Concern that property sites merger could lead to higher prices

Mrs Pooler has warned that the merger could allow for 'free rein' on house pricing

A Belfast estate agent has raised concerns that a merger of Northern Ireland’s two main house sales websites will lead to higher prices for agents and consumers.

Elaine Pooler said estate agents across Northern Ireland had been ‘blindsided’ by this week’s announcement by PropertyPal and Property News.

The deal will see the two sites continue to operate under common ownership.

Mrs Pooler said agents are taking advice on the possibility of making a formal complaint to the UK’s competition watchdog, the CMA.

'Free rein' with prices

"They now have a free rein to do whatever they like with their prices," said Mrs Pooler.

"Those prices get passed onto to our clients who are the people selling their houses."

A source familiar with PropertyPal pricing has said that currently NI agents pay fees per property that are about a fifth of that charged by the big UK portals and about a third of what agents pay to portals in the Republic of Ireland

'Commitment to maintaining fair prices'

Propertynews was originally a property magazine which went online in 2000 while PropertyPal was launched in 2007.

The two sites have a dominant position in advertising house sales and rental listings.

The merger will see Propertynews’ owner, GCD Technologies, become a shareholder in PropertyPal Ltd.

PropertyPal’s chief executive, Jordan Buchanan will lead the merged company.

He spoke to the BBC earlier this week and said that in initial conversations with estate agents the deal had been ‘positively received’ and there would be meetings with agents in the first two weeks of September.

He said both websites had always been ‘exceptionally competitively priced’ and there was a commitment to maintaining ‘fair and sustainable’ prices

A firm to challenge the merger, HomesNI, is due to launch next month

Earlier this year some estate agents launched a boycott of PropertyPal after it announced a new system for charging for listings.

They later returned to the platform after getting assurances that the company would be more transparent about any planned changes.

Meanwhile, a challenger firm, HomesNI, is due to officially launch next month.

It has been founded by Stephen Cousins, a businessman who runs the a web design firm, BlueCubes.

He said: "We’ve been working with Estate Agents for over 17 years, delivering bespoke website design and online services.

"BlueCubes already works closely with over 60 Estate Agency Groups in Northern Ireland and we’ve been listening to their issues and their desire for something new and fresh."