THE TOP PROPERTY WEBSITES IN THE UK
Whether it is a home for you and your family, or an investment for your future retirement, investing in property is along-term strategy that has made more millions than any other asset investment. Although property prices can rise and fall, the trend has always been that house prices will go up. This remained true throughout the Covid-19 lockdowns, and the housing market continues to go from strength to strength as we begin to see the light at the end of that tunnel.
Edited Jan 2023: Sadly, not all businesses fared well through Covid and the following years. We've edited this list accordingly to remove those companies that have closed their doors and added in some new competitors that might just have the features you're looking for.
House sellers need to be able to list their properties for buyers to find them. But how do you go about doing this? Traditional high street estate agents are one way to go, with many offering online services. Some sellers prefer to go it alone andlist their homes locally. In contrast, many others use services like Griffin Property to gain the online advantages of working with an estate agent, but with drastically cheaper fees.
So, where can sellers see their properties listed? Let's take a look at the online property portals (websites) that will advertise your homes. In this guide, we go through all the best property websites and considertheir pros and cons to give you an idea of which ones you should be considering.
The list of the best property websites in the UK:
1.Zoopla
2.OnTheMarket
3.Rightmove
4.Prime Location
5.Placebuzz
6.Gumtree
7.Mouseprice
8.Propertyheads
9.Arkadia
10.Property Mutual
11.GNB-Habitat
12.PropertyPal (NI Only)
13.PropertyNews (NI Only)
14.Home
15.Nestoria
16.HomesGoFast
17.Nethouseprices
18.Uk Land Directory
When it comes to selling your property, naturally, you want to achieve the highest asking price possible. To do this, you not only need a realistic price, but you also need to have as many people see your listing as possible. For this reason, it is important to get your home listed on one of the major property portals in the UK. For a long time, the market has been dominated by Rightmove, with Zoopla hot on its heels, but with current market trends, Rightmove has slipped to third place on our list as Estate agents, sellers, and buyers have begun to abandon the site. It makes sense to pick an option that will result in your home being listed in the largest and most vibrant markets, which is why we value Zoopla and OnTheMarket above all others.
THE BEST PROPERTY WEBSITES IN THE UK LIST:
#1. Zoopla (www.zoopla.co.uk)
Pros: Zoopla is a great website with an excellent companion app. It is packed with useful resources, making it easy to estimate your home's value, local information and community tools. Whether you are buying, selling or renting a property, Zoopla is a great site to be listed on.
Cons: While the site is packed with features, website functionality is not as slick as some competitors. Individuals cannot list properties on Zoopla directly; however, listings can be created with budget friendly online estate agents.
About: Zoopla was launched in 2008 and has become one of the most useful property websites in the UK, attracting 50 million monthly visits. If your goal is to sell your property as quickly as possible, then Zoopla is the ultimate go-to website. The company combines property listings with market value information and vital info for prospective buyers. Read more about Zoopla here.
#2. ONTHEMARKET (WWW.ONTHEMARKET.CO.UK)
Pros: OnTheMarket offers a quick and easy search tool, a solid app, and is easy to use. They claim that you will see properties here before they get listed on sites such as RightMove and Zoopla.
Cons: OnTheMarket has significantly fewer properties listed, and users go where thelistings are. This, in turn, means fewer agencies list with OnTheMarket. However, with recent changesto RightMove fees, estate agents are looking at alternatives to avoid being forced to pass on expensiveadditional fees to their clients, and subsequently, many more properties are now being listed at OnTheMarket. While easy to use, the search feature has less advanced tools, which somewhat hamper the site and means that OnTheMarket is not yet the contender it may one day be. Like RightMove and Zoopla, OnTheMarket does not accept individuals listing their property.
About: OnTheMarket is a very simple way to search for property, originally created by ex-countrywide employees. The site aims to provide quick and easy service to find or sell a property.It also aims to limit the monopoly of Zoopla and RightMove by only listing properties on one or the other (in addition to the OnTheMarket platform).
#3. RIGHTMOVE (WWW.RIGHTMOVE.CO.UK)
Pros: : Rightmove remains one of the UK's largest property websites, with over 77% of time spent on the top 4 websites occurring on Rightmove. Listings can be added quickly, easily managed, and removed when a sale is completed. The platform offers a good range of tools and has adapted to the Covid-19 changes, allowing virtual tours to be linked from any listing. However, its past successes are hampering its growth, as increased fees have resulted in estate agents abandoning the site to avoid charging their clients higher fees. This will lead to a shrinking pool of properties on what was once the top platform.
Cons: Only registered estate agents, lettings agents, and new home developers can add properties to Rightmove. This prevents individuals from listing their own homes without assistance. Due to rising costs, properties are now being shared on alternative websites more frequently, and search volumes are falling. Read more about Rightmove here.
About: Rightmove is currently the UK's leading property website, but its monthly visits appear to be shrinking. Rightmove previously advised that it received 218 million monthly visits, but based on data from similarweb.com, this seems to have fallen to 97.8 million as of April 2022. You'll be pleased to know that you can get listed on RightMove without resorting to expensive high street estate agents, but be aware that additional fees may apply. Griffin Property offers low priced options for getting your home listed on several websites.
#4. PRIME LOCATION (WWW.PRIMELOCATION.CO.UK)
Pros: PrimeLocation features a more advanced search function, international properties, advice pages, and good tools. Features like 'Hide Property' are nice when you're trying to whittle down your selection to the perfect house to buy.
Cons: The site is not as user friendly, and its property pages feel a little old fashioned in design, resulting in the listings being harder to read. The site is a little sluggish.
About: Prime Location is one of the big four of the UK's leading property websites. It specifically provides amedium for house hunters and property owners to buy, sell, rent, or lease prime property. Users can view properties from London to Australia. As with the first three sites we've listed, Prime Location is not an estate agency. Instead, it is merely a property portal that hosts and provides information regarding homes for sale or rent.
While it's not possible for individuals to list their properties on PrimeLocation, the site does make it easy for users tofind estate agents in their area that can get them listed. Read more about Prime Location here.
GET LISTED ON THE BIGGEST PLATFORMS
As you can see, getting listed on the biggest platforms is not something individuals can do directly. The reason for this is agreements between the estate agents and the platforms, ensuring that only agents will be able to list properties to ensure that the listings remain honest. This prevents any attempts to mislead the public in the listings. Griffin Property Co. can assist you with our cost effective house selling package.
#5. PLACEBUZZ (WWW.PLACEBUZZ.COM)
Pros: Users will feel supported in their house hunting journey as they have the ability to save,share and create alerts for any of their favourite properties and locations. The Blog provides constructive property articles where users can find homeware ideas, home styling videos and personal moving stories, which are all usefulto those wanting to learn more about property. Another great feature is the Area guides that give honest reviews and ratings about a location, which can also be added to by users.
Cons: Although filters are available in the search bar, they are slightly limited compared tosome other companies. Placebuzz also currently only accepts agent listings with no private landlords on the site.
About: Placebuzz is an easy-to-use property search portal that connects users to thousands of homes that are available to Rent and Buy in the UK. The platform enables users to filter through properties suited to their criteria with a quick and effective search engine. With the benefit of useful features, such as area guides, users can discover more about different locations across the nation before committing to a new home.
#6. Gumtree (WWW.GUMTREE.COM)
Pros: Selling on Gumtree allows sellers to minimise the fees that they would have to pay otherwise. This also means buyers can find eager owners who will be happy to discuss prices for quicker sales.
Cons: The marketplace is basic, with only a selection of filters. There are few available properties for sale in most areas, although the rental side is busy.
About: Gumtree is the UK's biggest classifieds website, with a wide selection of items for sale. It's almost as popular for buying and selling property as it is for buying and selling cars! From houses to flats, office spaces to land, you can find just about anything on Gumtree. You can even search by postcode or area so you know exactly what is available in your neighbourhood. Gumtree also has an extensive range of rental properties from studios to luxury apartments.
#7. MOUSEPRICE (WWW.MOUSEPRICE.COM)
Pros: Mouseprice is seen as THE website for property geeks. Its platform is packed with charts, infographics, data and analysis to help investors understand where they can make the highest ROI.
Cons: Mouseprice has changed ownership several times since its inception in 2004. Several changes of direction have prevented the site from becoming the direct challenger to Rightmove that it had intended.
About: Mouseprice was acquired by PropertyHeads in 2020. It's best-known feature is its automated valuation model, which provides instant valuations to lenders and surveyors. Estate Agents also have access to premium data through their Mouseprice Pro product.
#8. PROPERTYHEADS (WWW.PROPERTYHEADS.COM)
Pros: PropertyHeads is more than a regular property portal. It is an entire social network that connects you with estate agents and builders recommended by people you know. The platform's "Property Compare" product allows you to compare properties and makes it easy to share listings with friends, architects and other contacts. Additionally, if you're planning to move to another area, the platform's exclusive "Ask the Neighbours" feature will provide valuable insights.
Cons: The site is relatively new. PropertyHeads has seen rapid growth in terms of both consumer and agent utilization. Although the platform still has some way to go in terms of website visits, it continues to make strides and expand its reach.
About: PropertyHeads is the Property Social Network. Founded in 2018, it has grown quickly. It aims to help people make smarter property choices by helping them identify the ideal home and the right property companies for them to work with.
#9. ARKADIA (EN.ARKADIA.COM)
Pros: Arkadia features tools to estimate your property's value, and caters towards the higher end of the market.
Cons: Don't expect to find much listed below half a million pounds. As the site grows in terms of the number of real estate agents signing up, this should become more diverse, but right now, the site is for those with a higher budget.
About: Arkadia is a real estate listing website offering homes and apartments for rent and sale locally and abroad. It features listings from over 20 countries, with a wide variety of options in each country.
#10. PROPERTY MUTUAL (WWW.PROPERTYMUTUAL.COM)
Pros: Property Mutual is ideal if you are looking for an apartment or similar investment-style property. You'll also find multimillion-pound London mansions here.
Cons: The platform is relatively new and does not have the broadest range of available properties in all areas.
About: PropertyMutual is an online property platform that makes it easy to invest in UK property. Through the platform, people can quickly compare and analyse different properties, with a save function allowing you to collect potential candidates.
#11. GNB-HABITAT (GNBHABITAT.COM)
Pros: GNB Habitat is currently little known, but its slick and modern interface leaves many other sites looking like they were built in the 1990s. It has a great range of homes all around the country and at many price points.
Cons: The site is a little slow, and when it runs out of properties to present to you, it will fill the page with additional properties from a wider area, which not everyone will want to see.
About: GNB Habitat concentrates on providing a premium service to the residential sector of the market, covering properties that are for sale, rent, or offering shared accommodation.
#12. PROPERYPAL - NORTHERN IRELAND (WWW.PROPERTYPAL.COM)
Pros: : Propertypal has a useful feature allowing you to see all open viewings for the next day, helping buyers and investors stay on top of the latest investment opportunities.
Cons: The property pool available in Northern Ireland is not as large as in the Mainland UK, and therefore there is less to choose from overall if you're looking for something specific
About: PropertyPal is the leading local property portal, showcasing homes for sale and rent across. On their website, you can browse more than 6,000 properties for sale and rent.
#13. PROPERTYNEWS (WWW.PROPERTYNEWS.COM)
Lastly, Propertynews is a site which lists properties for sale in Northern Ireland, a similar site to Propertypal you can find an array of properties for sale and rent in Northern Ireland.
#14. HOME (WWW.HOME.CO.UK)
Pros: Easy to use and detailed search functions, shows older listings and clearly marks when properties have been reduced in price.
Cons: A dated website that will deter some users.
About: Home was one of the first property platforms on the internet. Although it has a dated looking website, it provides easy to read reports and shows properties from all portals. It is arguably one of the best tools on the internet for comparing property prices.
#15. NESTORIA (WWW.NESTORIA.CO.UK)
Pros: Search engine, good reporting, multiple search options
Cons: Lots of options, listings from everywhere
About: Nestoria is a property search engine and the 5th largest property website in the UK. It combines all the listings from multiple portals to give you an easy search function. Search by town, not the postcode.
#16. HOMESGOFAST (WWW.HOMESGOFAST.COM)
Pros: Strong overseas properties, excellent for villas, investments
Cons: Not just UK property
About: HomesGoFast popped up a few years ago and rapidly grew. Initially starting in the UK, it spread globally and is now seen as the leading resource for holiday apartments and investments.
#17. NETHOUSEPRICES (WWW.NETHOUSEPRICES.COM)
Pros: Handy valuation tools, free to use
Cons: Slightly spammy, mobile app needs work
About: One of the first property portals was NetHousePrices. Being well ahead of the game, it has 50 years of experience. NetHousePrices is one of the most visited UK property portals around the world. It is run by a small team of developers. However, it does lack some of the features of a large property portal development team. Nethouseprices.com is a definite requirement to have your property listed if you want to make a quick sale on your house. Read more about NetHousePrices Read more about nethouseprices here.
#18. UK LAND DIRECTORY (WWW.UKLANDDIRECTORY.ORG.UK)
The UK Land Directory lists all previous and available land on their website. It's the best place to go if you are looking to purchase some land to build a house or even run a farm!
They also have a place to sell your land with an easy registration process here. It's the perfect place to privately list your UK land to sell online.
And there we have it, a definitive list of the UK's top property websites!
INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING ON THESE PROPERTY WEBSITES?
Selling property doesn't have to be complicated. Sign up with Griffin Property Co today, and our easy upload system will take care of the rest!
For just £245, you can advertise your property on all major portals without any hidden fees or estate agent fees. Upgrade to a premium package for an additional £200 and receive professional photography, property particulars floor plan and virtual tour – all included in the price! For added convenience, add in completion management for just £200.
Our portal is fully responsive, so you can use it on any device and interact with potential buyers at any time - plus, you can rest assured that our friendly team are always available if you need help or advice. So don't wait - sign up now!
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