Frequently Asked Questions

The Association of Letting Agents UK (AOLA) is a professional body for letting agents and lettings firms in the UK. It supports members with a firm directory, training events, a downloadable resource library, a jobs board and professional resources.

No. AOLA is a voluntary professional association that represents and supports letting agents and firms. Statutory regulation of the profession remains with the relevant regulatory and professional bodies.

Members gain a public firm or professional profile, access to training events (often at a member price), the resource library, the jobs board, networking across the UK, and regular tax and regulatory updates.

AOLA is based at 1 Fleet Place, London EC4M 7RA, United Kingdom, and serves members across the country. You can reach us at info@aola.uk.

Use the AOLA firm directory and filter by city, or open the city page for your area — for example aola.uk/letting-agents/london or aola.uk/letting-agents/manchester. Each listing shows the firm's services, professional body and contact details so you can approach the practice directly.

No. The directory is free to search and free to use. AOLA does not sell leads, does not pass your details to firms and does not take a commission — you contact the agency yourself and deal with it directly.

Letting agency is not a licensed profession in England, but every agent must by law belong to a government-approved redress scheme, hold Client Money Protection if it handles client money, and protect tenancy deposits in an approved scheme. Member firms show their accreditation — ARLA Propertymark, NAEA Propertymark, RICS, safeagent, UKALA or The Guild — on their profile, and you can verify any agent on that body's own register. Agents in Wales must be licensed by Rent Smart Wales, and agents in Scotland must be on the Scottish Letting Agent Register.

ARLA Propertymark is the largest body for letting agents and NAEA Propertymark covers estate agents on the sales side; both are part of Propertymark and require members to hold Client Money Protection and professional indemnity insurance. RICS regulates chartered surveying firms and sets professional statements for residential lettings and management. safeagent and UKALA are accreditation schemes focused on client money handling for independent agents. The Guild of Property Professionals is a network of independent agents working to shared standards. All are voluntary — unlike redress, Client Money Protection and deposit protection, which are legal requirements.

Ask which redress scheme they belong to, which Client Money Protection scheme covers your money and to see the certificate, which deposit scheme they use, whether they hold professional indemnity insurance, what their fees are in writing including renewal and management charges, who will manage the tenancy day to day, and how they handle repairs, inspections and arrears.

AOLA membership is for firms \u2014 letting agencies, estate agencies and property management businesses operating in the UK. Individuals cannot hold membership. Anyone can create a free user account to post an enquiry, apply for a job on the jobs board or take part in the forum, but that is an account rather than membership, and it does not make you a member of the Association.

A user account is free and open to anyone. It lets you post an enquiry for a letting agent, track the responses, apply for jobs and use the forum \u2014 and it is not shown publicly. Membership belongs to the agency: it lists your firm in the public directory with its own profile page, team, branches and services, and comes with a firm dashboard and the AOLA member badge.

A user account is free. Agency membership has three tiers: Silver is free and lists your agency in the directory; Gold and Platinum are paid annually and add team profiles, services and — on Platinum — top placement. Current prices are shown on the membership page. Paid tiers are paid online by card and run for one year.

An agency can record one accreditation on its profile: ARLA Propertymark (Association of Residential Letting Agents), NAEA Propertymark (National Association of Estate Agents), RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors), safeagent, UKALA (UK Association of Letting Agents) or The Guild of Property Professionals. Accreditation is voluntary, so the field is optional and there is no catch-all option — if your agency holds none, leave it blank. This is separate from the redress, Client Money Protection and deposit schemes every agent must belong to by law.

Membership is for agencies. Go to the membership page, choose your tier and complete the form — your email is verified by a one-time code (OTP). Silver is free and goes live once verified; Gold and Platinum are paid online by card and the listing goes live as soon as payment succeeds. If you just want to post an enquiry or apply for a job, create a free user account instead — no membership needed.

A free user account is active the moment you verify your email. Agency applications are reviewed by the AOLA team after payment is received; once approved, the agency dashboard login is unlocked.

During signup you receive a 6-digit one-time code (OTP) by email. Entering it confirms your address and prevents typos before your record is created.

Agency membership runs for one year from activation. Free Silver listings roll forward automatically each year, and a lapsed paid tier simply reverts to Silver rather than removing the agency from the directory. A free user account does not expire.

Yes. AOLA sends firms automatic email reminders ahead of the expiry date — at 60, 30 and 15 days before, and again on the expiry date — so you can renew in good time.

Renew from your agency dashboard by paying the annual fee again by card. Free Silver memberships renew automatically each year — you do not need to do anything. If a paid package lapses, the firm stays listed and simply reverts to the free Silver tier until it is upgraded again. (A free user account never needs renewing.)

Each firm profile carries one main office address, which you set from the Address tab of your agency dashboard. If your agency has several offices and you would like them listed separately, contact AOLA and we will arrange it.

Paid agency tiers (Gold and Platinum) are paid online by card at the end of the signup form, and the agency is activated as soon as the payment succeeds. A user account is free, so there is nothing to pay. For paid events, AOLA will contact you to arrange payment and confirm your place.

Yes — firm membership packages are paid by card through a secure checkout, and AOLA never stores your card details. For paid events, AOLA arranges payment with you directly and confirms your place manually.

Membership and event fees are generally non-refundable. If you believe there has been an error with a payment, please contact us at info@aola.uk.

The firm directory is a public listing of AOLA member firms across the UK, searchable by city and professional body. Each firm has its own profile page with services, team members and contact details.

Firms with an active AOLA firm membership are listed automatically once approved. You can then complete your profile from the firm dashboard.

Log in to the firm dashboard, where you can edit your profile and branding, add office branches, list team members with photos and LinkedIn, and manage the services you offer.

Yes. The Platinum package includes top placement — your firm appears at the top of the main directory and of your city pages. You can upgrade to Platinum anytime from your agency dashboard.

Your firm stays in the directory — it simply reverts to the free Silver listing (name and description), and the paid features (team, services, top placement) switch off until you renew. Silver listings never expire.

It is an online library of UK tax and corporate legislation converted to structured, readable HTML — for example the Companies Act, 2006 — that you can read section by section in your browser.

The resource library offers downloadable Acts, laws, standards, circulars and professional guidance relevant to letting agents, such as the Companies Act, 2006. New documents are added over time.

Yes. Each Act has a table-of-contents panel, in-document search that highlights and jumps between matches, and clickable cross-references so you can jump to any section.

Yes, the Acts & Laws library is free to read for everyone through the Library section of the website.

The library reproduces public legislation for convenient reference. For legal or filing purposes you should always verify the text against the official gazette or the issuing authority.

Yes. AOLA runs online and city-based seminars, workshops and conferences covering lettings law, compliance, licensing, tenancy deposits and agency management, and each one shows the training hours it carries.

There is no statutory CPD requirement for a letting agent in England — letting agency is not a licensed profession, so no annual training quota is imposed by law. It becomes a requirement through membership and through the devolved regimes: Propertymark members must complete 12 hours a year, RICS members 20 hours, and letting agents in Scotland must meet the training requirement in the statutory Letting Agent Code of Practice while agents in Wales must satisfy Rent Smart Wales training to hold a licence. AOLA training hours can count towards those where your body accepts external providers — check with them first.

Open the event page and complete the registration form. Free events issue a ticket instantly by email; paid events issue the ticket once your payment is confirmed.

Event tickets are the same price for everyone — some events are free, others carry a fee shown on the event page. Once you are logged in you can book and manage all your tickets from your dashboard.

Yes. Your ticket, with a unique booking reference, is emailed to you — instantly for free events, or after payment verification for paid events.

Yes. AOLA member firms can advertise vacancies from their dashboard, including salary range, location and up to five yes/no screening questions to filter candidates.

Open the jobs page, select a vacancy and apply online with a cover letter and a PDF CV. Any screening questions set by the firm are answered as part of the application.

Use the "Forgot password?" link on the sign-in page. You will receive a one-time code (OTP) by email to set a new password securely.

Firm owners log in with the email and password set during signup, once the firm has been approved. The dashboard is where you manage your profile, branches, team, services and job posts.

Use the contact page, email info@aola.uk, message us on WhatsApp using the button on the site, or call the number listed in the footer.