Rightmove is set to face a possible legal challenge into its hiking of fees.
Ian Wilson, CEO of The Property Franchise Group – one of Rightmove’s biggest customers – is instructing its lawyers Cubism Law to refer Rightmove to the Competition and Markets Authority for alleged abuse of a dominant market position.
The decision follows a meeting he had with Rightmove on Tuesday, when next year’s rate rises were discussed.
Wilson said: “I told Rightmove that it should be reducing its rates, because it delivered fewer leads in 2018 than 2017.
“I took one of our franchisees to the meeting, because franchisees have criticised me in the past for not being robust enough with Rightmove.
“The franchisee trades two of our brands, Martin & Co and CJ Hole, across two towns. He is on all three portals and was able to prove that Rightmove delivers the most expensive leads.
“Their response was that it could raise rates ‘because we’re worth it’.
“The franchisee walked out of the meeting.”