01Move
DNA dimensions
Listings won per month, instruction-to-completion conversion, average fee %, vendor-paid upsell attach, lettings portfolio MRR, fall-through rate and review velocity on Google + Allagents.
All playbooksServices
Estate agent playbook.
A London estate agency covering residential sales + lettings across 2–4 postcodes. The win is moving from listings-as-marketing into a fee-led model with vendor-paid premium services, embedded mortgage + conveyancing referrals and a retained landlord book.
Overview
A London independent agent listing 35–80 properties per year and managing 60–220 lettings units typically grosses £180k–£1.4m. The single biggest economic lever is reducing fall-through — average UK fall-through is 32%, every percentage point under that compounds into 1.5x fee retention. The second lever is the lettings portfolio: it smooths the sales cycle, throws off 10–15% net margin and is the only thing buyers value 4–6x revenue at exit. This playbook covers operationalising a London estate agency — Propertymark + redress, AML, portal contracts, vendor-paid premium services and a landlord pipeline.
1.2–1.8% + VAT
Avg fee (London sales)
£4k–£28k / portfolio
Lettings MRR
<22% target
Fall-through rate
№ 01 / What you'll need
Equipment list with real 2026 UK prices.
Sized for a 2–4 chair shop. Buy mid-range on chairs and clippers; cheap kit fails inside 12 months and walks away with your barbers.
01
Branch + marketing kit
Window display + LED screens (per branch)
£3,400–£9,800
Branded for-sale + to-let boards (initial 80–150)
£1,400–£3,200
Pro camera + wide-angle + drone + 3D camera (Matterport Pro3)
£4,800–£12,400
EPC assessor kit (or outsourced @ £45–£90 per cert)
£900–£2,400
Branded EV pool car (ULEZ-compliant)
£280–£640 / month lease
02
Core software
Reapit / Alto / Jupix CRM + portal feed
£140–£420 / user / month
Rightmove + Zoopla + OnTheMarket portal fees (per branch)
£1,200–£3,400 / month
Goodlord / Lifetime Legal referral platforms
Pass-through commission
DocuSign + AML (SmartSearch / Credas)
£70–£260 / user / month
Matterport hosting + Giraffe360 virtual tours
£45–£140 / month
03
Compliance + insurance
Propertymark / NAEA / ARLA membership + branch fee
£540–£2,200 / yr
TPO or PRS redress scheme
£280–£640 / yr
Client Money Protection (CMP)
£280–£900 / yr
PI insurance £500k–£2m + cyber
£900–£3,400 / yr
HMRC AML supervision (estate agency business)
£300 + £200/yr renewal
Mandatory under MLR 2017
№ 02 / Where to set up
Location is half the business.
High-street footfall postcode
150+ daily walk-by
Window listings still drive 18–25% of vendor-side instructions in London; pure-digital agents leak the highest-fee end.
Average sale price catchment
£550k+ (Zones 1–4)
1.5% of £700k pays for the branch; 1.5% of £300k doesn't.
Lettings demand
60%+ rental tenure within 1 mile
Lettings smooth seasonality and de-risk sales-only revenue cycles.
Solicitor + mortgage broker pod
10+ partner-quality firms within 1 mile
Conveyancing + mortgage referrals add 12–18% to revenue with zero CAC.
Area tier
Rent / month
Notes
Prime Central (W1, SW1, SW3, SW7, NW8)
£8,000–£22,000 retail
Highest fee % + HNW + international; PI requirement higher; ULEZ daily.
Inner London (E8, N1, N16, SW11, SE22)
£3,400–£8,000 retail
Best ROI for indie 1–2 branch operator; family-mover + first-time-buyer dominant.
Outer London + Home Counties (Bromley, Wimbledon, Watford)
£2,200–£5,400
Volume + commuter market; lower fee per sale but higher transaction count.
№ 03 / Licences & registrations
Get the paperwork done before you sign a lease.
UK figures for 2026. Lead times assume you submit complete applications — councils will pause the clock if you miss documents.
Requirement
Who issues
Cost
Lead time
OptPropertymark / NAEA / ARLA membership
Propertymark
£540–£2,200 / yr
2–4 weeks
ReqRedress scheme (TPO or PRS)
TPO / PRS
£280–£640 / yr
1–2 weeks
ReqHMRC AML supervision (estate agency business)
HMRC
£300 + £200 / yr renewal
4–8 weeks
ReqClient Money Protection (if handling client funds)
Propertymark CMP / Money Shield
£280–£900 / yr
1–2 weeks
ReqICO data-protection registration
ICO
£60 / yr
1 day
ReqMaterials Information rules compliance (Parts A/B/C)
NTSELAT guidance
Internal
2–4 weeks
№ 04 / Build-out timeline
From decision to open in 12 weeks.
01
Weeks 1–6 · Branch + compliance
1–6- Sign branch lease + window install + EV pool car
- Register HMRC AML + TPO + Propertymark + CMP + ICO
- Onboard Reapit/Alto + DocuSign + SmartSearch
- Sign Rightmove + Zoopla portal contracts
02
Weeks 7–12 · Pods + farming
7–12- Sign 6 solicitor + 4 mortgage-broker + 2 surveyor pods
- Postcode-farm 1,000 doors/month (letter + leaflet)
- Launch vendor premium-package pricing (pro photo + 3D + drone + EPC)
- Stand up Google Business Profile + Allagents + Trustpilot
03
Weeks 13–24 · First 20 listings
13–24- Target 20 instructions + 12 completions (£60k–£180k fees)
- Achieve <22% fall-through with offer-AML in 48 hrs
- Win first 10 managed lettings units (£1.4k–£3.4k MRR)
- First 25 Google + Allagents reviews live
04
Months 6–18 · Scale + lettings book
25–78- Hire 2nd negotiator + lettings manager
- Grow lettings portfolio to 80–160 units (£8k–£22k MRR)
- Add second branch when first hits £400k revenue + 60 listings
- Quarterly NTSELAT material-info audit + fall-through review
№ 05 / Budget
Realistic startup and monthly cost ranges.
One-off · Startup
Setting up the shop
Branch fit-out + window + LED
£18,000 → £48,000
Camera + drone + Matterport + EPC kit
£5,400 → £14,000
Boards (initial run) + branded vehicle deposit
£3,200 → £8,400
Propertymark + TPO + CMP + AML + PI + ICO (yr 1)
£2,300 → £7,140
Reapit / Alto setup + DocuSign + AML KYC
£1,400 → £4,800
Branding + site + farming-letter print run
£3,400 → £10,400
Rightmove + Zoopla onboarding + 3-month prepaid
£3,600 → £10,200
Typical total
£37,300 – £102,940
Recurring · Monthly
Keeping the lights on
Branch rent + rates + utilities
£3,400 → £14,000
Rightmove + Zoopla + OnTheMarket
£1,200 → £3,400
Reapit / Alto + DocuSign + SmartSearch
£280 → £800
Pool car + fuel + ULEZ (if branch in zone)
£420 → £980
Marketing (Google Ads + farming + social)
£600 → £2,800
Staff (negotiator + lettings + admin, per active month)
£6,000 → £24,000
Typical total
£11,900 – £45,980
№ 06 / Numbers that compound
How a estate agent actually looks on a chart.
Interactive projections rebuilt from real UK operating data — toggle the views to see ramp, mix and weekly load.
12-month revenue ramp
Low vs high scenario (£ monthly)
High Low
Source · NAVIZIX 2026 London Propertymark / TPO independent agent cohort (n=21 branches, 1–3 office operators)
№ 07 / First 90 days
Dates that actually matter after opening.
01Day 0
Sign branch lease + apply Propertymark + HMRC AML + TPO
02Day 14
Reapit / Alto + Rightmove + Zoopla feeds live; window installed
03Day 30
First 5 instructions won via vendor premium package
04Day 45
Solicitor + broker pods signed; postcode farming live
05Day 75
First 3 completions (£8k–£24k fees) + first 5 managed lettings units
06Day 120
12+ instructions, 5+ completions, lettings book £2.8k–£6.8k MRR
№ 08 / What's inside
DNA, route, automations, integrations, benchmarks, advisors — tuned for a estate agent.
02Move
Suggested route
Productise premium vendor packages (pro photo + floorplan + EPC + drone), lock the landlord book on 18-month managed contracts, attach mortgage + conveyancing on every offer, then build a hyperlocal SEO + farming postcode strategy.
03Move
Automations
New-instruction comparable email, viewing-to-feedback within 24 hrs, offer-to-AML in 48 hrs, weekly vendor activity report, landlord renewal nudge 90 days out, post-completion review request.
04Move
Integrations
Reapit / Alto / Jupix / Reapit Foundations, Rightmove + Zoopla + OnTheMarket, Lifetime Legal / Goodlord, Stripe + GoCardless, Google Business Profile, Allagents, DocuSign + AML SmartSearch.
05Move
Benchmarks
Fee %, instruction-to-completion conversion and lettings MRR vs London Propertymark agents in the same price band, refreshed monthly.
06Move
Advisors
Encore advisors who have built independent London agencies (1–8 branches), plus NAVIZIX AI for weekly pipeline + portfolio projection.
№ 09 / Stack
Modules used in this playbook.
01DNA Engine02Route Map03Launch Twin04Automation05Verified06Encore
Related playbooks
Owners of a estate agent often run — or cross-sell with — these adjacent operations.
Start with this playbook
14 days free. No credit card.
Full workspace, every module. The estate agent playbook loads on day one. Cancel anytime.
Private preview · Waitlist
3,751 operators in the queue