Landlords who use OpenRent to find tenants will no longer have access to Rightmove when advertising their properties, it has been announced.

Rightmove has released a statement this morning confirming that negotiations between the two companies over how much the portal is paid by OpenRent to list properties have broken down.

OpenRent’s listings will be removed from Rightmove from 1st September 2024, although OpenRent delted Rightmove’s logo from its home page several weeks ago, suggesting that negotiations between the two organisations have been hostile.

“OpenRent is classified as an online lettings agent within Rightmove's Estate Agency (Lettings) sub-segment and represents approximately 700 branch equivalents, with less than 8% of Rightmove's lettings listings in July 2024,” Rightmove says.

“As has been seen recently, market dynamics - within lettings in particular - are fluid.  

“While we remain confident of delivering revenue and margin in line with the guidance above, the precise mix of membership and ARPA may vary.”

Rightmove has been moved to make a public statement because it will have an impact on its revenue and membership numbers, metrics that most investors use as a rule of thumb to gauge its health.

Rightmove says membership will decline by up to 3% year-on-year, with a year-on-year increase in ARPA of £90-£100.

The news will disappoint many landlords, many of whom have been attracted to OpenRent because it enabled landlords to directly advertise their properties on Rightmove without the costs of using a letting agent – although in return they had to take their own photos and do their own viewings.

Righmove adds: “[Following this announcement] OpenRent's landlord customers will therefore lose access to the UK's largest property-seeking audience.”