OnTheMarket (OTM) is not currently aiming to overtake Rightmove or Zoopla but has succeeded in reducing listing fees for agents across all portals, its chief executive claims.
Speaking to proptech and property portal news website OnlineMarketplaces, OTM’s chief executive Jason Tebb explained how the company’s ethos has evolved.
At launch in 2015, much of the narrative around the aim of OTM was to challenge the market dominance of Rightmove and Zoopla.
Tebb suggested in a video interview this week that OTM is not here to “take on Rightmove” but wants to offer something different that agents and consumers find valuable.
He said: “The original ethos of OTM, those principles that the founding agents and executive team launched the business with, was as an insurance policy against the rising duopoly of the other two.
“We achieved that.
“Agents tell us quite often that they’re convinced that having three major portals to offer some differentiation and some challenge means that their net total spent is actually less than if there were two.
“I dread to think where prices from the others would be if we hadn’t been around.”
The portal also launched with a controversial ‘one other portal’ rule for agents – meaning users could only use OTM plus either Rightmove or Zoopla.
This was dropped in 2016 but OTM still has a unique selling point of getting agents to list properties at least 24 hours before they go live on other portals.
Around 4% to 7% of stock on the portal is listed this way, Tebb revealed.
He said OTM’s aim is to provide the products, services and functionality that helps agents do their jobs better, adding: “Will the outcome be that we become market leader, or second, who knows?
“My vision for the business is to become as cost effective and valuable as we can be.
“We are already delivering that in terms of our commercial partnerships, new products and building additional service as part of our main fee.
“The long term strategy might be that we raise our own presence and maybe one day do take over the mantle of market leader.
“Just focusing on toppling this or that guy isn’t the right strategy.”
You can watch the full video interview below:
Zoopla chief executive Charlie Bryant has revealed aspirations for the portal to play a key role in the home buying process.
Speaking on the Evening Standard’s How To Be A CEO podcast, Bryant said future homebuyers expect the homebuying process to be more personalised and technologically and data driven.
But he warned the property industry has been slow to catch up and meet the demands of this trend.
Bryant said: “We want to take the stress away from homeownership and use our data to bring more transparency to the process.
“Twenty years ago you could search for property by value or postcode and it is the same today.
“That is not the experience when you, for example, buy a book or go shopping.
“There is a more curated and personalised experience, property is not there.”
Bryant said the next generation think differently about how they buy products and services, which will become the same for property.
He added: “People think of Zoopla as a property listings site but we are also the largest supplier of software to agents, provide CRM for builders and risk data for mortgage lenders.
“We are present in so many parts of the chain so almost feel duty bound to link it up.”
Zoopla-backed agency software provider Alto has announced the speaker line-up and agenda for its inaugural virtual event.
Altogether Live will take place in a state-of-the-art virtual world – each attendee will have a unique avatar that can interact through live chat or video calling with other attendees, as well as collecting swag items and attending dynamic speaking sessions.
Sessions will include an Altogether Live panel with Vouch’s Mike Delap, Jo Wall, partnership success manager at Smartsearch, Cheffins lettings manager Christina Harris and Tara Lynch, head of product at Alto.
The panel will be moderated by Kristjan Byfield, co-founder at Base Property Specialists and The Depositary and will discuss the role of proptech in helping agents to meet market challenges.
Zoopla’s executive director of research and insight James Toogood will also host a session on the UK housing market and what agents should care about most as we head into 2023.
Commenting on the event, Simon Woodward, director of product at Alto said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming agents to Altogether Live next week, with plenty of informative and insightful sessions featuring on the jam-packed agenda.
“Attendees will also have the opportunity to visit our expo floor, where they can learn about Alto’s sales, lettings, marketing and client accounting functionality that makes us really stand out from the crowd.”
Byfield added: “I’ve long been a fan and advocate of the proptech space and what benefits can be derived from this by agents.
“The ongoing innovation in this space, both by individual specialist products and the broader CRM space, has only seen this accelerate as we inch closer to a seamless, integrated landscape.
“I’m really excited to moderate this talk with one of the biggest proptech companies in the UK, Zoopla, and some of the leading offerings in this space in the shape of Vouch & Smartsearch. I’m excited to see what thoughts and insights will be shared on the day.”
– View the speaker lineup and sign up for the event.
Zoopla has launched a review into its editorial processes after agents criticised a consumer guide published by the portal that encouraged sellers to “get a fee as close to 1% as you can.”
The portal was chastised on social media for encouraging sellers to push for low fees from agents while also charging them for listings.
An article on agency fees and choosing an agent, that is linked to within Zoopla’s guide to selling, said: “If you’ve opted for a sole agency, try to get a fee that is as close to 1% as you can.”
It also suggested an agent may be prepared to accept a lower fee on higher value properties and those trying to build a customer base or smaller independents may be more willing to negotiate.
Industry veteran Bryan Mansell said: “Firstly, a good fee is directly linked to getting the best price and service from an agent.
“Secondly, the strategy from Zoopla to provide a service to their paying customers ( #estateagents ) is clearly misaligned.
“Let’s charge them for their stock, then screw them on their fees.”
A LinkedIn post highlighting the contentious paragraph received many unhappy comments from agents and Zoopla’s chief marketing officer Gary Bramall said in a response: “I agree that this missed the mark and doesn’t reflect the service and value agents provide.
“I’d like to apologise for this and reassure you (and all others who have commented and read the post) that agents very much remain valued partners to us at Zoopla.”
The portal has since told Estate Agent Today that its editorial processes will be reviewed.
A spokesperson said: “We’re reviewing our internal editorial processes to ensure that everything we publish goes through an extra layer of checks and we’ll be paying particularly close attention to all of our consumer-facing articles, to make sure that they fairly represent our valued agent customers.”
The section on agency fees has also since been revised.
It now states:
When you’re looking for an estate agent, you might want to choose someone who:
• can see all the best things about your home, just like you can
• has plenty of experience when it comes to marketing homes like yours
• knows your area inside out, and can highlight all its best bits to potential buyers.
When you’re doing your research on estate agents, be sure to:
• check out their existing listings on Zoopla to get a sense of their writing style, photography and videos
• keep an eye out for ‘For sale’ signs in your area to see which agents have a strong local presence
• look at reviews on Google or their website to see what other sellers say about them.
Agents using Zoopla have already seen an increase in valuation leads just a month after the portal launched a new marketing campaign.
Zoopla launched a new video marketing campaign last month that hones in on awkward situations around house prices and are focused on segments of high value owner movers – those with properties to sell who are also looking to buy.
Just a month later, the portal claims that its ‘Just Ask Zoopla” campaign has boosted unique valuation leads for agents by 29.5% compared with the typical June average before the marketing launch.
Zoopla also said Google searches for Zoopla are up 20.5%.
It has also recorded more use of its app, with signed-in session rates increasing by 16% compared with its old version.
This means users are more likely to save properties, listings and sign up for push notifications – driving higher leads per listing as a result for agents, Zoopla said.
Applicant leads per session have increased by 9% as a result of app enhancements.
Andy Marshall, chief commercial officer for Zoopla, said: “It’s been a busy first half of the year for the property market, with strong levels of demand maintaining across the UK.
“With a cloudier economic outlook on the horizon, we recognise it’s more important than ever to deliver strong results and value for agents.
“The strong performance of our marketing campaign and recent product improvements are only the start of what’s to come for our customers, with more innovation and efficiencies coming down the track.”
Online searches for property portals have declined, in another suggested sign of the slowing market.
Analysis of data from AdWords and Google Trends by online search expert MediaVision, found the volume of searches for well-known property brands including Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket, Boomin and Purplebricks have all fallen during the first six months of 2022 – albeit compared with last year’s stamp duty holiday rush.
The figures don’t include users who visit the websites directly or through their apps.
MediaVision’s Digital Demand Tracker tool found that the volume of online searches for Rightmove fell by 9% annually, searches for Zoopla fell 20% and OnTheMarket searches dropped 14%.
Searches for Boomin fell by 25% although it was only launched in April 2021.
Online agency brands Purplebrick and Yopa also saw searches drop by 3% and 24% respectively.
However, the data also revealed that interest in companies providing shared working spaces continues to rise and there was increased interest in commercial property agents.
Louis Venter, chief executive at MediaVision, said: “No one benefited from the surge in demand last year more than property portals. The uptick in performance and interest was significant, but this year a decline in brand searches more accurately reflects the market.
“Reports across the board indicate that properties are taking longer to sell in 2022. Combined with a lack of stock driving continued house price growth, it means portals are seeing online activity plateau and, in many cases, fall away.
“The commercial property market, on the other hand, is recovering nicely in 2022. The rumour was that working-from-home was going to be the death of the office, but demand says otherwise.
“Of course, the number of people engaging in hybrid working has increased dramatically this year and the growth of interest in flexible co-working spaces highlights that demand.”
The guidance states that all listings should include material information “including those on your own website, third party websites and printed material” but it recognises there may not always be space.
It said: “For example, a single A4 sized paper advert in a window may contain less detailed information than an online advert or the accompanying printed brochure.
“However, you should consider the priority that you give information to ensure that the material information is included in your communications.
“Where space is limited, reference may be made to where or how the relevant material information may be found.”
The guidance said all Part A information should be available on the first page of a property listing and said the portals who have been part of the steering group have ensured that this information will be prominently displayed.
It added: “We will not specify the material information which must be included on your marketing literature and you must use your professional judgement accordingly.”
The document also reminds agents that it is a requirement to include energy performance certificates on eligible listings and adds that where an EPC has not been commissioned in accordance with the respective legislation, action can be taken in the form of a financial penalty.
Part B and C requirements will include mentioning issues such as restrictive covenants and information on utilities.
The plan is for these to be introduced over the next year but a note in the guidance suggests agents shouldn’t wait.
The guidance has been developed with industry leaders and the UK’s major property portals, including Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket and PropertyPal.
It said listings can currently be published with missing Part A information, but it is eventually intended that listings without the required minimum information will be prevented from being uploaded onto online portals.
The guidance said: “Further information regarding any such decision will be published as the programme of work develops.
“Property information questionnaires can be used to request the details you need to list the property.
“You should review the current forms that you use and amend these, where required, to ensure that material information is being obtained prior to the property being listed. In the case of a sales listing, the seller may wish to engage with their conveyancing lawyer at an early stage. This is to ensure information regarding the property can be reviewed and any issues can be resolved.”
Commenting on the guidance, Nathan Emerson, chief executive of agency trade body Propertymark, said: “There has been much debate around some elements of the updated rules, but now the first set has come into force and the guidance is clear in its expectation it’s important they are adhered to.
“Our advice to agents is to carry out a full review of all their existing listings to protect themselves from paying what could be a high and unnecessary price if they get a visit from Trading Standards.
“With every listing not complying liable for a £200 fine it is important that none slip through the net.
“Our compliance team will be supporting Propertymark member agents to ensure listings in their branch windows, online or elsewhere are meeting the current legal requirements.”
Zoopla has unveiled a new marketing campaign aimed at high-value home movers and claims it has already boosted leads with agents.
The advertising campaign, developed based on agent feedback, hones in on awkward situations that centre around asking about house prices and are focused on segments of high value owner movers – those with properties to sell who are also looking to buy.
It will run for fourteen weeks with adverts across mainstream channels including TV, video on demand, digital and social channels.
The adverts will also feature in cinemas for the first time in five years.
They aim to position Zoopla as the go to destination for home research and house price valuations.
One focuses on a parent being impressed by the home of her child’s friend at a party while the other shows a divorcee being told he may have to sell his house.
The adverts are voiced by actress Diane Morgan, star of BBC Two comedy Motherland, who has appeared in Zoopla’s five previous marketing campaigns.
They will air across Channel 4, Sky, and ITV in primetime slots such as Celebrity Gogglebox and Love Island.
The portal said the campaign, which went live last week, has already delivered a 35% increase in valuation leads for agents.
The campaign is estimated to drive an uplift in vendor leads of 13% – in addition to an average 20% increase in vendor leads between the months of March and April across all regions of the UK.
Gary Bramall, chief marketing officer at Zoopla, said: “The lack of supply has been a real challenge in the property market for some time now.
“By shifting our campaign messaging in the new creative, we’re confident we can support agents when it comes to nurturing that all important future seller pipeline, and ensuring they’re set up for success as we head into the second half of the year and beyond.”
Watch one of the videos below:
Portals are aiming to boost consumer awareness of new material information rules rather than refusing non-compliant listings.
Agency listings have been required since the start of this month to include “material information” such as the property tenure and council tax band.
James Munro, head of the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT), which introduced the rules, said last week that it would be up to agents and portals to police this, suggesting that platforms such as Rightmove and Zoopla should remove listings that don’t contain the required information.
Property professionals and agents have been highlighting listings on social media that don’t contain all the required information, but rather than being removed, the portals have told Estate Agent Today that they are focusing on awareness.
A spokesperson for Rightmove said: “Rightmove has contacted all agents to provide them with the new material information guidelines from NTSELAT and the new fields that are being introduced on Rightmove from 1 July to help them comply.
“If any of the information is not provided on new listings from 1 July, a message will display on the listing telling home-hunters to contact the agent for the missing information.
“We’re also planning to include a direct link on listings that people can click on to access a glossary of terms.
“This will explain in more detail what each piece of material information means and why it is important.
“We have strict data quality processes and procedures in place to make sure the information on the hundreds of thousands of Rightmove listings is as accurate as possible, and our dedicated data quality team will be reviewing complaints regarding material information, and any advertisers that are repeatedly in breach of the guidelines and terms and conditions.”
A Zoopla spokesperson said: “We’ve been working closely with National Trading Standards and our agent partners to ensure we’re implementing the Part A requirements and enabling our customers to make this data available on Zoopla listings.
“The other key element of this workstream is building consumer awareness around what criteria is important when buying a home.
“This education piece, alongside the monitoring of listings is the next step in our journey to create a more transparent property industry and will also empower consumers to better understand what is important when buying or renting homes. There is further to go to reach full coverage on Part A and we look forward to working closely with the NTS on this.”
A spokesperson for OnTheMarket added: “Enabling material information Part A in our real-time api, adding it to our OnThemMarket Expert property editor, and displaying it on the property details screens on web and native applications was only the first step.
“There are hundreds of CRM and feed providers that will need to make necessary updates to their backend systems and applications to get that data to the portals, meaning the second stage will take much longer to fully implement.
“OnTheMarket will do our best to support and expedite this process, and make it as easy as possible for the CRM and feed providers as well as our agent customers.”
“The private rented sector plays an important role in the housing market, providing much needed homes for a wide spectrum of households.
“These reforms mark another milestone in the journey to create a suitable equilibrium between renters and private landlords who provide the majority of homes for rent.”
Donnell says the private rental sector is under pressure with some landlords quitting and he warns there is a balance to be struck between improving the quality of rented housing and encouraging investment.
But he adds that Zoopla’s lettings advisory board has called for “initiatives to improve the transparency over the process of owning and renting homes.”
These include measures similar to some of those out forward by the government – for example a property register for rented homes to help with compliance and to determine whether properties meet the Decent Homes Standard.
“There is a lot of detail to work through in how this is rolled out and Zoopla will continue to work with our advisory board and estate agency partners to seek operational efficiencies in the lettings market” concludes Donnell.
A more critical response to the government has come from the chief executive of ARLA Propertymark, Nathan Emerson.
He says: “After waiting three years to see exactly what this reform will look like, we’ve now got a set of proposals titled ‘The Fairer Private Rented Sector White Paper’.
“But there are some elements that don’t appear to be so.
“How is it fair that a tenant can simply end a tenancy at a time of their choosing, but an agent or landlord has to present a valid reason that is defined in law?”
Emerson continues: “Our sector provides around 4.4 million households in England with a place to live. Property is a good long-term investment but the number of property owners choosing to withdraw from this area is growing.
“That’s the result of a decade of tax and regulatory burden that simply does not incentivise investment, especially for single property landlords who make up 43 per cent of the market.
“The private rental market is already under huge strain with renters outstripping available properties and we need to be able to attract new investment.
“If Ministers really do want to create a ‘fairer private rented sector’, they must work with us to ensure these reforms are carefully balanced and any interventions to achieve short-term objectives do not constrain the market in the longer term.”
The Fairer Private Rented Sector White Paper marks what the government calls “a generational shift that will redress the balance between landlords and 4.4 million private rented tenants.”
It will ban Section 21 evictions and extend the Decent Homes Standard to the private sector.
It will also end what it calls “arbitrary rent review clauses, give tenants stronger powers to challenge poor practice, unjustified rent increases and enable them to be repaid rent for non-decent homes.”
It will be illegal for landlords or agents to have blanket bans on renting to families with children or those in receipt of benefits.
And it will make it easier for tenants to have pets, a right which the landlord must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse.
All tenants are to be moved onto a single system of periodic tenancies, which in the government’s words mean “they can leave poor quality housing without remaining liable for the rent or move more easily when their circumstances change.”
A tenancy will only end if a tenant ends or a landlord has a valid reason, defined in law.
There will be a doubling of notice periods for rent increases and tenants will have stronger powers to challenge them if they are unjustified.
The government says it is also “giving councils stronger powers to tackle the worst offenders, backed by enforcement pilots, and increasing fines for serious offences.”
There will also be a new Private Renters’ Ombudsman to enable disputes between private renters and landlords to be settled quickly, at low cost, and without going to court.
What the government calls “responsible landlords” will be able to gain possession of their properties efficiently from anti-social tenants “and can sell their properties when they need to.”
There will be a new property portal that will “provide a single front door to help landlords to understand, and comply with, their responsibilities as well as giving councils and tenants the information they need to tackle rogue operators.”
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