8% recorded among self-managed landlords. This suggests that agents generally have a stronger awareness of their legal obligations in this area.

A Wake-Up Call for the Industry

Ben Yarrow from Marks Out of Tenancy says the findings are a clear signal that “independent landlords are doing a better job than many letting agents.” He sees this as a wake-up call for agents to improve their training, communication, and tenant-facing practices. For landlords, the data is an opportunity to continue raising the standards of service, which tenants clearly value.