This can't be right.... conversion...PCM?

I have found that properties for sale almost always list room sizes on the details.  Rentals tend not to list room sizes on the details for some reason. 

I phoned the estate agent to check a room size for a property I wanted to rent to see if a specific piece of furniture would fit in, and she told me they did not have that kind of detail on their rentals...

There are good agents, and bad agents!

Two good agents in my area of West Yorkshire both give floor plans, room sizes and lots of photos on their websites.

Use rightmove to find an area that you are interested in and then see who the local agents are.  You will get much better information and better service direct from the agents' websites.  They are desparate for business right now.  However, as has been posted before,  real estate agents are nothing like as full on as in the US - here, they work on much smaller commissions (as low as 2% of sale price).  It's not unusual to have the homeowner show you round a property rather than the agent.

It's not unusual to have the homeowner show you round a property rather than the agent.

I'd say that's pretty much the norm.

I'd say that's pretty much the norm.

Maybe it depends on the area you live in? 

I've looked at about 25-35 places and the only one where the owner showed us around was when the agent had to leave because of an emergency.

Maybe it depends on the area you live in? 

Could be, or maybe agent-escorted viewing has become more common in recent years?  Possibly a combination of the two. 

I'm only going on past experience from my own or family moves, the most recent of which was 1996 when I returned to England.   I can't remember a single viewing accompanied by an agent, at least not where the house was occupied (and I can recall looking at a couple of old, empty places where the agent just gave us the keys to have a look round and asked for them to be returned next day -- that must have been 20 years or more ago though).

A couple two doors from me have their house on the market at the moment, and all of their prospective purchasers have just turned up without the local agent.

To be honest, not all of them with with an agent.  In my area, they have a guy with keys.  He isn't the owner, but he isn't an agent either.