Rightmove’s ‘head of innovation’ joins free-to-list online agency

The man who has been Rightmove’s head of innovation for the past five years has joined an online agency.

Hannes Buhrmann has worked at Rightmove for 14 years, with the last five in the innovation role.

Now he’s joined Housesimple, which describes itself as the UK’s fifth largest single-brand agent when measured by listings and the country’s second largest online agency using the same measure.

Buhrmann now becomes product director at Housesimple and says of his new post: 

"To make Housesimple's ambitions possible will require inventive, innovative, cost effective and scalable solutions that combine user-friendly technology with fantastic personal service. 

“With years of digital product experience in the property industry and deep understanding of the issues in the selling/buying process, I am really excited to join the team, and to help turn their vision into reality."

Housesimple became a free service in 2019 although it still charges £35 upwards for what it calls a “hosted viewing service”, and it relies extensively on referral fee income. 

Last month an analysis by comparison website GetAgent showed that in 2019 the number of listings for Housesimple soared 156 per cent as a result of the free listings, and its market share increased from 0.21 per cent to 0.61 per cent. 

Commenting on the new hire, Housesimple chief executive Sam Mitchell - who himself came to the agency from Rightmove two and a half years ago - said: "Having achieved the audacious ambition of selling homes for free, we are committed to taking our platform to the next level by creating an industry leading user experience that is simple, intuitive and friction free. Having worked with Hannes previously I know he is exactly the right man to help us achieve these goals."

Housesimple is now one of the oldest online agencies still operating, having been founded in 2007.