Axe the Agent property 'on Rightmove' claim

Rightmove, which this weekend has been looking into claims that a private seller is listing his home on the site, said this morning that the property appears to be advertised via one of its estate agency members.

The vendor, Chris Foster, of Dodworth, near Barnsley, Yorkshire, is due to take part in the BBC’s new programme ‘Axe the Agent’.

The series starts today at 10am and is meant to consist entirely of private vendors who deliberately cut estate agents out of their transactions, and who save money on estate agency fees.

Foster’s agent-avoiding tactics are said to include setting up a stall at Barnsley Football Stadium.

Rightmove does not accept advertisements from private sellers, but in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph, Foster was said to have “managed to get his home on the property portal Rightmove which he rightly feels is crucial to marketing it – the internet he thinks has taken away much of estate agents’ importance. ‘They’ve got to evolve a bit, push themselves for their fees,’ he says. ‘They’ve just got to be seen to do a bit more for their money.’”

A footnote to the article said that Foster’s house is available on Rightmove for £187,500 “for a limited period only”.

It would appear that the property is in fact being marketed on Rightmove through a bona fide NAEA agent.

That could be a huge embarrassment for the BBC, which is specifically promoting the show as helping people sell their homes without an estate agent.

Rightmove confirmed that it does not allow properties to be directly advertised by private sellers.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said this morning (Monday): “We, as a business, have had no contact with Chris Foster and he certainly is not a direct advertiser with Rightmove. We have been told that that the house he is trying to sell is on Rightmove and, if the house in question is indeed his, then we are happy to confirm that this house is advertised by one of our member estate agents.”

‘Axe the Agent’ is to be screened every weekday at 10am for the next four weeks. It is understood that a second series has already been commissioned.