The UK’s second largest property portal has outlined its strategy for future growth, with AI and the new homes market major focuses for investment.

The announcement came with Zoopla claiming a strong start to 2026, with Q1 revenues achieving 9% year-on-year growth across all parts of the business, despite general market uncertainty from the geopolitical international turmoil.

Zoopla says it is shifting its emphasis away from a focus on ‘search’ numbers, presenting itself as a platform to offer agents and consumers a simpler and better-informed moving process and experience.

CEO Paul Whitehead said, “Six million homeowners now trust Zoopla to track the value of their home – and that engagement is what drives stronger outcomes for the agents and housebuilders we serve.”

AI-driven strategy

Zoopla’s agreement with OpenAI earlier this year has enabled it to access the AI giant’s ‘frontier’ models, allowing it to build a range of tools for both agent partners and consumers, which sit behind their marketing slogan, ‘Just Ask Zoopla’.

The AI tie-up has given it the framework to use the phenomenal amount of data it holds to develop AI tools to create what it describes as “a more conversational, two-way experience that helps consumers understand their home, their market and their affordability, long before they enter the search phase.”

Our enterprise agreement with OpenAI marks the next phase of Zoopla’s evolution.”

CEO Paul Whitehead said, “The acquisition of newhomesforsale.co.uk and our enterprise agreement with OpenAI marks the next phase of Zoopla’s evolution, investing in AI and product innovation to make moving simple for consumers and to build a property platform that creates long term value.”

The upshot for Zoopla is delivery of leads to agents of ready-to-move, better-informed and prepared homeowners, rather than simply search traffic.

New homes market

New-build is the other key area of focus for investment for Zoopla, with the recent acquisition of portal Newhomesforsale.co.uk. It has made strategic partnerships with major builders Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey, and says it is aiming to deliver ROI through quality of leads and increased visibility for developments and builders.