Following what appears to have been a game of high-stakes brinkmanship between OpenRent and Rightmove, the landlord platform has now agreed new terms with the UK’s No.1 portal.

The standoff began several weeks ago when OpenRent removed Rightmove’s logo from its home page ‘marketing options’ list followed soon after by rumours that negotiations between the two behemoths of the private rental market were involved in a bruising dust-up over fees.

Earlier this week Rightmove went further, issuing a statement that following the breakdown in negotiations over the price paid to list properties to rent on its site, OpenRent was to kicked off on September 1^st.

The portal, which is the largest in the UK for both sales and lettings properties and which is used only by approved agents, went even further in a bid to reassure investors that the loss of OpenRent would not damage its business and its profitability.

Online lettings

“OpenRent is classified as an online lettings agent within Rightmove’s Estate Agency (Lettings) sub-segment and represents approximately 700 branch equivalents, with less than 8% of Rightmove’s lettings listings in July 2024,” it said.

But in a surprise move today, Rightmove has revealed that the two sides have come to an agreement, saysing: “Further to the announcement on 6th August, Rightmove announces that OpenRent has entered into a new membership agreement. “Our guidance for the year remains as stated at our H1 2024 results.”

The outcome is a signs of two likely plays – either OpenRent realised it couldn’t carry on without a Rightmove listing, which is the most likely, or Rightmove investors persuaded the portal to return to the negotiating table, which is unlikely given its previous reputation for hard-ball selling and dominant market position.