Rightmove LON: RMV reported 7% revenue growth for the first half of 2026, supported by higher average revenue per advertiser, or ARPA, and membership growth in its estate agency business, while softer new-homes development activity weighed on that segment.
Chief Executive Officer Johan said the company’s estate agency operation delivered “solid growth and strong retention,” while its smaller strategic growth areas remained on track to meet full-year objectives. He said Rightmove was continuing to accelerate product releases, including offerings powered by artificial intelligence, as it builds what he described as an “agentic-powered property marketplace.”
Underlying earnings per share increased 6% in the first half. The company also increased capital returns by 11% during the period and announced an expected distribution of more than £400 million to shareholders over the next 12 months, subject to market conditions and alternative uses of capital.
Agency growth offsets softer new-homes activity
CFO Ruaridh Hook said agency revenue rose 9% to £164 million in the first half. The increase was predominantly driven by ARPA, including package upgrades and adoption of the Online Agent Valuation product launched at the start of the year. Higher agency membership contributed a further £2 million, with retention reaching its highest level in more than a decade.
New-homes revenue increased 2% to £38 million despite fewer developments being advertised. A reduction in development volumes reduced revenue by approximately £2 million compared with the prior-year period, but ARPA growth added about £3 million as developers adopted products and upgraded packages.
Rightmove said its top new-homes package, Ascend, reached 36% penetration, while its top two packages accounted for nearly 80% of developments. The company said its direct appointment booking product generated a tripling of appointments, while virtual-tour requests produced nearly 50% more leads per development.
Hook said new-homes membership declined by 121 developments during the first half, with more than 80% of the reduction occurring in the second quarter. New developments coming to market were at the lowest level in the company’s records, he said.
Johan said the new-homes market had become more difficult through the second quarter amid higher-for-longer interest rates, high resale housing stock, build costs, weaker consumer confidence and limited effects so far from planning reforms. However, he said Rightmove remained focused on product development and expected development activity to recover as market conditions improve.
Strategic growth areas and market outlook
Commercial property revenue increased 13% to £8.4 million, with membership up 15% year over year. Rightmove introduced its Leader Advantage product suite in the second quarter, which is expected to become chargeable in the second half.
Mortgage revenue fell £1.1 million to £3.4 million, reflecting lower market activity and a difficult comparison following stamp-duty changes and interest-rate cuts in 2025. Still, mortgage revenue was £1.2 million higher than in the second half of 2025.
Rental services revenue rose 67%, aided by the rollout of Enquiry Manager. Around 7,000 partners now use the product, which accounted for £1.7 million of the increase in lettings product revenue, Hook said.
The company expects strategic growth area revenue to rise 20% to 30% in 2026, with second-half year-over-year revenue growth expected to be more than double the first-half rate. Rightmove expects commercial growth to improve in the second half, rental-services revenue to remain similar to the first half, and mortgage revenue to be similar to or higher than first-half levels.
Rightmove expects 1.05 million to 1.15 million U.K. housing transactions in 2026. Johan said available listings remained at record levels and estate agents had full pipelines, although new listings, demand and sales agreed were broadly in line with long-term averages.
AI investment and product development
The company said it had completed the migration of its applications to the cloud ahead of schedule and now has more than five petabytes of data in its unified data platform. It shipped more than 35% more technology releases, both in absolute terms and per developer, during the period.
Rightmove launched its Ask Rightmove conversational AI search feature in the first quarter. More than 6 million users have been exposed to the product, and users who engaged with it spent about 40% more time on the site, saved twice as many properties and were nearly twice as likely to send a lead, according to the company.
The business also expanded its Online Agent Valuation product, which had received more than 45,000 consumer valuation requests and was used by more than 1,200 branches. Johan said agents using its embedded AI tool responded 12% faster and booked 10% more valuations.
Rightmove is also trialing its Rightmove Plus AI Assistant at nearly 2,000 branches. The tool is designed to help agents interpret data and prepare insights for client interactions. Separately, the company is developing Voice Intelligence, which would use AI to analyze property-related phone calls and provide transcriptions, summaries, tags and suggested actions.
Guidance, costs and shareholder returns
Due to weaker new-homes development numbers, Rightmove lowered its 2026 revenue growth guidance to 6% to 8%. It expects development numbers to finish the year down 6% to 10%, while agency membership is projected to end the year 1% to 2% above 2025 levels.
The company maintained its guidance for 3% to 5% growth in full-year underlying operating profit and reiterated expectations for at least 5% earnings-per-share growth in 2026. Underlying operating costs rose £10 million year over year in the first half, resulting in a 69% underlying operating profit margin. People-related costs rose about £5 million, or 15%, as Rightmove continued to invest in technology, product development, data and AI capabilities.
Rightmove incurred £2.3 million in first-half costs related to a proposed legal claim and guided for £4 million to £7 million in such costs for the full year. Hook said the company believes the proposed claim is “without merit.”
The company announced an interim dividend of £0.0417 and said a £90 million share buyback had been completed in the first seven months of the year. It expects to buy back more than £330 million of shares over the next 12 months. To support returns and maintain financial flexibility, Rightmove entered into a £200 million revolving credit facility, which would represent roughly 0.5 times leverage if fully drawn.
About Rightmove (LON:RMV)
Rightmove plc, together with its subsidiaries, operates online digital property advertising and information portals in the United Kingdom and internationally. The company operates through Agency, New Homes, and Other segments. The Agency segment provides property resale and letting advertising services on its platforms. The segment also offers tenant references and rent guarantee insurance services to landlords. The New Homes segment provides property advertising services to new home developers and housing associations on its platforms.
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