Rightmove faces legal action potentially worth £1 billion over accusations of charging unfair and excessive fees to thousands of estate agents across the UK. The case, led by former Competition and Markets Authority panel member Jeremy Newman, is due to be brought before the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
Newman alleges the FTSE 100-listed property website «exploits its dominance of the online property portal market in the UK to charge excessively and unfairly high subscription fees, both at face value and when compared with its competitors». The legal claim aims to «seek to return the overpaid fees to estate agents across the country», according to Newman.
Rightmove controls around 80% of all time spent on property portals in the UK and reported pre-tax profits of £146.5 million over the six months to the end of June. Estate agents can be charged thousands of pounds in fees to use the platform.
Rightmove responds
The company confirmed it had «received notice of a potential claim» in a statement to investors. «We're confident in the value we provide to our partners», Rightmove said.
Previous scrutiny
The firm has faced criticism before. Earlier this year, more than 2,000 people signed a petition calling for an investigation into Rightmove's pricing model, with accusations that it disproportionately squeezes small businesses and independent agencies compared to corporate chains. «Estate agents have had to absorb consistent, excessive price increases on a regular basis», Newman said.
The legal action will represent thousands of estate agents unless they actively opt out. The case is funded by specialist litigation funder Innsworth Capital Limited.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
