How much to pay for estate agents in London?

I really don't want to use an estate agent, but it seems very difficult to find private landlords.  It seems as though they'll try to get as much money out of you as they can.  How much of a fee should I be paying for a small studio apartment? 

The fees they charge don't seem to be based on what type of property you rent from them, it's more like how much they think people are willing to pay. There's usually a fee for the credit check and another fee for drawing up the lease & inventory. When you leave the property they usually charge you a fee for that and if you renew the lease, you can expect to be charged for that too. The amounts vary a lot from one agent to another so check some of their websites to get an idea of how much.

Short answer: fees vary widely from agent to agent.

Longer answer: It's not that hard to find private landlords in London.  Use Gumtree and make sure the box marked "agency" is not ticked.  Not every single agency charges (some use the fact that they charge no fees to tenants as an advertising mechanism), but the vast majority do.  There's no hard & fast rule about the rates, but there are some notorious ones that charge much higher rates than average.  Best thing is if you're interested in a property, find out straight away what their fees are BEFORE you fall in love with the place.  Not all agents charge for everything, but most will charge you for: referencing (non-negotiable as this is out-sourced), admin fee (for drawing up the lease), and a check-in fee (for doing the inventory).

I have never paid for an estate agent in London. They normally make their money off the landlords, ie they charge them a fee, a fee monthly for management, etc.

Yes, I've had to pay for a credit check but not much else. I never had to pay for the inventory.

I have never paid for an estate agent in London. They normally make their money off the landlords, ie they charge them a fee, a fee monthly for management, etc.

Yes, I've had to pay for a credit check but not much else. I never had to pay for the inventory.

Same here, and in Edinburgh.

I have never paid for an estate agent in London. They normally make their money off the landlords, ie they charge them a fee, a fee monthly for management, etc.

Yes, I've had to pay for a credit check but not much else. I never had to pay for the inventory.

In Wimbledon, I've seen wildly different fees from different agencies, though we ended up going with one who charged us for referencing and I think that's about it.

There was one agency in particular that was really obnoxious: they quoted us nearly 400GBPs in agency fees. Yeah right.

Well, I ended up paying £125 for the credit check, inventory, and admin fee.  Seems...about average.