Portal Fees Row: agents end boycott after agreeing new deal

A boycott of a major property portal has been called off after a settlement has been reached over fees.

PropertyPal is the largest website in Northern Ireland for lettings and sales.

Its new fee structure was described by agents as being 25% to 45% more expensive than before, although PropertyPal claimed an agent could list a property for £20.

Now the BBC reports that peace has broken out with the portal saying: that at a meeting with agents last week “there was a mutual desire for a positive resolution and to move forward constructively.

"As a result, the majority of all agents are using PropertyPal to advertise their property listings.”

The BBC reports Stephen McCarron, an agent in Derry/Londonderry who had joined the boycott, saying: “Nobody was really asked about [the fee change] it was just forced on them. It took a while for PropertyPal to see the side of the estate agents, but when they sat down and they had a conversation and they talked through the different points, then there was a consensus agreed."

He says the portal promised "be more transparent with estate agents, with their clients, on what they intend to do in the future.

"I was given an undertaking by PropertyPal that if anything happens it will be discussed in advance of it happening and our opinions sought.

"It’s not for me to say what everybody else has got... [but] talking personally as a business owner I am very happy with what I negotiated and what I’ve got".