If you’ve started looking into property management in London, you’ve probably noticed that nobody wants to give you a straight number. There’s a reason for that — the honest answer really is “it depends on your property and the scope of service.” But that’s not much help when you’re trying to make a decision. So let’s do the thing most firms won’t: lay out what property management actually costs in London and the surrounding towns in 2026, what each fee is for, and how to tell a fair quote from one that’s quietly hiding something.
The short answer
For full-service residential management in Ontario, the monthly management fee usually runs 8% to 12% of the rent collected, with the provincial average landing around 10%. Some firms charge a flat per-door fee instead, which can make more sense on lower-rent units where a percentage would be too small to fund good service.
On a London two-bedroom renting for, say, $1,900, a 10% fee works out to about $190 a month. Simple enough — but the monthly fee is only one line on the bill. The fees around it are where owners get surprised.
The fees you’ll actually see
Here’s the full menu of charges a residential manager in Ontario might apply. A good firm includes most of these or discloses them plainly; the ones to watch are the ones that show up after you’ve signed.
- Monthly management fee: the core recurring cost: 8–12% of collected rent, or a flat monthly fee per unit. It covers rent collection, owner reporting, day-to-day coordination, and communication. Tip: “of rent collected” matters — it means the firm only earns when you do.
- Tenant placement (leasing) fee: a one-time charge when a new tenant is signed, typically 50% to 100% of one month’s rent. It covers marketing, showings, screening, and the lease. This is usually your biggest single cost in a year with a turnover.
- Lease renewal fee: many firms charge $100 to $400 to renew an existing tenant, even though the tenant is simply staying. (At DEJA we don’t charge one — keeping a good tenant shouldn’t cost you extra.)
- Setup / onboarding fee: $250 to $600 to bring a new property onto the system.
- Maintenance coordination: this is the one to watch! Some firms bill repairs at cost; others quietly add a 5–15% markup on every contractor invoice. Over a year, that adds up — and it’s often the least visible fee of all. Always ask directly.
- Inspection fees: $99 to $200 per visit at some firms; included at others.
- The “watch-outs”: vacancy fees (a monthly charge while your unit sits empty), separate marketing fees, and miscellaneous admin fees. None of these are automatically wrong, but they should be disclosed up front, not discovered later.
One more: HST applies to management services in Ontario, so build that into your math.
The real lesson: compare scope, not just the rate
Here’s the trap. A “7% fee” from one firm that excludes screening, inspections, and marketing can easily cost you more than a “10% fee” from another that includes everything. The headline percentage tells you almost nothing on its own.
So before you compare two firms on price, make them quote the same scope — the same property, the same services — and then look at the total. The simplest test of all: ask each firm for their complete rate card in writing, every possible fee included. If a firm is slow or cagey about handing it over, that reluctance is itself your answer.
A real-world example
Let’s say you rent out a $1,900 two-bedroom home. At 10% monthly, that’s about $190 a month, or roughly $2,280 a year. In a year where you place a new tenant, add a leasing fee — at 75% of one month’s rent, that’s about $1,425, one-time. So your effective first-year cost is higher than the headline 10% suggests.
That’s not a reason to avoid management. It’s a reason to understand the whole number before you sign, so nothing about your first statement is a surprise.
Why the cheapest option usually isn’t the cheapest
It’s tempting to just pick the lowest fee. Resist it. A rock-bottom rate funds rock-bottom service — a manager stretched across too many doors can’t answer quickly or fill your unit fast. And right now, speed matters more than usual.
London’s vacancy rate has risen to around 3.2% (per CMHC’s most recent survey), up from a low of 1.4% back in 2023, which means units are sitting longer than they did a couple of years ago. On that $1,900 unit, the difference between two weeks vacant and two months is about $2,850 — more than a full year of management fees. Good management earns its keep precisely by keeping that gap from opening up.
How DEJA approaches pricing
Our approach is simple, and it’s built around the thing owners tell us they hate most about management: surprise costs. So with us, every fee is disclosed up front, repairs are billed at cost with no hidden markup, and we don’t charge a lease-renewal fee — because keeping a good tenant shouldn’t cost you anything extra.
We don’t post a single one-size-fits-all rate, because your property isn’t one-size-fits-all. Instead, we put the actual numbers in a short, no-obligation proposal built around your specific unit — so you see exactly what it would cost, with nothing left to discover later.
Want to see the real number for your property? Get a free proposal.
This article is general information for Ontario landlords and isn’t legal, tax, or financial advice. Fees and figures are current as of 2026 and vary by property and provider — confirm specifics before you decide.