Tenancy referencing firm Van Mildert is to remain in Newcastle with its current team of some 70 staff, following its £20m sale to Rightmove.
Christian Balshen will also stay in place at the helm of the business which he founded in 2009.
The acquisition, announced on Friday and expected to complete in October, is expected to deliver some £5m revenue this year.
The Van Mildert products will be pivotal to the Rightmove Passport that has been under development, so that tenants can present themselves “reference ready” when applying to agents for accommodation.
Balshen said that forecasting for this year had been difficult, with the tenancy fee ban known to be coming in, although when it would do so remained uncertain until April.
He said: “We have not seen an alteration in tenancy referencing volumes from a year ago, and as yet, there is no firm evidence of referencing costs always being passed on to landlords.
“We are aware of some agencies taking it on the chin.”
He added: “The Rightmove Passport is something which can truly change the market for the better, improving the lettings experience for letting agents, tenants and landlords.
“It is fantastic for Van Mildert to have the opportunity to contribute to this whilst also ensuring that our specialist products give letting agents the tools they need to thrive in their market.”
Rob Symes, head of lettings innovation at Rightmove, said: “This acquisition will augment our Rightmove Passport, which can help support agents when they’re pre-qualifying applicants and handling leads, and could also help tenants save time when applying for properties.
“Agents will be able to use the Rightmove Passport to help identify the most suitable tenants, and if they choose to use Van Mildert for referencing our aim is to help them save more time by integrating the Passport into the referencing flow.
“We hope that this acquisition will help make renting a property faster, easier and more efficient for tenants, landlords and agents alike.”
Rightmove said that over the past few months it has been making further improvements to the Passport.
It now includes an Equifax credit check, an anti-money laundering check, identity validation and a check on the fraud protection database.
The Passport could help agents save time if they ask tenants to fill it in when they apply for a property, by visiting:
I for one will not be accepting the passport.
I would rather pay referencing myself then have another relationship with RM.
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I will also not accept anything supplied by Rightmove. I want to see the back of RM.
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There isn’t a bargepole long enough.
There is no incentive to use RM for lettings anyway – it’s Sales that they have a stranglehold on, but most agents can survive without RM for lettings.
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I can’t stress enough to any agents that deal largely in lettings reading this – do not use a rightmove passport to qualify your tenants. It’s very obvious that Rightmove are looking at ways to retain their declining subscriber base – adding a service such as this is designed to keep you needing Rightmove which more and more agents are starting to realise is costing them fortunes..
Mark my words, over the next few months Rightmove are going to start ramming ‘Rightmove Passport’ down the necks of the public to get as many people pre qualified as possible, then offer that to agents so they won’t have the need to reference their tenants.. I dare say that RM may also consider taking out insurance for non payment of rent for a small fee to the agent meaning they can sell this service onto the landlord at a cost.
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perhaps on the property adverts we could put a note to say ‘ Rightmove Passport Not Accepted On This Property ‘…. now that would be a laugh….
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Might as well give RM all your client details as well…they have you by the short and curlies anyway!
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Any agent dealing in Lettings should now be thinking about where RM are going with their offering, we are paving the way for them to go direct to landlords and tenants. Any agent working with Van Mildert should stop immediately you are providing RM with your clients data. A tenant find service for RM is just around the corner and we have all paid them for the privilege. Join OTM and turn off RM its in our hands while we have the chance.
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So, this seems to be a popular idea from our beloved friends at RM then!
Am glad to see I am not alone as I too will definitely not be accepting someone just because the Gods of Rightmove tell me so with their mighty passport. If any of my prospective tenants mention it, I will be telling them to stay well away from it.
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