The government has warned that estate agents agreeing with rivals which property portals to list on could face “significant fines” for breaking competition law.
It comes after the Competition and Markets Authority became aware that some estate agents may be making joint decisions to join the OnTheMarket portal, rather than reaching these decisions independently of each other.
Ann Pope, CMA senior director antitrust, said: “The online portals on which properties are listed is an important aspect of competition between estate agents and the choice of portal must be decided independently and not agreed with competitors.
“Estate agents that are found to be breaking competition law in this way could face significant fines.”
The CMA has sent an open letter to estate agents outlining how estate agents should make decisions about their business and the consequences of breaking competition law.
Estate agents found to have broken competition law can be fined up to 10% of their annual worldwide turnover, while directors could be disqualified from UK company directorships for up to 15 years.
In addition, individuals involved in certain cartel activity, such as fixing prices, may be prosecuted under the criminal cartel offence and receive a five-year prison sentence and/or have to pay an unlimited fine.
Mark Hayward, managing director of the National Association of Estate Agents, said: “All NAEA members should be aware of their obligations in regards to competition law around online property portals. We continue to remind members of these rules, and are happy to work with the CMA on these obligations to ensure agents act independently when deciding which portals to list on.”
The CMA said it has contacted agents it suspects of not acting independently.
