Rightmove has revealed that it expects to spend £2.3million on legal costs following the recent launch of a ‘class action’ lawsuit against the firm.

The figures have been revealed within its latest results, which include a special note about its operating costs noting that these increased by 17%, from £66.3million to £77.7million.

These figures reflect £10.4million of underlying cost increases alongside £2.3million of legal and professional fees and other costs directly in relation to the proposed legal claim but partially offset by £1.3million “lower share-based incentives charges”.

The legal claim referred to is a £1.5billion ‘class action’ brought by former Competition and Markets Authority panel member Jeremy Newman, who has persuaded a significant number of estate agencies to join the initiative.

It asserts that Rightmove abused its dominant position in the online property portal market by charging excessive and unfair fees to estate agents that list properties on its online portal.

Court hearing

A date has now been set for the court hearing by the Competition Appeal Tribunal for 2nd and 3rd November this year and Rightmove is expected to defend the claim forcefully. It had to post its response to the legal claim by this week.

But Rightmove has previously told The Neg that it is “confident in the value we provide to our partners and consumers, who are at the core of our business solutions and digital platform.

“As one of the most efficient parts of the UK housing market, we help people across the UK to move home by bringing buyers, sellers, renters, landlords and agents together. Our platform continues to provide a growing range of constantly evolving products and features which facilitate market transparency, liquidity and confidence. This claim is without merit, and we will defend it vigorously.”