‘OnTheMarket.com will go from strength to strength’, says Knight Frank’s Noel Flint

The Board Directors of Agents’ Mutual have reaffirmed that they have every confidence in OnTheMarket.com as the portal approaches its one year anniversary on January 26, 2016.

In the first of a series of comments from the Directors representing estate agency firms on the Board, Noel Flint, Partner, Head of London Residential at Knight Frank, said he believed OnTheMarket.com had already created a significant change within the portals market in a way no other recent market entrant had done.

He said: “The reality is that the portal is working and we have every confidence that it will continue to grow. As more agents recognise the strategic importance of regaining control of their data and costs and as they see the strategic opportunity to serve their clients and property-seekers better with their own portal, we believe that OnTheMarket.com will go from strength to strength.”

He added: “In our view, as a mutual, the venture is uniquely placed to achieve a huge step forward for traditional estate agency. OnTheMarket.com is injecting some much needed competition into what had become a rather staid arena, dominated by two giants whose main focus was the creation of enormous profit margins.”

Knight Frank was one of the Board member firms which chose to retain Rightmove and removed its properties from Zoopla/PrimeLocation.

Mr Flint maintained that OnTheMarket.com was providing Knight Frank’s offices with high-quality leads and their volume was steadily growing.

“We chose to retain Rightmove rather than Zoopla/PrimeLocation as our ‘other portal’, a decision which was later echoed by most of the members and which has left Zoopla and PrimeLocation with much lower property stock, not least at the high end where Knight Frank operates,” he said.

“Our clients like the portal and I don’t believe we are experiencing any loss of business since removing our properties from Zoopla and PrimeLocation to join OnTheMarket.com,” he added.

The Board member firms of Agents’ Mutual are Chestertons, Douglas & Gordon, Glentree, Knight Frank, KFH, Savills, Strutt & Parker and Spicerhaart.

Every estate or letting agent firm which lists properties with it becomes a member of the company and has an equal interest in it. One firm = one member = one vote, irrespective of the number of offices a firm has.

Noel Flint’s comment can be read in full below.

Noel Flint, Partner, Head of London Residential, at Knight Frank and a Non-Executive Director of Agents’ Mutual

At Knight Frank we attach great importance to strategic long-term thinking and we are proud to have been one of the driving forces behind the formation of Agents’ Mutual and the creation of OnTheMarket.com.

In our view, as a mutual, the venture is uniquely placed to achieve a huge step forward for traditional estate agency. OnTheMarket.com is injecting some much needed competition into what had become a rather staid arena, dominated by two giants whose main focus was the creation of enormous profit margins. OnTheMarket.com has already caused a significant sea-change within the portals market in a way that no other recent market entrant has done. We chose to retain Rightmove rather than Zoopla/PrimeLocation as our “other portal”, a decision which was later echoed by most of the members and which has left Zoopla and PrimeLocation with much lower property stock, not least at the high end where Knight Frank operates.

Ian Springett’s team has delivered a fast and beautifully designed website for consumers where house-hunting is now a pleasure and where there are many new and exclusive properties. Knight Frank is one of many agents who put newly launched properties on OnTheMarket.com 24 to 48 hours in advance of advertising them on any other portal. We feel this gives the most motivated property-seekers an extra reason to search OnTheMarket.com and to create a property alert to be first to see these properties. We have been impressed by the traffic figures and by the healthy mix of new and returning visitors. There is no doubt OnTheMarket.com is a ‘must-view’ destination for serious property-seekers.

OnTheMarket.com is providing Knight Frank’s offices with high-quality leads and we have seen their volume steadily growing. Our clients like the portal and I don’t believe we are experiencing any loss of business since removing our properties from Zoopla and PrimeLocation to join OnTheMarket.com. It is of course frustrating to read the numerous inaccurate claims levelled against OnTheMarket.com, usually from people who have a vested interest in trying to halt its rise in the market place. In truth, the fact that they go to such lengths is a reflection of the strength of the threat that OnTheMarket.com presents to their portal or business. The reality is that the portal is working and we have every confidence that it will continue to grow. As more agents recognise the strategic importance of regaining control of their data and costs and as they see the strategic opportunity to serve their clients and property-seekers better with their own portal, we believe that OnTheMarket.com will go from strength to strength.

Alex Evans

You May Also Enjoy

Home and Living

High Quality Modular Homes for the UK

Are you looking for added accommodation space in your garden / on your land? Modular Living Homes by tutumHOUSE offer a new way to live – minimalist in form, rich in experience. “There are approximately 9.6 million homes in the UK with a garden shed, and around 52% of the population owns one.” asgardsss There…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

The most stressful places to move to in the UK

With more people in the UK moving homes during summer than any other season and the average cost of moving in the UK rising to over £14,000, picking the right place to move to has become more crucial than ever. Luckily, new research from Pay Less for Storage reveals the UK cities that make life easiest…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Time-Traveling Estate Agent Sequel Climbs Amazon Charts

A UK Estate Agent Currently Bringing Joy to People’s Lives – Shame He’s Fictional…   Eric Meek, the fictional estate agent created by author Dale Bradford, is back for a second outing in The Time‑Travelling Estate Agent 2, a sequel that is already climbing Amazon’s bestselling time‑travel rankings. Estate agents were recently highlighted as the third…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Is it finally time for lenders to back green homes?

Andrew Smith weighs the risks and rewards Property developers are increasingly pitching green homes to lenders; however, with sales cycles slowing down and repair costs rising, is now the right time to back sustainable builds and at what price point is there market demand? Sustainability is continuing to shape our future of construction with the…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 24/07/25

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   OpticWise – digital infrastructure in commercial real estate If your building were a product, how would it perform on the user experience scale?  Week 9: Experience as Infrastructure – Designing for Human-Centric Buildings Welcome to Week 9 of our 52-week journey into the future…
Read More
new build homes colchester essex
Breaking News

UK Housebuilding Falters as Construction Hiring Flatlines

New research from Inventory Base reveals that UK construction industry employment has increased by almost 11% in the past five years, but there has been less than 1% growth in the past 12 months. Inventory Base’s analysis of the UK construction industry shows that in 2024 (latest data available) it employed an estimated total of…
Read More