Zoopla extends ‘three months free’ offer to five:...

Zoopla has confirmed that it’s to extend its ‘three months free’ plan to five months of free portal usage for agents to help combat the collapse of business.

The 'three months free' plan was one of two options offered to agents last month.

After the free period, agents will return to normal fee levels.

The additional two months will be applied automatically to customers who have already subscribed or are in the process of subscribing, as well as new customers interested in signing up to the new plan.

As part of the deal agents have to agree to a longer term plan following the free period - ranging from 12 to 36 months.

Andy Marshall, Zoopla’s chief commercial officer, says: “When we launched the three months free plan to agents last month, we made it clear that there was scope to extend the free period by a further two months, depending on when the government limitations to control Coronavirus would be lifted. Since then, the government has put the country in lockdown and effectively suspended the housing market, with no indications of when those restrictions will be revised.

“We appreciate that even when the market opens up again for business, it will take some time for agents to rebuild their pipeline. In offering five months free portal usage to our agent partners, we hope to alleviate some of the financial pressures that many are facing.

“We have also removed the hassle of accessing the additional two months free, by applying the extension automatically to applicable customer contracts.

“We are committed to supporting agents and helping their businesses to keep functioning in partnership with us at this difficult time. Ultimately, we aim to help set agents up for success and to thrive once we emerge from the impact of Coronavirus.”

Last month, Zoopla presented agents with two offers.

Option 1 was nine months of portal usage entirely free, returning to normal fee levels thereafter, as part of an 18-month contract following the free period. This was open to agents committing to quit Rightmove once their current contract ended.

Option 2 was the three to five months for free option, now confirmed as five months, with free portal usage returning to normal fees thereafter as part of an 18-month contract following the free period.