A new player is entering the property portal market claiming to adopt a radically different proposition by “giving agents a choice”.
nHabit has launched as London’s first AI-powered rental matchmaking platform.
nHabit’s model:
+ Free tier: Up to 3 active listings per month at zero cost, Agents signing up now can enjoy unlimited active listings for the first 3 months.
+ Transparent pricing: Pay as you go model starting at £10 per listing per month (with volume discounts up to 30%)
+ Premium flexibility: For the agents that choose to subscribe to nHabit monthly, there will be additional features and custom market reports when the Premium and Platinum tiers are launched – with early adopter discounts
+ No lock-in: Choose the package that fits your business, scale up or down as needed
+ Actual innovation: AI-powered tenant matching, verified lead pipeline, neighbourhood compatibility scoring, and deep analytics that traditional portals don’t provide
nHabit is keen to present itself as a cost-effective alternative to Rightmove.
The company said in a statement: “The frustration for many is understandable, with independent agents facing unprecedented pressures in recent years: rising wages, compliance costs, insurance premiums and technological investments to name but a few. Yet traditional portals continue extracting ever-larger fees without delivering proportionate value.
“This isn’t simply an issue of money. It is about gross market power with a huge monopoly, undermining any sense of partnership within the industry.
“The £1 billion collective legal action against Rightmove, led by former Competition and Markets Authority panel member Jeremy Newman, alleges the portal ‘exploits its dominance to charge excessively and unfairly high subscription fees.’ A decade ago, the constant petitions and open letters against Rightmove would have drawn fierce support from across the sector, but sadly now barely register at all, a testament to how normalised agent helplessness has become.
“Portals costs continue to rise at an unsustainable pace and will soon see many agents price out the market.”
nHabit states that its AI matchmaking technology can identify personally suitable locations and properties, including in areas the user may never have considered. This means properties appear in curated recommendations to renters who genuinely match the area, lifestyle, and property type, helping to cut through the noise of generic portal listings and avoid postcode saturation.
“Instead of fighting thousands of generic listings, your properties sit in curated suggestions,” said Steven Charlton, founder of nHabit. “You get access to a bigger pool of potential tenants who are genuinely compatible with what you’re offering.”
Alongside its criticism of Rightmove’s fee structure, nHabit has also targeted what it called OnTheMarket’s “failed” experiment.
“For renters, nHabit offers swipe-based discovery, AI-powered recommendations, personalised compatibility scores and access to hidden gems beyond the traditional portal listings. For agents, it offers something they haven’t had in years: an alternative.”