OpenRent Removes Rightmove as a Marketing Option for Landlords

The British rentals specialist OpenRent has stopped offering landlords the ability to market their properties via Rightmove.

The lettings platform prominently shows how it advertises listings on Zoopla, PrimeLocation, and more, and specifically mentioned Rightmove on its website as recently as this month.

But now it appears any agreement between Rightmove and OpenRent—whereby Rightmove showcased circa 15% of OpenRent's total listings—has ended.

Rightmove has declined to comment on OpenRent's decision to leave the portal.

OpenRent is the UK's largest lettings platform and—this is speculation—probably had a cut-price agreement with Rightmove to let agents and landlords advertise their listings on OpenRent.

According to an anonymous agent who spoke to The Negotiator, Rightmove likely came to the conclusion that it no longer needed to offer discounts to platforms like OpenRent and would have withdrawn any subsidies when it came to renewal.

The agent said:

"I think that Rightmove has come to the conclusion that, given it has an unassailable market position within the property market, and that its only real offer is the fees agents pay, allowing platforms such as OpenRent to carry on providing Rightmove’s service at a considerable discount to the fees paid by the vast majority of its customers is no longer tenable.

"If you’re being asked to pay more for Rightmove, then seeing other 'agents' like OpenRent getting the same or similar service for a lot less, hurts.

"Although it pains me to say it, Rightmove for once appears to be making business decisions that are to the direct benefit of its main customers base."

Also speaking to The Negotiator, Mike Nettleton from Agent Response said:

"OpenRent’s bold move to withdraw its listings from Rightmove is a seismic event in the UK rental market  because, while OpenRent has 15% of the lettings market, it’s doesn’t provide Rightmove with 15% of its revenue.

"It's a clear signal that the once-dominant property portal is flexing its monopolistic muscle, demanding terms so onerous that even the UK’s largest online letting agent felt compelled to walk away."

Rightmove has a long-standing and notorious reputation for leveraging price hikes on agents in the knowledge that they will pay given the portal's hugely dominant position in the UK real estate market.

The portal recently posted its half-year financial results for 2024, recording typically strong profit growth (7% year-on-year) with revenues of £192.1 million for the period.