Rightmove reminder on 14-week anti-portal juggling time limit

Rightmove has reminded agents of its new 14-week re-listing timescale, first announced just before Christmas as part of its crackdown on portal juggling.

Under the new rule, a sales property previously listed on Rightmove cannot be re-listed as ‘new’ within 14 weeks of it being taken off; until recently, the period was only two weeks. If the property is put back on within 14 weeks it will display as usual but will not be specified in property alerts. 

In a reminder email to member agents, Rightmove reiterates its position that the change has come following discussions with agents and industry bodies.

“If it has been longer than 14 weeks since the property was last listed, it will relaunch, the listing date will be updated and it will be sent out in property alerts” says the portal’s message to agents.

Chris Wood of PDQ Property in Cornwall, a prominent campaigner against portal juggling, says the Rightmove initiative is “another positive and public step forward against fraud.”

Earlier this week another campaigner - Robert May, an ex-agent and former Jupix operations director - told The Negotiator that some 90 per cent of agents who had been ‘gaming’ to improve the rankings of their Rightmove listings had now stopped.

May created the software - reported on here in December - that allows users to identify individual properties that have been de-listed and re-listed in a bid to appear ‘new’.