Estate agents across the country are being held to ransom by Rightmove which is raising its subscription fees again this year, according to the owner of an agency in Brighton, who is facing an 18% fee hike.
Cooper Adams in East Preston has been told by Rightmove that they face substantial hikes in their monthly fees when they come up for renewal.
But the estate agency’s owner, Shaun Adam, believes that the property portal could be in breach of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) rules as it is, in his view, abusing their dominant market position and engaging in anti-competitive behaviour.
Adams has launched a petition calling for a halt to the surge in Rightmove issuing a ‘Call for CMA Probe into Rightmove’s Unfair Pricing Practices Affecting Estate Agents’. See petition., which has attracted just over 60 signatures since launching yesterday.
Adams lists the following reasons as to why the CMA might take an interest:
Market Dominance:
+ Rightmove controls the majority of the UK property portal market (over 86% of all time spent on property portals in the UK).
+ Their brand dominance forces estate agents to stay on the platform to meet client expectations.
Potential Anti-Competitive Practices:
+ Unfair Pricing: Rightmove is increasing fees by 18% while offering larger agencies lower, negotiated rates. This disproportionately impacts small independent agents who have less bargaining power.
+ Lock-in Tactics: Rightmove’s strategy of increasing rates for agents who leave and later return discourages competition and restricts market movement.
+ Lack of Value Justification: They have a 71.5% profit margin and are not reinvesting significantly to provide 18% more value to agents or the public.
Consumer Impact:
+ Independent agents pass these higher costs onto consumers, increasing selling and renting fees.
+ This could reduce consumer choice, as smaller agents struggle to compete with corporate agencies that get lower Rightmove fees.
+ Over time, this might lead to less competition in the estate agency sector, which harms consumers and raises property marketing costs.
Possible CMA Actions:
+ Launch an investigation into Rightmove’s pricing structure under UK competition law (abuse of dominant position).
+ Call for a fairer pricing structure that doesn’t penalise small independent agents.
+ Introduce market regulations to prevent excessive fee increases.
Rightmove has been approached for comment.
well done Shaun. Plenty of agents complain about Rightmove on a regular basis. Time to see how many are actually prepared to back you.
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Thank you for your support
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Until they are charging less then £1000 , we must not stop!
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This type of complaint has been levied against Rightmove regularly for the last 20+ years. The argument & emotion behind it sparked competitor portals like OTM.
After some initial interest, all these campaigns have fizzled out.
This is a monster fed & kept alive by Agents’ properties & cash. They privately acknowledge they know Agents hate them and yet their behaviour remains unchanged.
Shaun – what will be different this time?
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Have Rightmove been investigated before by the CMA ?
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) could investigate Rightmove if there is evidence that they are abusing their dominant market position and engaging in anti-competitive behaviour. Here’s why:
1. Market Dominance & Lack of Competition
Rightmove controls the majority of the UK property portal market, with over 86% of all time spent on property portals in the UK.
Estate agents feel forced to use Rightmove because sellers and buyers expect listings to be on the platform.
Other portals exist (Zoopla, OnTheMarket, Boomin before it collapsed), but none have the same reach, meaning Rightmove has significant pricing power.
2. Potential Anti-Competitive Practices
Unfair Pricing: Rightmove is increasing fees far beyond inflation (e.g., 18% annual increases) while offering lower, negotiated rates to large corporate agencies.
Lock-in Tactics: Agents who leave or pause their membership are forced to pay a higher rate when they return. This discourages competition and limits agents’ ability to switch providers.
Lack of Value Justification: Rightmove operates with a 71.5% profit margin but does not reinvest significantly to provide agents or the public with 18% more value.
3. Impact on Consumers
Higher costs for agents = higher fees for sellers and landlords, which could reduce affordability for the public.
Less competition in the estate agency sector as smaller independent agents struggle to afford Rightmove fees, giving corporate agencies an unfair advantage.
Over time, fewer agents competing could reduce consumer choice, allowing estate agency fees to rise unchecked.
4. Possible CMA Actions
If the CMA investigates and finds wrongdoing, they could:
✅ Demand fairer pricing to stop Rightmove penalising smaller independent agents.
✅ Regulate fee increases to prevent excessive price hikes.
✅ Force Rightmove to stop restrictive practices, such as punishing agents who leave and return.
✅ Introduce measures to promote competition among property portals.
Conclusion
Rightmove is not a monopoly, but their dominance means they control pricing in a way that limits competition. The CMA has the power to act if they believe Rightmove is abusing its position to the detriment of smaller agents and consumers.
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I wish you the very best.
It will be a test of the CMA and our market economy as to whether they feel Rightmove needs to be brought to heel, or whether market forces should be allowed to do as they wish. No one is forced to use Rightmove (OpenRent decided to remove all its listings from Rightmove recently) and as a private company they can charge as they wish.
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But they are forced to use rightmove due to first to market advantage .the product is rubbish. Its not a fair market. Please be quiet .
It’s unique, and as a result most dont understand why agents are moaning. The great sales agents are leaving the industry while the rubbish agents with lettings propping them up , survive
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with respect, I won’t be quiet … discussion is what these forums are about. If you can’t be civil, play elsewhere.
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Complete waste of time, agents had the perfect opportunity to leave Rightmove during Covid (like I did) but they were all gutless. After three years without Rightmove I was then forced to re-join because the gutless agents were just using it against me all the time, because it was so easy.
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I get your frustration, but the reality is that clients expect properties to be on Rightmove. If the majority of agents stay, leaving puts you at a competitive disadvantage. It’s not about being gutless—it’s about meeting client demand. The issue isn’t just about leaving or staying; it’s about Rightmove exploiting its dominance with 18% fee hikes every year. That’s why we need regulation—so agents actually have a fair choice, rather than being strong-armed into paying whatever they demand.
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Rightmove is fine. £2000 an office is criminal. Its worth £500 per month tops.
I think there is a good case here.
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The only real solution is to vote with your feet and leave Rightmove. OTM is a promising challenger, but is that truly what agents want? The general consensus suggests otherwise, as many believe OTM will ultimately follow the same path as Rightmove. Yet, these same agents continue to support the very platform that works against them.
Facebook offers a free and more effective alternative, yet agents are not actively promoting it—a decision that is difficult to understand. In reality, agents have only themselves to blame. They continue to support Rightmove while using it as a weapon against their competitors. Given this mindset, I believe any petition or attempt to form an alliance will inevitably fail.
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Agents can’t leave = a case for the regulator .
It is not a fair market.
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I shall watch how this story develops this with interest.
I know it’s not a popular view but I think that Rightmove represent excellent value for money as do the other portals.
No agent is forced to promote homes on Rightmove and a (small) number of agents choose not to use them which is absolutely their choice.
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Simon you work for Exp who pay your Rightmove fees for you at a heavily discounted rate compared to the extortionate amounts they collect from small independent agencies. Have Exp increased your monthly fees or commissions you pay them by 18% on an annual basis?
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That’s completely true Shaun – I do work at eXp but that still doesn’t change my view. Having worked at (and partially owned ) an independent agent as well as working in the corporate sector, I still believe that Rightmove and the other portals offer value for money as evidently do the overwhelming number of other agents – otherwise they wouldn’t use them.
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The value for money….
If you paid Rightmove directly and they increased fees by 18% pa you would be happy with that? How about 28% or 78% where would you draw the line at their value for money?
Their service levels don’t rise at the same rate.
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In my view a service is worth (just like a house) whatever someone is prepared to pay. If, as appears to be a fact, the overwhelming majority of agents are prepared to pay the fees to Rightmove (despite numerous alternatives) then it clearly represents value to them.
I am judging agents by what they DO and not by what they SAY.
As a matter of interest, is it your intention to continue using Rightmove yourself, despite the increases?
To answer your questions directly, of course I wouldn’t be “happy” with any increase in Rightmove fees. Like any competent business person, I would assess what value it represented and decide accordingly.
In respect of “drawing the line”, it would very much depend on what Rightmove package and products I used – but perhaps £4,000 to £5,000 a month ?
As a matter of interest – what would be the maximum figure you would pay (depending on the package) before deciding to leave Rightmove?
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I hope rightmove come for exp one day. See how the linkedin videos support you then.
Also, I see most exp agents realise they need an office after a bit of success. ( stock retention reasons no doubt) then you get hit with £2000 overhead .
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Rightmove are like Millwall fans in that they are proud that ‘everybody hates them’ (Millwall’s words of old, not mine).
It’s so sad as they are obviously successful but could be so much more so if they swallowed their arrogance and worked with their customers, not against them.
Imagine how they’d fly if they dragged their website into the current technological era and had customers that liked and praised them, rather than these (no doubt worthy, of course) repeat cycles of petitions and protests.
We have signed, and were pleased to do so.
Let’s now see if a hoped for CMA investigation, spooks the shareholders enough to maybe make some changes for the better; to both RM and the agents that pay for it.
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Thank you Dyane
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Again.. due to market forces, they do not need a good website or any innovation.
Another reason to break them up. Or capp their fees.
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I wonder if UK agents would prefer the Australian portal model, which in a nutshell is about A$700 per property paid to realestate.com.au (Aussie Rightmove equivalent) and A$500 ish paid to all other portals per property.
So portal spend = £700 per property, all of it passed onto the vendor.
More expensive, but none of it coming from agent pockets.
Preferable? That could be where the UK is going.
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