Rightmove profits rise amid rental and commercial property growth
Britain’s largest property portal, Rightmove, posted a rise in revenue and profit on Friday, buoyed by estate agents upgrading marketing packages and growing demand across its rental and mortgage arms.
The FTSE 100 firm told the market that revenue rose 10 per cent to £211.7m in the first half of 2025, up from £192.1m last year, while operating profit climbed to £145.4m, also up 10 per cent.
Rightmove pointed to renewed market activity and agent confidence as drivers of the uptick, with its highest first-half estate agency retention in over a decade and a small increase in total membership across agents and new home developers.
The group said more agents were opting for its top-tier “Optimiser Edge” product – now used by a third of independent agents – while developers took up a new premium marketing tool called “Ascend”, launched amid what Rightmove described as “a post-Covid low” in new build stock.
Chief executive Johan Svanstrom said the platform’s investment in digital tools was “helping agents and developers compete in a tight market”.
“Against a backdrop of a positive market for agents, we have seen an increase in agent formation”, he said. “Developers of new builds are turning to marketing products… to help compete for buyers”.
Rentals, mortgages and commercial property fuel growth
Rightmove’s newer business lines also delivered strong growth, with combined revenue from its rental services, mortgage and commercial arms up 37 per cent year-on-year.
Its digital lettings solution “lead to keys” signed up around 270 more partners in the period, while its mortgages unit more than doubled revenue to £4.5m – helping introduce some £20bn of potential lending to brokers and partners.
Commercial property listings also increased, with partner numbers rising 17 per cent since December.
Consumer engagement remained high, with 9.1 billion minutes spent on the platform – the second-highest figure on record – and social media engagement across platforms like Tiktok, LinkedIn and Instagram up threefold.
The results come amid growing optimism in the property sector, as falling mortgage rates and signs of a rate cut later this year boost confidence among agents and buyers.
According to Rightmove’s own market data, sales agreed in H1 were six per cent higher than the same period last year, while completions jumped by over 20 per cent.
Looking ahead, the firm maintained its guidance for eight to 10 per cent revenue growth this year and an underlying operating margin of 70 per cent.
It returned £112.4m to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over the half.