Consolidation within the estate agency sector is seeing lettings portfolios become a highly sought-after target for buyers. Research by The Business Acquisitions Group (BAG) indicates a shift where buyers are increasingly pursuing recurring managed lettings income, rather than acquiring entire agencies.
This trend, observed in transactions between 2024 and August 2026, coincides with a growing involvement of private equity-backed businesses in estate agency acquisitions. Recent examples include Lomond's acquisition of Edward Mellor’s lettings division and Dwelly's acquisition of AP Morgan's lettings business in July.
Martin Bunney, founder and managing director of BAG, stated that the acquisition of lettings books is now favoured over entire agencies, with serious buyers competing for managed income. He added that the 2026 acquisition market has changed, with buyer strategy moving away from entire agencies by large franchise groups to lettings books by private equity platforms.
New sources of acquisition finance are also expanding the pool of potential purchasers. For instance, property investment business Sourced launched a programme in 2025 offering franchisees funding to acquire letting agencies.