Agents’ anger as Rightmove puts up their subscriptions – ‘Our annual slap in the face’

Agents’ anger as Rightmove puts up their subscriptions – ‘Our annual slap in the face’

Rightmove has sent out letters to agents telling them that their subscriptions are to rise. The portal has strongly defended its hikes.

One agent, who will see their monthly cost before VAT rise from £725 to £865, said: “Rightmove will now cost my business £12,456 a year including VAT, which is the equivalent to our fee income from eight property sales.”

The agent said the rise will mean that the business will be paying more to Rightmove than the combined costs of Zoopla, PrimeLocation, OnTheMarket, its own website, back-office software and the office rent.

The agent said: “How dare they do this to us in a tough market?”

Another agent receiving yesterday’s letter described it as the “annual slap in the face from Rightmove”.

Last night, a spokesperson for Rightmove told us: “We began communicating pricing changes in September 2018 and the price an agent pays depends on the level of exposure an agent gets on Rightmove.

“The majority of agents choose to add various types of product to their core package at a discounted rate, to help with the exposure they want to achieve for their brand and properties.

“We continue to enhance our offering for agents and consumers and each package puts an agent’s brand and properties in front of the UK’s biggest home-hunting audience, gives them the use of market intelligence reports to help them win business, and offers access to Rightmove’s training events.”