Rightmove Bans Listings Without Prices

Rightmove is no longer accepting property listings that do not have a specific price.

Rightmove made the changes to comply with National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) material information rules, with rivals Zoopla and OnTheMarket making similar changes.

Agents can no longer include ‘price on application’ and ‘offers invited’, with prices now mandatory. Council tax band and tenure information must also be included according to the new rules.

If any of these fields are left empty by an agent, the listing will be flagged by the portal on the listing so consumers can see what information is missing.

NTSELAT published the new rules after it collaborated with industry leaders and the UK’s major property portals to determine what should constitute 'material information' for property listings.

The new rules complete Phase A of a three-phase project in which NTSELAT will require more comprehensive and more public information about properties when they are listed for sale. Phases B and C will include requirements to show flood risk and other specific factors that may impact certain properties.

NTSELAT wants all material information to be mandatory on property listings once all three phases of the project are complete. At that stage, it is just guidance.

Agents have strongly supported the mandatory disclosure of material information, with benefits cited including a fewer unnecessary enquiries, faster sales and fewer transaction fall-throughs.

National Trading Standards and its industry partners surveyed more than 300 agents last year and found that 91% agreed that a pre-defined list of basic material information would improve clarity for the industry, while 93% supported the mandatory disclosure of tenure information relating to property tenure.

David Cox, Rightmove’s Legal and Compliance Director, said recently:

"It’s been really encouraging to see that more than 80% of all property listings on Rightmove now include the tenure of a property; up from 70% last year before we started to encourage more agents to add this information to help with National Trading Standard’s initiative."