OnTheMarket: Estate agents to launch new site to rival Zoopla and Rightmove
A group of estate agents yesterday announced that they had joined forces to create an online property portal to challenge the dominance of Zoopla and Rightmove. They said the portal would launch in January under the name OnTheMarket.
Agents’ Mutual was founded last year by some of Britain’s biggest estate agencies, including Knight Frank and Savills, to disrupt “the anti-competitive duopoly” of Zoopla and Rightmove.
The group claims that property websites have hiked fees charged to agency chains to advertise properties online at the expense of consumers using the site in order to maximise profits for their shareholders.
OnTheMarket will be wholly owned by estate agents, with profits reinvested back into the business, the group said.
Chief executive Ian Springett said: “OnTheMarket has the appeal to attract the full spectrum of consumers and it has the gravitas to distinguish our brand as the natural home of locally visible, full service independent estate and lettings agencies.”