The big two property search websites in the UK are Rightmove and Zoopla. However, it may surprise you to learn that you could miss out on your perfect home if you limit your search to these two sites.
Many other sites have alternative search facilities or a specialist focus, ideal if you dream of waterside living, a brand-new home or are looking for student or retirement living.
Property portals have become central to the home buying and renting process in recent years. They provide buyers and renters with a one-stop-shop of potential new homes and allow sellers to increase the number of people viewing their property dramatically.
It is important to remember that online property portals are different to online estate agents. Whilst online and high street agents will list only their properties on their websites, property portals will list properties from a range of agents or private sellers and landlords. The listing will include a link to the estate agent or owner marketing the property.
Rightmove is the UK’s biggest property portal, both in terms of its inventory of properties and number of users, making it the go-to property portal for buyers, sellers and renters.
Zoopla is another popular property website and Rightmove’s biggest competitor. Zoopla has around 60 million visits a month, significantly less than Rightmove (127.5 million visits per month) but still a large pool of potential buyers. Sellers also like Zoopla because you receive an instant valuation.
Of the smaller property search portals, OnTheMarket is the most prominent. It is an uncluttered and user-friendly property portal with a large inventory of property to buy and rent from the UK’s leading estate agents. Often properties are advertised on this portal 24-hours before appearing on Rightmove or Zoopla.
As its name suggests, Prime Location specifically targets people buying, selling and renting homes in the middle and upper tiers of the property market. This portal attracts around 5 million visitors each month and lists property from over 16,000 premium estate and letting agents (Strutt & Parker, Knight Frank, etc.). Prime Location also includes listings for exclusive international property for sale. Prime Location is owned by Zoopla.
Placebuzz is a promising easy-to-use property search portal which connects users to thousands of homes that are available to Buy and Rent across the UK. As well as offering an array of properties, Placebuzz provides unique tools such as area guides which allows the user to discover more about specific locations within the country.
Mouseprice stands out from the property portal crowd with its graphs, visuals, data, and insights. If you’re looking for a portal with the most property information – Mouseprice is an excellent place to start. This is true whether you are a homebuyer or an estate agent.Notably, its automated valuation model swiftly calculates property values for lenders and surveyors. If you’re prepared to pay for the ‘pro’ version, you will have even more access to property data. This includes heatmaps, property appraisals, comparison reports and more. You can also use a free, 7-day trial to see if this option is worthwhile.
If it’s a waterside property you’re looking for, then this portal is excellent. Waterside Properties specialise in homes for sale or rent by water, whether that’s a marina, the sea, a river or a lake. Sellers have to use a Waterside Network Affiliated Estate Agent to be listed on this site.
Home.co.uk is one of the UK’s long-standing property search websites, bringing together listings from estate agents and private sellers, as well as offering useful market insights and property data.
Nestoria is keen to point out that they are a property search engine rather than a property portal. This site works more like Google, Yahoo! or MSN, gathering data from property portals across the web. When you click on a property you’re interested in, Nestoria takes you to the site of the listing. This is different to other property websites in this article, where the listing and information is contained within their sites. Unlike other property websites, Nestoria makes money from advertising rather than charging estate agents to list their properties.
Property Heads is a housing market social media platform with an integrated property portal offering users both listings from estate agents and local home improvement services, differentiating it from Rightmove, Zoopla, and OnTheMarket. We love the idea of their price per square meter feature to help compare properties on a like-for-like basis.
Find a Hood helps you find where to live. The website allows you to set up 10 different criteria that describe your ideal place to live. It then lists 15 locations that best match your answers.
The UK Land Directory is a helpful property site for those who want to build a home or commercial property from scratch. This platform offers numerous services, catering to individuals interested in purchasing land across 44 counties in the UK. The site’s user-friendly interface enables searches based on location, price range, land use, and planning status. Hundreds of land plots are available for purchase, and in case you can’t find your ideal piece of land, you can receive email notifications about any new listings.The UK Land Registry is particularly useful because of its connection to certified land agents, ensuring a seamless and stress-free buying process. If you’re a budding developer or investor, this platform can supply vital information to help you secure the piece of land you’re looking for.
One Dome is an ambitious property site which lets you complete the whole house buying process through the website. As such, the site gives you access to all the tools you need in order to do this. For example, their flagship Homebuyer Service includes, insurance, legals services, property valuation tools, moving assistance and more. The idea is that they offer a single service which covers each stage of the house buying journey – from the property search to completion.Even for those who do not select the whole package, you can calculate your mortgage, search for conveyancers and get a mortgage in principle.However, to benefit from their Homebuyer Service, the price begins at £999 and is subject to you meeting certain mortgage eligibility criteria.
Gum Tree is an online platform for buying and selling anything and is the biggest website for classified adverts in the UK.
Open Rent specialises in direct listings from landlords, often providing lower fees for both landlords and tenants.
OpenRent is an excellent choice for both landlords and tenants seeking a streamlined, transparent, and affordable rental process. It empowers landlords to manage their properties without high fees, while offering tenants a fee-free experience with access to a wide range of rental listings.
Property Link specialises in commercial property listings, including offices, retail spaces, and industrial properties.The platform is specifically designed for commercial properties, making it an excellent tool for businesses or investors looking for offices, retail spaces, industrial units, or land.
PropertyLink is part of the EG (Estates Gazette) group, which is known for providing market analysis, industry news, and data tools that help users make informed decisions about commercial real estate investments and transactions.
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