Rightmove snaps up rental-focussed reviews website

A five year old consumer reviews website has been acquired by Rightmove.

Homeviews was set up in 2019 and at the time described itself as “a new and powerful research and marketing tool in the residential property sector” and “the review platform for residential property.” 

At the launch it had an official partnership with Countrywide’s high-end brand Hamptons International  and specialised in carrying reviews of London new build residential developments - it moved increasingly over to being a support website for Build To Rent.

It was set up by former LSL Marsh & Parson new homes head of consultancy Rory Cramer, who said in 2019: “One of the biggest decisions we ever make, financially and emotionally, is choosing a home. Our mission at HomeViews is to share useful, trustworthy insights about residential developments to support those making that decision.  At a time when around 100,000 new apartments are being delivered across London and thousands of people are discovering and considering new build for the first time, we see a real gap for a residential development review site.“  

Now HomeViews has been wholly acquired by Rightmove Group and the portal’s chief executive Johan Svanstrom says: “The HomeViews team has built an impressive platform that gives consumers more information to make decisions, and provides valuable feedback to industry operators, especially in the Build To Rent sector. 

“Build To Rent is an exciting and fast-growing segment of the UK property market. This acquisition provides Rightmove with yet another opportunity as part of our mission to further enrich information for all UK consumers, and create new and effective relationship tools for build to rent operators. We’re very excited to have the entire HomeViews team onboard.”

Cramer now adds: “Joining Rightmove gives us a brilliant opportunity to expand our services for our partners and other stakeholders. The strength of Rightmove’s brand, its commitment to digital innovation, and the breadth and depth of its reach across the UK property market make this a fantastic partnership. We can’t wait to start working together to leverage those benefits for the rapidly-expanding Build To Rent market.”