OnTheMarket has been having “positive discussions” with founding shareholder agents about renewing their contracts once they expire next year.

Agents who invested in the OnTheMarket initial public offering (IPO) in February 2018 signed up to five-year contracts that will end in February 2023.

After this point, they can sell all their shares and leave if they wish.

But OnTheMarket chief executive Jason Tebb was confident that agents will continue to support the platform.

He told Estate Agent Today: “We have engaged with agents during town halls and have been speaking with the original founding agents.

“The conversations are ongoing and are being positively received.

“The real focus is not just about the portal anymore but all the services we offer.”

Tebb said OnTheMarket can no longer be seen as a challenger portal, citing its other services such as support for house builders and the acquisition of agency software proptech firm Glanty.

 

It comes as OnTheMarket revealed its annual results for the 12 months to 31 January 2022 yesterday.

Its group revenue was up 32% annually to £30.4m.

OnTheMarket posted an operating loss of £600,000 after taking account of acquisition costs and repaying the government’s furlough support during the pandemic.

Without these costs, it would have had an adjusted operating profit of £2.7m, up 13% annually.

The percentage of agency advertisers on paying contracts at the year-end was 90%, according to the results.

Tebb added that the remaining agents were on limited free trial periods that usually last a few months.