Rightmove facing '£1 billion' legal action over ‘excessive’ fees for estate agents claims

The legal action, led by accountant Jeremy Newman, will argue Rightmove abused its dominant position in the internet property portal market.

Those behind the action claim that, according to its own 2024 accounts, Rightmove’s profit margin is around 70 per cent - making it the most profitable company in the FTSE 100.

Estate agencies across the UK will be represented by Mr Newman on an opt-out basis. He estimates damages from the alleged "unfair" practice could total around £1 billion.

Mr Newman, a former Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) panel member, said: “Rightmove knows that, due to its first-mover status, its product is considered a 'must-have' for estate agents.

“It 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.

“Estate agents have had to absorb consistent, excessive price increases on a regular basis.

“My case will seek to return the overpaid fees to estate agents across the country and to rebalance the relationship between Rightmove and the estate agents that use its online property portal.”

The case, said to be "imminent", is fully funded by specialist litigation funder Innsworth Capital Limited.

Ian Garrard, managing director of the firm which has funded mass claims against Meta and Amazon, said: “Jeremy’s claim is about levelling the playing field for businesses up and down the country, deterring anti-competitive behaviour and correcting the imbalance between big and small in the property sector.

“Without the opt-out collective actions regime, it would be much harder - or even impossible - for SMEs to seek redress for anti-competitive behaviour.”

He added: “As a result of Innsworth’s funding – and at a time of considerable uncertainty for the opt-out regime – businesses within the class will not have to pay a penny towards the claim.”

According to those behind the claim, over 80 per cent of all consumer time spent on UK property portals is on Rightmove. It comes after a Change.org petition launched by an estate agent in February 2025 calling for a CMA probe into the dominance received thousands of signatures.

Shaun Adams, owner of Cooper Adams in East Preston, who launched the petition, which has 2,187 signatures, said: “Rightmove dominates the UK property portal market, with over 86 per cent of all online property searches taking place on their platform."Sellers expect their homes to be listed on Rightmove, and buyers naturally turn to it first, giving estate agents no real choice but to remain on the platform, no matter the cost.

“Despite already generating enormous profits, Rightmove has announced yet another excessive price hike - an 18 per cent increase, nearly seven times the UK inflation rate of 2.5 per cent.

“This is not about providing better service; it is about exploiting their dominant market position at the expense of independent agents.”

He said it is “killing independent agents” who “unlike corporate chains, independent agents don’t have access to preferential bulk pricing deals”.

Mr Newman is working with law firms Scott+Scott UK LLP, Kieron Beal KC of Blackstone Chambers and Kairos Economics.

A spokesperson for Rightmove said: “Rightmove has received notice of a potential claim. We're confident in the value we provide to our partners.”