Local agency or remote studio for a property management company website in London: how to choose (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

For a property management company website in London, a local agency makes sense if you need property photos and video tours every week, in-person workshops and deep integration with your management software. A remote studio like Kolonell fits when the goal is to win landlord instructions with a clear site, well-presented fees and a clean tenant journey, at a fixed price (2 300, 3 900 or 6 900 GBP) in 3 to 4 weeks. The time difference barely matters here: the team works on GMT, the same hour as London in winter and one hour behind in summer.

Which criteria should you compare between a London agency and a remote studio?

London prices are prudent ballparks: public rate cards of London and South East agencies, minimum project sizes on Clutch.co profiles, published hourly rates (often 80 to 150 GBP per hour) and freelance rates on Upwork, often 2 000 to 8 000 GBP for a site of this kind.

When is the London agency the better choice?

• You publish properties every week that need photographing, measuring and filming, and you want one supplier to coordinate it all.
• Your site must talk deeply to sector software such as Reapit or Alto, with advanced search, alerts and user accounts: at Kolonell, that is an application quoted on request.
• You are launching a custom tenant and landlord portal (statements, documents, payments) rather than the one your software provides.
• Your board wants in-person workshops at every stage.
• You want a day-to-day search and advertising partner on a monthly budget: at Kolonell, that work is quoted on request.

In those cases, paying 20 000 to 40 000 GBP to a local agency can be justified.

When does a remote studio like Kolonell fit?

• Your main goal is winning instructions: landlord pages, services, fees, onboarding process, rental valuation form.
• Your properties are already listed on Rightmove, Zoopla or OnTheMarket and your software provides a widget or feed to embed.
• You want a fixed price paid by bank transfer or Wise, 50 % at kickoff, 50 % at delivery.
• You target French-speaking landlords: the bilingual FR/EN site is included on Premium. As an example of a multilingual property site, Kolonell delivered the trilingual FR/EN/AR site of Orven Properties, an off-plan property advisory in Dubai.

See the details on our international website offer.

What does each tier include for a property management company?

What does a London property manager need, and which obligations apply?

London's rental stock is very varied: flats let by individual landlords in Lambeth, Southwark or Hackney, leasehold blocks run by a managing agent, HMOs, build-to-rent buildings, furnished homes for relocating executives in Kensington or Canary Wharf. Landlords compare fees and transparency first; tenants want a simple way to report a fault. Google reviews weigh on both sides.

On compliance, the facts only. In England, letting agents must belong to a government-approved redress scheme, such as The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme, and hold client money protection; fees, redress membership and that protection must be published on the website. The Tenant Fees Act 2019 bans most fees charged to tenants. Personal data falls under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Equality Act 2010 is a strong reason for an accessible site, with WCAG 2.2 AA as the technical reference. This is not legal advice.

Which questions should you ask before signing?

• Where are fees, redress membership and client money protection published?
• Does the property feed come from your software, or will listings be entered twice?
• Who holds the domain and hosting account?
• What will an extra form or building page cost in a year?
• How do repair requests reach your tracking tool?

Mini case study

Illustrative example. Priya S., operations director of a company managing about 850 homes across Lambeth and Southwark, including some twenty blocks under management, compares two offers. A London agency proposes 26 000 GBP, software integration included, in 12 weeks. Kolonell proposes Premium at 6 900 GBP, with the property feed integration quoted separately, assumption 1 200 GBP, and the company's usual property photographer for a team session at 600 GBP.

Kolonell route: 6 900 + 1 200 + 600 = 8 700 GBP, live in 5 to 6 weeks. Gap with the agency: 17 300 GBP. Priya picks Kolonell for the site and keeps the option of a custom tenant portal later, which she will then compare with a local agency's offer.

FAQ

How much does a property management company website cost in London in 2026?

With a London agency, expect a ballpark of 8 000 to 40 000 GBP, and 2 000 to 8 000 GBP with a freelancer. Kolonell charges a fixed 2 300, 3 900 or 6 900 GBP.

Is the time difference a problem?

Hardly: the team works on GMT, 0 to 1 hour apart depending on the season. You get a written update every week.

Can my Rightmove and Zoopla listings appear on the site?

Yes, the widget or feed your software provides is embedded from Growth at 3 900 GBP. A custom feed is quoted on request.

Does Kolonell handle property photos?

No, no on-site photos or video tours. Your usual property photographers carry on, often around 100 to 250 GBP per property based on published rates.

Is a tenant portal included?

A repair request linked to your existing tool is included from Growth. A custom portal is an application quoted on request.

Let's scope your project. Send us your services, your fees and the name of your management software, and we come back with a fixed-price tier and a 3 to 4 week timeline. Request your free quote or see the international offer.