Essentially yes as the letting agent collects the rent from a tenant and maintains the property. The landlord owns the building and an agent is a company that normally acts on behalf of the landlord and may do more of the day to day running of the property. They are usually the main contact for a tenant. Tenants are entitled to the landlord’s contact details including address and the landlord is still legally responsible for the property including things like the oven, boiler, wiring, the structure and grounds. The Landlord will have to have building insurance in place and the tenants are responsible for the contents insurance. The agent has to give you the landlord’s details when requested. the tenant would need to check their contract to see who they have legally signed with as they will be responsible for carrying out any repairs and returning your deposit. If it is the agent, then they are responsible for looking after day to day repairs. If the landlord or landlady is using agents to manage the property then they will be the first port of call to deal with everything from repairs to tenancy renewals. If the estate agent is being problematic then a tenant will still have a right to go straight to the landlord, to let them know what the agent is doing and to ask them to step in and handle a situation. Some agents may tell the tenant that they are not allowed to contact the landlord directly but this is of course not true. There’s nothing to stop the tenant doing this in the tenancy agreement and the law requires that tenants know who their landlord is and have a way of contacting them. So to answer you question is a letting agent a landlord, Close to.
