Rightmove has completed the acquisition of HomeViews, a platform that displays reviews of property developments by residents, for £8m.

HomeViews Platform, founded in 2016, refers to itself as the UK’s biggest community of verified resident reviews of property developments and has a particular focus on the Build to Rent sector.

The platform aims to help prospective residents make more informed decisions about where to live, as well as providing rental operators and developers with a powerful research and marketing tool to help them better understand their residents’ experiences.

Its data platform, HomeViews Pro, is also used by the Build to Rent industry to capture consumer data and emerging trends across the sector.

HomeViews CEO, Rory Cramer, will continue to lead the HomeViews team following the acquisition.

Rightmove’s CEO Johan Svanstrom said: “The HomeViews team has built an impressive platform that gives consumers additional useful information to make decisions. It also provides valuable feedback for industry operators, especially in the build to rent sector, which is an exciting and fast-growing segment of the UK property market.

“This acquisition provides Rightmove with yet another opportunity to further enrich our market-leading property information set for UK consumers and to create new and effective relationship tools for our Build to Rent operator partners. We’re very excited to have Rory and the entire HomeViews team onboard.”

Cramer added: “Joining Rightmove gives us a brilliant opportunity to expand our services for our partners and other stakeholders. Rightmove’s brand leadership, its ongoing digital and product innovation, and the breadth and depth of its reach across the UK property market make this a fantastic combination. We can’t wait to start working together to leverage those benefits for the rapidly expanding build to rent market.”