Rightmove’s broadband speeds ‘are not accurate’

Most people these days who are buying a house want to know what broadband speed they may expect in a

property. Rightmove ( www.rightmove. co.uk), the online ‘window’ used by many estate agents, appears to try to help, as alongside each property pictured, there is a box saying ‘Show average broadband speed at this postcode’.

In the small group of properties where I live in Settle, North Yorkshire, the value shown is 76Mbps. In reality, nobody can achieve speeds in excess of 7.2Mbps, and most get only 6.7Mbps or less.

This is not a single, local aberration. I have checked with friends in other localities 90 or more miles away and there too the values shown are unobtainable.

Prospective house buyers should be warned to make their own checks before committing to a house purchase.

CA SAYS Rightmove told us homebuyers querying a broadband result should email its customer service team at talk-to-us@rightmove.co.uk with the postcode, so it can check the speed with Compare The Market, which provides the results for the estate agent.

The company said that Compare The Market calculates the average speeds “based on the download speeds of at least 50 per cent of customers at peak time within a postcode”. It added: “The speed range will depend on the provider they choose and can also be affected by other factors, so we’d always advise them to check with the available providers in the area”.