Rightmove Approves £90 Million Share Buyback
Rightmove, the UK’s largest online property portal, has confirmed a new share repurchase programme worth £90 million, underscoring management’s confidence in the company’s cash generation and market dominance.
The buyback, which will be executed over the coming months, is designed to return surplus capital to shareholders and enhance earnings per share. Analysts note that the move highlights Rightmove’s entrenched position in the UK housing market, where it remains the first stop for the vast majority of buyers, renters and estate agents.
Why 90% of UK Home Searches Still Ignore ChatGPT
Despite the rapid rise of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, around 90% of UK home seekers continue to start their property journey on traditional portals like Rightmove rather than conversational bots.
Trust, Habit and Data Depth Beat Novelty
Property search is still driven by three core factors: trusted listings, market depth and powerful filters. Rightmove offers millions of live listings, detailed price histories and neighbourhood data that most general-purpose AI chatbots cannot directly access or verify in real time.
For many buyers, especially those making the largest purchase of their lives, trust and transparency outweigh the novelty of a chat-based interface. Estate agents also continue to invest heavily in online listings and featured placements on established portals rather than experimental AI-driven discovery tools.
AI Is Arriving Quietly Inside Property Portals
While consumers may not be using ChatGPT to find homes, AI technologies are increasingly embedded behind the scenes. Portals are experimenting with machine learning to improve search relevance, estimate property values and personalise recommendations.
Industry observers expect the next phase of competition to focus on how platforms like Rightmove blend their deep property databases with conversational AI interfaces, rather than being displaced by standalone chatbots. For now, the £90 million buyback signals that investors still see more value in the established model than in a wholesale shift to AI-led search.