The start of a £1.5 billion claim against property portal Rightmove will be heard in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) this week with the initial hearing set to determine if the tribunal allows the case to be certified on an opt-out basis and proceed to a full trial. Class members are automatically included in the legal action unless they choose to opt out of the claim.
First reported in in November 2025, Rightmove is the subject of a class action after estate agents claim it overcharged for its services. The claim is led by former Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) panel member Jeremy Newman, whose premise is Rightmove abused its dominant position in the online property portal market by charging excessive and unfair fees to estate agents that list properties on its online portal.
Ahead of the hearing Newman said: “We look forward to making the case that this claim should proceed on an opt-out basis. Any alternative would be a serious obstacle for small and medium-sized businesses, and few (if any) can justify the time, cost and risk of bringing a claim alone, or of joining an opt-in claim. The result would be fewer businesses compensated and higher legal costs. That helps only Rightmove.”
The collective added the CAT has rejected several attempts from Defendants in other collective action cases in 2026 for claims to proceed as opt-in rather than opt-out, including in Stasi v Microsoft, Ennis v Apple and Brook v Google.
The hearing is scheduled for 10:30am on Monday, 2nd November (with one day in reserve), and will be livestreamed on the CAT website.
Estate agents and new home developers that paid subscription fees to Rightmove between 1st April 2020 to 1st April 2026 are encouraged to get in touch here via the claims website.
The claim is being funded by Innsworth Capital, with legal support from Scott+Scott UK LLP and independent economic analysis by Kairos Economics.
