How many estate agents are there in the UK?
Each source counts something different, so the numbers don't line up. Here's what each one actually measures.
| Figure | What it counts | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13,497 | Separate registrations marked "Estate Agency Business" with status "Approved" on HMRC's Supervised Business Register (we counted them in the file dated 23 October 2026). One registration can cover several branches, and only businesses HMRC itself supervises appear. | HMRC Supervised Business Register | 11 November 2026 |
| 40,409 | Active companies on the Companies House register giving SIC 68310 (real estate agencies) as their business. That code covers letting agents as well as sales agents, and it counts companies, not offices. | Companies House advanced search | 11 November 2026 |
| 31,430 | Workplaces (local units) registered for VAT or PAYE under SIC 68310 | ONS UK Business Counts 2026 | 2026 release |
The HMRC figure is the closest thing to a count of firms doing estate agency work, because anyone trading as an estate agent has to register for money laundering supervision. It counts registrations, though: a chain with fifty branches can be one line. The Companies House figure is larger because SIC 68310 is shared with letting agents, and it includes dormant shells, holding companies and firms that have never opened an office. ONS uses the same code, so its workplace count also mixes sales and lettings, but it counts each trading site, which makes it the best guide to the number of high-street offices.
For planning a campaign, use the ONS figure for how many offices exist, the HMRC figure for how many separate businesses you'd be selling to, and our count for how many you can actually get contact details for.
Can I get a free list of estate agents?
These are the free official places to look. Each is useful for checking an agent, but none of them was built to be downloaded as a mailing list.
HMRC Supervised Business Register
Limited marketing use
A spreadsheet you can download from GOV.UK, listing every business HMRC supervises for money laundering. You can filter it to estate agency businesses. Each row has the business name, trading name, the first part of the postcode, the date supervision began and the sectors the firm is registered for. There's no street address, phone number, email or contact name.
“All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated”
The licence lets you reuse it, so it's a sound free starting point for a list of agency names by postcode district. You'd still need to find an address and a person for each one yourself, and HMRC says some registrations sit under another business's name, so the trading name you know may not appear.
Companies House advanced search
Limited marketing use
Search active companies by SIC code 68310 and download the results as a spreadsheet. You get the company name, number, registered office and SIC codes. Directors are listed company by company. The search page itself says: "Only the first 5,000 results can be downloaded", so you'd need to split the search by date or area to get more. The free monthly bulk file has every live company.
“This licence does not cover: personal data in the Information;”
Company names and numbers are fine to reuse. Directors' names are personal data, so using them for marketing brings in UK GDPR. The bigger snag is that a registered office is often an accountant's address, not the branch, and the code mixes in letting agents and dormant companies.
National Trading Standards Property Agent Checker
Not for marketing
Run by the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team, it shows which redress scheme each estate and letting agent belongs to, and lets you find registered agents by town or postcode.
“Searches are limited to 100 results, to prevent unauthorised use.”
It's there to help consumers check an agent, and the result cap is there to stop it being scraped. Use it to check whether a firm is properly registered, not to build a list.
The Property Ombudsman: register of businesses
Not for marketing
Search for a member by trading name to confirm it belongs to the scheme. Property Redress has a similar member search. Neither offers a download or an area search.
“you are not permitted to copy, broadcast, download, store (in any medium), transmit, adapt or change in any way the content of this website”
You need to know the name before you search, and the copyright notice rules out copying the content. It's for checking, not prospecting.
Propertymark, the main trade body, has a public "find an agent" search. We couldn't find any website terms on its site that say how member details may be used, and it only covers members, so we haven't listed it as a source. Portal listings and agents' own websites are free to look at, but copying contact details from them into a database is collecting personal data, so UK GDPR applies from the start, and you should read each site's terms first.
What's in a list of estate agents you can buy?
These are the estate agents available from us, and how many records include each kind of contact detail. They're the contacts we hold, not the size of the market: the official figures above are the market.
| Field | Records | Coverage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postal addresses | 13,965 | 100% | |
| Phone numbers | 13,965 | 100% | |
| Named contacts (a person, usually with job title) | 12,125 | 87% | |
| General company email addresses (info@, enquiries@ etc.) | 6,130 | 44% | |
| Named contact email addresses | 7,606 | 54% |
In this sector one record is usually one office: a high-street branch, a head office or a home-based independent. A chain shows up once for each branch we hold, often with a different branch manager on each, while a franchise office is recorded under its own operating company even though it trades under the brand.
What you won't get from us is every agent in the country. Online and hybrid agents with no local office, and very new firms, are the most likely gaps. Staff also move between branches and firms, so check named contacts against the free sample before a big mailing.
Who makes the buying decisions at estate agencies, and how do you reach them?
Who signs off a purchase depends on whether you're dealing with an independent or a branch of a group. In an independent, nearly everything goes to one or two people.
| Job title | What they decide | Best way to reach them |
|---|---|---|
| Owner, principal or director | Anything with a contract or a monthly fee: CRM and portal subscriptions, insurance, accountancy, office leases, sale of the business | A letter to the office, marked for their attention, followed by a call to book a short meeting. Owners are often out on valuations, so the branch phone is more reliable than a mobile. |
| Branch manager | Local spend: photographers, floorplans, boards, printing, local advertising, which solicitors and mortgage advisers the branch refers to | In person or by phone at the branch. Where you have their own work email, a short, specific note works for a first contact. |
| Lettings or property manager | Contractors for repairs, safety certificates, inventories and tenant referencing | Their direct email or the lettings desk. Usually separate from the sales side even in a small office. |
| Group operations, marketing or procurement (chains and franchises) | Group-wide systems and suppliers, approved supplier lists, brand rules for franchisees | Head office by post or LinkedIn. Branch staff in a group often can't buy outside the approved list, so start here. |
For franchises, check which decisions belong to the franchisor. Software, branding and portal contracts are often set centrally, while local suppliers are the franchisee's call.
What are the rules for marketing to estate agents?
The rules depend on how each business is set up. Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), sole traders and ordinary partnerships count as individual subscribers, and limited companies, LLPs and other organisations count as corporate subscribers. Wherever a record names a person, UK GDPR applies as well: you need a lawful basis (usually legitimate interests), you must tell them where you got their details, and you must stop if they object.
How UK estate agents are set up, according to the Office for National Statistics (31,430 workplaces, UK Business Counts 2026, SIC 68310):
| Legal form | UK workplaces | Share | How PECR treats them |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limited companies and LLPs | 29,125 | 93% | Corporate subscriber |
| Sole traders | 1,220 | 4% | Individual subscriber |
| Partnerships | 1,000 | 3% | Individual subscriber |
| Charities, clubs and other non-profits | 85 | under 1% | Corporate subscriber |
| Channel | Sole traders and partnerships (about 7% of this sector, by ONS figures) | Companies, LLPs, charities and public bodies |
|---|---|---|
| Post | Allowed. PECR doesn't cover addressed mail; UK GDPR applies to a named person. | Allowed. UK GDPR applies to a named person. |
| Live sales calls | Allowed unless the number is on the TPS (or they've told you not to call). | Allowed unless the number is on the CTPS (or they've told you not to call). |
| Marketing email and text | Only with their prior consent (or the "soft opt-in" for your own customers). | Allowed without prior consent, if you say who you are and give a simple way to opt out. |
A few points specific to estate agents, which also help you check a list is current:
- Anyone doing estate agency work on residential property must be a member of an approved redress scheme (Estate Agents (Redress Scheme) Order 2008, article 2). National Trading Standards names two approved schemes: The Property Ombudsman and Property Redress. An agent that isn't in either may have stopped trading, or may be breaking the law.
- Trading as an estate agent without HMRC money laundering registration is an offence, according to the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team. That's why the HMRC register is a reasonable check that a firm is real and active.
- National Trading Standards keeps a public register of people and firms banned from estate agency work or given a formal warning. If you're recruiting agents or offering them finance, check it.
- Most agencies trade as limited companies, so B2B email to a company address is usually allowed with an opt-out. Small independents trading under the owner's name are the exception: treat them as individuals.
How much does a list of estate agents cost?
You pay per record, and the price per record falls as the order grows:
| Number of records | Price per 1,000 |
|---|---|
| Fewer than 2,500 | £295 |
| 2,500 to 4,999 | £270 |
| 5,000 to 9,999 | £245 |
| 10,000 to 19,999 | £220 |
| 20,000 to 49,999 | £195 |
| 50,000 or more | £170 |
Other lists of UK businesses
Questions people ask about a list of estate agents
Where can I get a list of estate agents in the UK with decision-maker email addresses?
Free sources won't give you this: none of the official registers includes email addresses or the name of whoever runs the branch. From us, 7,606 records include a named contact's email address, usually the owner, director or branch manager. That's just over half of the 13,965 agents we hold. For the rest, post and the branch phone number are the reliable routes.
Is there a free list of estate agents I can use for marketing?
Partly. HMRC's Supervised Business Register can be downloaded free and reused under the Open Government Licence, and you can filter it to estate agency businesses. It gives names and postcode districts only. Companies House lets you download companies by SIC code, though that code includes letting agents. The redress scheme search tools aren't meant for building lists: one caps searches "to prevent unauthorised use" and the other's copyright notice forbids copying. Whatever you use, UK GDPR applies once a record names a person.
How many estate agents are there in the UK?
There's no single official count, because estate agents aren't licensed. HMRC's money laundering register had 13,497 approved estate agency registrations in its October 2026 file, ONS counts 31,430 workplaces under the code shared with letting agents, and Companies House has 40,409 active companies using that code. The HMRC figure is the best guide to the number of separate businesses.
Is there a public register of estate agents in the UK?
Not in the way there is for solicitors or accountants. Nobody needs a qualification or a licence to be an estate agent. What does exist: HMRC's money laundering register, the two redress schemes' member searches, the Trading Standards Property Agent Checker, and a public register of agents who've been banned or warned.
Can I get a list of estate agents in my town or county?
Yes. The free Property Agent Checker finds registered agents by town or postcode, but stops at 100 results. A bought list can be cut to any county, postcode area or radius, and the free count tells you how many we hold there before you pay.
Does a list of estate agents include letting agents?
Official figures usually do, because ONS and Companies House use one code for both. Our estate agent records are agents that sell property, many of which also let. If you only want lettings-only firms, ask for those as a separate list.
How much does a list of estate agents cost?
Lists are priced per record: £295 per 1,000 for orders under 2,500 records, falling to £170 per 1,000 for 50,000 or more (excluding VAT). With 13,965 estate agents available, a UK-wide list falls in the 10,000 to 19,999 band. Ask for a free count for your area and an exact price.