Agents ‘unsatisfied’ with three main property por...

More than one in four estate agents are unsatisfied with the property portals that they use, according to a new survey.

An online survey of estate agents asked participants to rate the portals they subscribe to in terms of user satisfaction and were asked to rank the portals out of five.

The results of the survey revealed that more than 25% of those surveyed were unsatisfied with the country's three main property portals.

Fewer than 11% of respondents gave Rightmove a score of five out of five, while 27% of the survey’s participants gave a score of 1 out of 5, the lowest satisfaction score.

The survey also revealed that fewer than 4% of respondents gave Zoopla five out of five for customer satisfaction, while 27.5% gave the portal one out of 5.

OnTheMarket was the worst-ranked portal with just 3% of respondents giving the portal five out of five, while 28% gave it 1 out of 5 for satisfaction.

Jeremy Rosenblatt, founder of challenger portal Jangle, which conducted the research, said: "It is clear that the major portals are simply not providing the customer satisfaction levels that they should be achieving.

“In any other industry, companies providing such low satisfaction levels would not last. Imagine what would happen to high street brands or car manufacturers, if their customer satisfaction levels revealed that nearly 30% of their customers were completely dissatisfied.”

The Jangle survey also revealed that the majority of estate agents subscribe to more than one portal, with 36% of agencies subscribing to the three major portals, 40% utilising two and 24% using just one. The survey also showed that 40% of respondents are spending over £2,000 each month on portal subscriptions.

It comes as Rosenblatt, a former director at Dexters and Hanover Residential, continues with plans for a new portal that won’t charge agents for listings and there will be an API that automatically uploads their properties.

He added: “Our survey not only confirms the market’s widespread dissatisfaction with the costs charged by the big portals but also reveals the level of overheads being incurred, explaining the appetite of agents and developers for a Zero Portal Spend model,” commented Rosenblatt.

“The challenging market conditions that agency firms are currently experiencing are unlikely to improve in the short term and many are asking if the prevailing property portal concept is fit for purpose.

“By gauging market sentiment through engagement with the estate agent community, there is a clear desire for a service that assists property professionals to efficiently market properties without subtracting from their bottom lines.

“From our conversations and the expressions of interest regarding our concept, there is a clear desire for zero portal Spend, which we will deliver.”