A majority of estate agents who were asked, believe portal fee hikes are exorbitant and unjustified.

A poll of 320 agents by The Property DriveBuy property search app shows almost 60% do not believe improvements made by Rightmove and Zoopla have provided value for money.

Instead, 42% of agents said the portals’ offerings had only improved ‘marginally’ in the last four years.

Revenue rise

During that period, the average monthly revenue per advertiser on Rightmove rose from £1,189 to £1,524.

Since 2021, the number of agents on Rightmove has increased by just 0.4%, but the average revenue the platform has received from each advertiser has risen by 28.2%, including a 6.5% increase in 2024 alone.

Despite these price increases, only 56% of agents have actively explored alternative ways of marketing their properties outside of the main online portals.

Among these, 43% have used social media, 26% have utilised leafleting and door drops, 17% have held open houses, and 14% have turned to traditional print advertising.

Of these, 56% say the most successful of these alternatives has been social media, followed by leafleting (18%), print advertising (15%), and open houses (12%).

Stranglehold

Steve Foreman, Founder and CEO of The Property DriveBuy, says: “The major portals have become so ubiquitous with house hunting that they’ve now got a stranglehold on estate agents, who understandably feel like they have no option but to be visible on those platforms.

“This dominance has given the likes of Rightmove a dictatorial mindset in which they hike their fees year on year without making any genuine effort to innovate or offer greater value for money.”

Earlier this year, a petition was launched by independent estate agent Shaun Adams calling for an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into Rightmove’s charging policies.

Yesterday, The Neg reported how Rightmove was launching a free education and assistance initiative to help agents navigate the forthcoming strictures of the Renters’ Rights Bill.

A Zoopla spokesperson told The Neg: “We’re laser focused on delivering industry leading ROI, with a 14% increase in high quality vendor leads to agents between Q1 and Q2.

“Alongside this we’ve built the largest homeowner audience with over 4.8m subscribers. This is driving real agent value, helping them to win instructions and grow their business.”

The Neg has approached Rightmove for comment.