Letting Agents York.

Advocate Lettings charges between 8% and 13% of the monthly rent plus VAT, depending on the level of service. Rent Collection starts at 8% + VAT and covers rent processing, statements, and arrears chasing. Full Property Management sits at the top of the range and includes inspections, contractor management, and full compliance protection. We do not offer a let-only service — York's conservation and licensing framework makes ongoing management too important to leave to the landlord.

Full Property Management covers marketing and tenant referencing, deposit registration, rent collection and arrears chasing, property inspections, contractor coordination for repairs, compliance tracking across gas, electrical, EPC and Right to Rent, and end-of-tenancy deposit adjudication. For York landlords specifically, we also handle conservation area and listed-building consent queries, selective licensing where it applies, and the heightened HMO licensing requirements that affect much of the city centre.

Let-only services typically end at move-in, which is exactly where landlord risk begins. Post-2025, the Renters' Rights Act places continuing obligations on landlords around rent reviews, repairs, decent homes standards and possession — and a let-only agent has no incentive to help you meet them. We only take managed instructions because our model only works when we're accountable for the entire tenancy, not just the first month.

Yes. Every letting agent in England is legally required to belong to a government-approved redress scheme — either The Property Ombudsman (TPO) or the Property Redress Scheme. Advocate Lettings is a member of The Property Ombudsman, which means both landlords and tenants have access to free, independent dispute resolution if anything goes wrong during a tenancy. Given the regulatory complexity of letting in York — conservation areas, listed buildings, and HMO licensing all in play — having a clear escalation route is particularly valuable, and redress membership is the minimum we'd expect any York agent to hold.

The average void period across our managed York portfolio is 10 days between tenancies. Well-presented properties in core YO postcodes — the city centre, Bishopthorpe, Fulford and Heworth — typically let within that window at or above asking rent. Academic-year cycles around the University of York and York St John do influence demand patterns, particularly for larger HMO-suitable stock, so tenancy start dates matter more here than in most Yorkshire cities.

Every rented property in York requires: a valid Gas Safety Certificate (annual, if gas appliances are present), an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR, every 5 years), a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of E or better, smoke alarms on every storey and a CO alarm in every room with a solid fuel appliance, and documented Right to Rent checks on all adult tenants. York adds further complexity: HMO licensing applies citywide for qualifying properties, and conservation area and listed-building status affect a significant share of city-centre stock. We track all of this on your behalf under Full Management.

Tenant referencing is handled through Goodlord, one of the most established tenancy platforms in the UK letting sector. Every applicant is assessed against Goodlord's affordability rule: an annual income of at least 30 times the monthly rent, which means a property let at £1,000 per month requires a tenant earning at least £30,000 per year. Referencing also covers identity and Right to Rent verification, employment confirmation, current and previous landlord references, and a full credit check including any County Court Judgments. Self-employed applicants are assessed on the same 30× affordability basis using their most recent tax documents, and guarantors — where needed — must meet the 30× threshold on their own income. York's mix of professional, academic, and heritage-sector tenants can mean income is non-standard, and Goodlord's platform is built to handle those cases cleanly.