Rightmove relisting rules

If you're putting your house back on the market, whether after a sale has fallen through or a marketing break, it’s in your interest for it to appear as a new listing. We look at the Rightmove relisting rules to explain how it works.

What are the Rightmove relisting rules?

If you’ve previously marketed your property and you’re relisting it, it can appear as a new listing provided it meets one of the following criteria.

1. Your agreed sale has fallen through

When a property has had a sale agreed which is no longer proceeding, it would be classed as a sale fall-through, according to the Rightmove relisting rules.

The portal says: “For us to amend the date of a property due to a sale fall-through, the property needs to be marketed as Sold STC or Under Offer for 7 weeks or more.”

It adds that if your property meets its fall-through relisting criteria, “We’ll update the listing date. This will mark the property as ‘new’ on our site and in email alerts and help promote it to potential buyers.”

2. You’ve taken a marketing break

To fit the criteria for your property to appear as a new listing following a marketing break, properties for sale need to be removed from online advertising for a minimum of 14 weeks (and lettings properties need to be removed for a minimum of 14 days) in order for the property to automatically relist as new when it returns to the market as available. 

Why getting a new Rightmove listing is important

There are a number of reasons why you’ll want your home to appear as a new listing if possible.

• For example, if you’re back on the market because a sale has fallen through, you’d rather not have the original date your property went on the market showing as it may appear that your home has been hanging around on the market with little interest.

Not convinced you have the best estate agent? Compare local estate agents by success rate, speed of sale and track record on asking price using our free Best Estate Agent Finder tool.

Why were these Rightmove relisting rules introduced?

Portal juggling was the practice by some agents where they purposely removed and relisted a property to make it appear to be a new listing.

However, unless the property meets the above criteria to appear as a new listing, if a home is removed and republished, it will show the original publication date to prevent this practice from deceiving would-be buyers.

Can my property be listed as new if I drop the price?

Your property won’t be listed as new on Rightmove unless it meets the criteria on a sale falling through or a marketing break – a drop in price alone won’t make it eligible for being listed with a new date.

However, Rightmove does say that “if a property is reduced by 2% or more, the property will be sent out in Rightmove’s instant alert emails.” 

How to maximise the benefits of relisting

Relisting your property is another chance to sell it – so do everything to do it right, second time around. Here’s what to do:

1. Get advice from your estate agents

Speak to your agent and ask for other marketing suggestions beyond lowering the price to make your relisted home stand out and appear as fresh as possible when it’s relisted. These may include:

• Updating the photos: Are your house’s photos causing a problem? Check the competition and see whether you think they could be improved and if so, ask for them to be retaken. Or, consider whether it would be enough to refresh the lead photo on the listing and enhance the description.
• Adding a virtual tour to catch the attention of buyers.
• Using premium features: If you want to stand out from other listings, you or your agent could pay for a premium or featured listing to highlight the property.

See our guides on What does an estate agent do for more marketing ideas, and 10 Reasons why your house is not selling and how to fix them.

2. Consider changing agents

Switching estate agents is a big decision but if you don’t think your estate agent is performing well enough, and you think you could sell your house more easily or for more money by changing estate agents then it may be something you want to do.

Reasons why some people change estate agents include:  

• Estate agents aren’t responsive or don’t communicate enough
• Lack of viewings
• The estate agents are pushing for a price reduction

However, before switching you need to check your contract, including whether you are subject to a minimum tie-in period and whether you will have any continuing liability to the agent, after the notice period has expired. Read more information about this in our guide Changing estate agents: Is it worth it?. And see our advice on how to find the best estate agent.

3. Think about changing the price

If you think that listing your property for too much first time around was the reason it didn’t sell, you’ll likely be considering a drop in price when you relist.

You’ll find advice to help you calculate how much to relist your property for in our guide How much can I sell my house for?

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