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Rightmove plc
Rightmove runs the UK's biggest property website, where estate agents pay to list homes for sale and rent.
Rightmove is where Britain goes house-hunting. It runs the country's largest property website, a place where people scroll through photos of homes for sale or to rent, check what a neighborhood costs, and dream about moving. The site doesn't sell houses itself and doesn't employ estate agents. Instead, it sells something simpler and more powerful: attention.
The business works like a toll bridge between home sellers and home seekers. Estate agents and letting agents pay Rightmove a monthly subscription to advertise their listings on the site. Developers building new homes pay too. Agents grumble about the bill, but they keep paying because that is where the buyers are. If you're trying to sell a house in the UK, skipping Rightmove is like opening a shop in a basement. Millions of people visit the site every month, and that audience is the whole product. That audience gives Rightmove real pricing power. It doesn't build the houses, take the risk of selling them, or handle the paperwork — it just runs the marketplace. Because the network of buyers and listings feeds on itself, rivals have struggled to break in. CoStar Group bought the portal OnTheMarket and has been spending heavily to challenge Rightmove, while News Corp owns REA Group, a property portal powerhouse in Australia, and has also circled the UK market. The fight is over whether agents will pay for a second listing site or stick with the biggest one.
Rightmove turns that subscription money into a very fat profit margin, which means a lot of spare cash every year. It uses that cash to pay dividends and buy back its own shares. It has also been pushing beyond basic listings into areas like mortgages, insurance, and data for agents, trying to turn one visit into many reasons to stay. The core of the story remains the same: it owns the front door to the UK housing market, and it charges everyone who wants to walk through.
Saved answer · last researched 14 Nov 2026