Placebuzz secretly joins the UK online real estate market

The online property sector for the UK market is getting a new face

Placebuzz is listing agents’ properties – although it admits that some agents may be unaware.

Describing itself variously as a UK-wide property portal aggregator and a “super-fast property portal”, Placebuzz is taking its properties from Zoopla and OnTheMarket although not Rightmove.

Founded in 2011 and launched in 2012, privately-owned Placebuzz has operated under the radar until now.

It now says that it aggregates over 80% of the UK’s for sale and rental properties, and has 600,000 registered users.

It already provides property searchers with instant alerts and says it will be launching several new features in the coming months.

The family-run business Co-Founded by Andy Hatoum says its strategic vision is to have over 5m visits a month.

It has appointed a business director, Neil Tillott, who joins from start-up company and now defunct fitness site The Running Bug, and who previously had a long career with publishers Hearst UK.

Placebuzz was asked if all the agents whose properties appear on it know that this is the case.

The company explained: “While some agents know they are on Placebuzz through our partner feeds, some don’t as Placebuzz doesn’t have a direct relationship with agents.”

They also said that agents who wanted their properties removed, could have that done easily.

However, a spokesperson said: “It’s straightforward but not very common as this results in fewer leads via Placebuzz’s partners, which is undesirable to agents.”

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