Thousands of UK estate agents are being invited to join a collective legal claim – at no cost – accusing Rightmove of abusing its dominant market position by charging excessive listing fees.
The property portal is reportedly facing an “imminent” legal challenge from thousands of UK estate agents who accuse the property portal of abusing its market dominance by charging unfair and excessive listing fees. Damages in the collective action are estimated at up to £1bn.
The claim is being led by Jeremy Newman, a former panel member of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and alleges that Rightmove has leveraged its leading position in the online property listings market to impose inflated subscription prices on estate agents.
If successful, the lawsuit could mark one of the largest collective actions ever brought against a UK digital platform, potentially reshaping how property portals set their pricing structures.
Rightmove operates at a profit margin of around 70%, the highest in the FTSE 100.
The case, fully funded by specialist litigation funder Innsworth Capital and supported by law firm Scott+Scott UK LLP and economists from Kairos Economics, will be filed on behalf of thousands of agents on an opt-out basis. Any UK estate agent that has paid fees to Rightmove in the last six years will automatically be included in the action unless they choose to opt out.
“Rightmove knows that its product is considered a ‘must-have’ for estate agents,” said Jeremy Newman. “It exploits that dominance to charge excessively and unfairly high fees. This case will seek to return overpaid sums to estate agents and restore balance to the relationship between agents and the platform.”
Innsworth Advisors MD, Ian Garrard, believes the case was about “levelling the playing field for businesses up and down the country” and that agents joining the claim “will not have to pay a penny” toward the legal costs. No date or timeframe was given for the potential filing.
Rightmove has just issued a statement acknowledging press speculation relating to a potential claim against the company.
It states: “Rightmove has received notice of a potential claim. We’re confident in the value we provide to our partners. Further updates will be provided as appropriate.”
Rightmove’s fees account for up to 13.5% of an estate agency’s sales commission – analysis
Their defence is straightforward: this situation didn’t appear out of thin air.
Back in early 2012 the duopoly was effectively sanctioned — four portals controlled by two companies. Zoopla, PrimeLocation and FindaProperty on one side; Rightmove on the other. I called it in October 2011 on EAT, and it was obvious even then what would follow when market visibility for an entire industry depended on just two owners.
If there is a collective action, it ought to examine not just pricing but the decisions that allowed such a concentrated market to form in the first place. The CMA created the conditions — so hopefully the action is taking a hard look at that too.
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Rightmove is not a monopoly, it certainly has a dominant market position but it has got competitors and agents are free to use them.
I would remind agents of the cost and total inefficiency of the market before Rightmove, small newspaper ads that were expensive.
As for its profit margins, look at a lot of internet based businesses and their profit margins. Most of us wished we could have come up with the idea.
The Trumpian £1 billion action is ridiculous. Also , remember what you wish for, should the Rightmove share-rice collapse, the Murdochs are waiting just around the corner. If the think its rough now, wait and see what it would be like under their control.
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That is true. Agents wouldn’t be paying £1,500 p.m. for all you can eat as they are now, they would be paying £300 per property and trying to pass the costs down to the vendor, as the Aussies do now.
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@Steve_Smithson
When I visited Australia I learned most agents charge the seller about 1 percent upfront for marketing, and that includes portal costs at cost price. It is normal in many areas over there. You can’t compare apples with fridges. Their whole model is built around upfront paid marketing, not agents absorbing huge monthly fees and hoping to claw it back later.
So yes, the numbers look different because the entire structure is different.
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Not true. Its first to market monopoly and they exploit this luck. There is zero reason why they charge this amount. Rolls Royce cost more to produce and rightly charge more.
This is a tech phenomenon. Like if somebody tried competing with Facebook / x etc. Impossible , as people know, this is where everyone else is = first to market. ( Difference is these platforms are free and use advertising to reward content creators. Agents should be paid not charged to use rightmove if anything.
Woudnt be as bad if companies like EXp werent allowed to exploit and devalue the memebership with their business model.
An agent providing a real seervice with an office vs sitting in his mums lounge all day posting garabage stats, is able to compete as they save £2000k a month on rightmove.
Bless you
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Watchdog13 is hiding behind a made up name while getting the all the basics wrong.
Rightmove is not a legal monopoly, but it is a virtual quasi monopoly in the real world. A quasi monopoly means competitors exist on paper, but they are too weak to act as real alternatives. The market behaves almost the same as a monopoly even if it is not one in strict legal terms.
This is exactly how the CMA treats it. They do not care if a company is the only option. They care about market power. If customers cannot realistically switch, if rivals cannot influence behaviour, and if a company can raise prices without losing business, the CMA considers that company dominant. Dominance plus unfair pricing is enough to trigger a collective competition claim, which is why this case now exists.
Sellers expect their home on Rightmove. If an agent refuses to use it, they lose the instruction. That removes genuine choice. Buyers start their search there too, which concentrates the entire audience in one place. When a platform becomes unavoidable for both sides of the market, it has monopoly style power whether anyone wants to admit it or not.
Zoopla and OTM exist, but they do not constrain Rightmove’s behaviour. The evidence is simple. Rightmove raise prices every year while running at about 70 percent profit margin. If competition mattered, those increases would not stick.
Bringing up newspapers is irrelevant. It does not justify extreme pricing today or the fact that small independents pay far more per branch than national chains.
The collective action is not ridiculous. It is an opt out competition claim backed by serious funders and former CMA panel experts. The figures are modelled across thousands of agents, not made up.
And the Murdoch point is just noise. No buyer will pay full value for a business with a possible nine figure liability. They would demand a heavy discount or a large escrow.
Rightmove is a quasi monopoly because agents cannot walk away without harming their business. That is the reality and it is exactly what the CMA focuses on.
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I personally think many are not that bothered about it being a monopoly. What we care about is fairness.
we should all be charged the same price.
Corporate firms, should pay the same as a small independent.
The reason RM do not do this, is they cannot afford the dam bursting if corporates started to leave.
This is what should be looked in.
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Everything crossed at Scruffy Towers. I had thought that 10% increases per year were exploitative but learning of recent increases foisted upon us, such an action is warmly welcomed, if long overdue.
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Last year my increase and for many others was 20%
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Very interesting how so many agents are now ‘mute’ over the topic they have been vocal about for so long. Is Rightmove really so bad? What would we have been paying the ‘papers’ 15 years ago? How well optimised are our own businesses? Rhetorical, but just saying……..
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I think agents are only mute as they have been worn down, I know I have. This might be the thing that gets the juices flowing again
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@ilumin8
Agents aren’t mute because everything is fine. They are quiet because they are locked into long contracts and scared of upsetting the only portal sellers insist on. That is not agreement, it is survival.
The newspaper comparison is way off. Back then the papers were ripping us off, so local agents in my area broke away and printed their own paper. We fixed the problem. You cannot do that with a national portal costing millions and dominating the market.
Rightmove now take about £390 million a year and turn it into around £270 million of profit. Roughly 70 percent margin. Small independents often pay far more per branch than the big chains. That is why people have been vocal.
So no, the issue has not gone away. People are just cautious about challenging the platform that controls the shop window.
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Why do people hide behind a made up name on here? Grow some balls!
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I can’t believe people on here are actually defending Rightmove! Their fees are extortionate and unjustified (or Zoopla and OTM would have to charge the same).
And this has nothing to do with eXp agents (no, I’m not with them) – it’s quite simply the fact that Rightmove exploit their position as the leading portal, client contracts etc.
I’d bet that most agents want to leave Rightmove (because of the fees) but can’t because they are trapped.
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Maybe those commenting work for agencies and don’t really grasp the costs?
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I spoke with a ~15-branch agency today that has £400,000 a year bill with RM.
It’s staggering.
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I think they need to get themselves on the basic package…..I wonder at what level of business the discounts start to apply
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