Tenavia: one platform for the whole tenancy. Screening, rent, certificates, repairs, photos and records.
Letting agent, or manage it yourself?
Full management is usually quoted at a tenth to a seventh of your rent, every month, for as long as the tenancy runs. Here is what that buys, what you would be taking on instead, and the honest arithmetic on both.
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Fee only, before VAT and before any tenant find fee, so the real gap is usually wider than this. Tenavia is £8 a month for one property. What an agent does for their percentage is below, honestly.
Everything a self-managing landlord does, in one place. Free for one property, 3 applicants a year, no card, no expiry. One plan covers the rest.
What the percentage actually buys
Worth separating, because the parts are priced as one thing and are not equally hard. Some of it is judgement and presence. A lot of it is admin.
Finding and showing
Listing the property, replying to enquiries, running viewings in person.
Referencing applicants
Checking income, employment and history, and deciding who is offered the tenancy.
Paperwork and deposits
The agreement, the deposit into a scheme, the documents served at the start.
Rent collection
Watching the rent arrive each month and chasing it when it does not.
Dates and certificates
Gas, electrical and energy certificates, renewals, and the tenancy dates that matter.
Repairs and contractors
Taking the report, finding a trade, booking them in and seeing the work through.
Condition records
Photographs at move in, inspections during, comparison at the end.
Standing in the middle
Being the buffer in a disagreement, so the landlord is not the one arguing.
The honest split: five of those eight are record keeping, arithmetic and deadlines, which software does tirelessly and cheaply. Three of them need a human being in the same postcode as the property. That split, not a view about agents, is what should decide this.
The three ways to let a property
Most of this decision is presented as two options. There are three, and the middle one is what a lot of landlords actually want.
Full management
A tenth to a seventh of rent, monthly
- They find and vet the tenant
- They collect the rent
- They handle repairs and the calls
- They keep the records
You buy back your evenings. You pay for the admin at the same rate as the judgement.
Let only, then you
A one off fee, often a month of rent
- They find and vet the tenant
- You collect the rent
- You handle repairs and the calls
- You keep the records
The common middle. Note what you are paying a lump sum for: mostly the screening.
Self managed with Tenavia
£8 a month, one property
- You choose, on scored evidence
- Rent tracked, arrears drafted
- Tenants report repairs by link
- Records kept as you go
You do the viewings and the human parts. The paperwork, checking and deadlines run themselves.
What self managing still means doing yourself
The part most comparisons skip. If any of these is the reason you were considering an agent, that is a good reason, and no software changes it.
Showing the property
Somebody has to open the door and answer questions in person. If you are far away or short of evenings, that is what a letting agent is genuinely for.
Arranging the repair
A tenant reports a leak; someone has to find a plumber, book them in and see the work through. We take the report and keep the record, but the arranging is yours.
Being the buffer
When a conversation gets difficult, you are the one having it. An agent absorbs that, and some landlords rightly pay for exactly this.
Your legal duties
The right to rent check, the certificates, protecting the deposit and serving the required documents stay yours. We keep the record and count the deadlines; the official guidance stays the place to check what is required.
What Tenavia does for you
Free for one property.3 applicants a year, everything else included. No card, no expiry.
Screen the tenantsApplicants send payslips and bank statements through your link. You get a ranked list. See howClose
One reply to paste into OpenRent or any listing site. Screening questions before viewings, so you only show people who fit.
47 checks on every applicant. Every warning says why. You make the choice.
Record the property’s conditionDated photos at move-in, inspections and move-out, side by side. See howClose
Take the photos on your phone. At the next inspection the camera shows the last photo faintly, so you line up the same shot.
Every photo is dated by us, not by the phone.
Stay compliantGas, electrical and energy certificates, and the deposit deadline. We remind you before they run out. See howClose
One page shows every date. Reminders by email before anything lapses.
No software makes you compliant, but nothing here gets forgotten.
Find a tradespersonTenants report a problem through a link. You request tradesperson quotes in one tap. See howClose
No app and no account for the tenant. You see the report with photos.
Pick a tradesperson, keep the quote, and the job is on the record.
Track the moneyRent checked off each month. Receipts kept for your tax return. See howClose
Late rent gets a dated letter you can send.
Receipts are read and filed in the boxes HMRC uses.
Everything is dated and kept in one file, ready if there is ever a dispute.
The admin half, handled
Keep the parts that need you. Automate the parts that never did.
Tenavia runs the screening an agent charges a percentage for, then watches the rent, the deadlines and the condition of the rooms for as long as the tenancy lasts. One property, £8 a month, and applicants are never charged.
Free for one property · 3 applicants a year · No card, no expiry · Unlimited applicants and printable exports from £8 a month
The admin an agent charges for, done for you
Every row is a feature that exists today, not a roadmap. This is the half of the percentage that software genuinely replaces.
Enquiries and viewings
One link answers every portal message, asks six pre qualifying questions, and turns viewings into requests you approve. You still show the property.
Screening and ranking
Applicants send payslips and bank statements to us, not to your inbox. Forty seven checks run, and every complete application is scored on the same scale.
Rent and arrears
Each month is checked off as it lands. When one does not, the chasing letter is drafted for you.
Deadlines and certificates
Gas, electrical and energy certificates counted down, and the deposit protection clock started the day you confirm the tenancy.
Condition, start to finish
Photographs at move in tied to the tenancy, inspection checks during it, and a move out comparison against the originals.
Maintenance reports
Tenants report problems through a link with no app and no account, and the thread stays with the property.
Free for one property · 3 applicants a year · No card, no expiry · Unlimited applicants and printable exports from £8 a month
Questions landlords ask
Including the ones an agent would rather you did not.
Do I have to use a letting agent?
No. Nothing requires a landlord to use a letting agent, and a large share of landlords in England already manage without one. Two duties sit with you either way: performing the official right to rent check before the tenancy starts, and handling applicants’ personal information properly once you hold it.
How much do letting agents actually charge?
Full management is typically quoted between 8% and 15% of the rent, usually plus VAT, and often with a separate tenant find fee at the start. On a £1,200 rent at 12% that is around £1,728 a year in fees alone, every year the tenancy runs. Let only is usually a one off fee instead, often close to a month of rent. Use the calculator at the top with your own numbers.
Is self managing risky?
The risk is not doing it yourself, it is doing it without evidence and without a record. A tenant chosen on a glance at a payslip is a risk whoever chose them. What reduces it is checking documents properly, keeping what you checked, and never missing a deadline, which is exactly the part that is now cheap to automate.
Can I leave my letting agent mid tenancy?
That depends entirely on the contract you signed with them, so read its notice period and any clause about the tenancy continuing. Many landlords wait until a tenancy ends and self manage the next one instead. We are not able to advise on your agreement.
What does Tenavia not do?
We do not attend viewings, we do not handle repairs in person, and we do not stand between you and your tenant in a disagreement. We also do not ring previous landlords for you: that reference is yours to take up. What we do is the screening, the tracking, the deadlines and the record, and a credit check on your chosen applicant is available as a paid extra at £12.
Can I manage my own rental property, or rent out my house myself without an agent?
Yes. Any landlord can manage a rental property themselves, and most of the job is admin that Tenavia now does for you: screening the applicants, tracking the rent, counting down the certificates, taking repair reports and keeping the record. What stays yours is showing the property, choosing the tenant and the legal duties.
Can I manage a rental property remotely?
Much of it, yes. Enquiries, screening, rent confirmations, certificate reminders, repair reports with photos and the condition record all work from a phone anywhere. What needs a person in the same postcode is opening the door for viewings and letting a tradesperson in, and for the second the tenant is usually there.
Is it worth it for one property?
Only you can weigh that. The arithmetic is that one property costs £8 a month here against a percentage of rent every month with full management, and the calculator at the top uses your own rent. If you want someone to attend viewings and take the calls, an agent is worth what they charge for it.