Rightmove set to take £20m hit with fee cut
PROPERTY WEBSITE Rightmove has warned it will take another hit of up to £20m as it cuts prices for estate agents to help them weather the coronavirus crisis.
The UK’s biggest property portal revealed revenues would be knocked by between £17m and £20m after it said it would continue to offer agents discounts throughout August and September.
This is on top of the £65m to £75m sales blow suffered due to discounts given between April and July.
But Rightmove said there are signs that the housing market is reviving after lockdown, with sales agreed currently more than 10 per cent higher in England than a year earlier.
It said it had seen its 10 busiest days ever on the platform since the housing market reopened in England on May 13.
Property listings were more than 10 per cent higher over the past week than a year earlier, it added.
The group said some of this was due to pent-up demand during the lockdown, and stressed it was unclear if the momentum would be maintained.
Shares in Rightmove were around four per cent lower in early trading.
Chief executive Peter BrooksJohnson said: “I’m encouraged by the strong bounce-back in homehunter demand since May 13 as England starts to move again, and we look forward to welcoming our Scottish and Welsh customers back to the market.”
The group said membership was 3.8 per cent lower since the end of 2019 at 19,054, with the drop comprising 620 agency branches and 135 New Homes developments.