Why Rightmove rejects or removes a property listing

Why did the listing come down without a warning?

Because there was no submission to reject. Data supplied automatically appears within 24 hours of receipt, and a change made in Rightmove Plus during a business day between 06:00 and 22:00 appears within 15 minutes. Nothing in that flow reviews the content first. Paragraph 4 says Rightmove accepts no responsibility for checking the accuracy of member data and has no obligation to edit or review it, while reserving the right to edit, review, suppress or remove it.

Removal therefore arrives after publication, usually as an email naming the issue and asking you to check every other listing for the same fault. That instruction is the part branches miss. The count is against the branch and the fault, so fixing the one listing that was reported and leaving 40 others with the same watermark starts the clock again the moment somebody notices.

Some removals are automated rather than reported. Rightmove identifies completed sales using Land Registry and Registers of Scotland data and removes those listings itself. It removes property located outside the United Kingdom from UK searches unless the member holds an Overseas Membership. It removes any listing referring to a raffle or other gambling with immediate effect. Where a housing benefit restriction is mentioned without a stated reason, the mention is removed automatically.

What is a Category A and a Category B data quality issue?

A Category A issue is one that puts you in breach of a legal requirement, or that Rightmove judges to have a potentially harmful impact on users or other members. A Category B issue is a breach of the technical guidelines alone. The distinction decides how fast the escalation runs, and both are published in the Data Quality Courses of Action document linked from the agents page.

Category A runs 6 counts. On the first, an email explains the fix and gives 3 business days to check every listing, after which non compliant listings are removed. The second count adds a conversation and the same 3 day window, plus a warning that the branch is at risk of being made invisible. The third count within 12 months hides the branch and all of its listings immediately, restored once you confirm the fix. The fourth restores after a further 3 business days, the fifth after 5 working days, and the sixth hides the branch indefinitely while Rightmove reviews the business relationship, which can end in termination of membership.

Category B runs 8 counts and starts more gently: an email, a reminder email, then a phone call, then a call with a warning. The fifth count hides the branch, restored after 3 business days once fixed. The seventh restores after 5 business days. The eighth hides the branch indefinitely and opens the same review. Rightmove also reserves the right to expedite either process where a breach is serious, could harm other members or users, or represents unfair or misleading advertising.

Which breaches actually generate the counts?

The Data Quality Requirements Table in the technical guidelines is the list. Most of what appears there is a template problem rather than a one off mistake, which is why 1 report tends to surface dozens of listings.

Breach	The rule	Where it sits
Text, borders, banners or corner flashes on an image	Prohibited, except an arrow or outline to show an unclear location	Misuse of media
Watermark outside spec	White on photos, grayscale on floorplans, 30 per cent opacity or lower, no more than a quarter of the image	Misuse of media
Phone number, email or web address in the description	Prohibited, including language pushing users off platform	Misuse of descriptive text
Status text that contradicts the listing status	Under offer in the text while the flag says available	Misuse of descriptive text
Price on application, offers invited, sale by tender	Removed on listings added since 1 July 2022	Material information
Wrong or partial address	Full address including the first line, new homes excepted	Misuse of descriptive text
Sold by us, another sold by	Prohibited, the listing is for available property	Misuse of descriptive text
Generic ban on children, or housing benefit with no stated reason	Prohibited, and the benefit wording is stripped automatically	Misuse of descriptive text
Same property listed twice by one firm	1 unique listing per property, including across franchisees	Location and listing
Reloading listings so they look new	May be deemed misleading, and it distorts market share data	Email alerts and added on

2 more sit outside the table and carry heavier consequences. Inaccurately declaring a fall through is treated by Rightmove as likely to be a misleading action under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, with a penalty of a fine or up to 2 years imprisonment, and as a breach that results in termination of membership. The declaration has to use the exact words: I declare this property as a fall through and request that it be returned to market.

How long can a property sit as sold subject to contract or let agreed?

Sales statuses of sold subject to contract, sold subject to concluded missives in Scotland, under offer or reserved may run for no longer than 8 months. Let agreed may run for no longer than 6 weeks. Rightmove removes listings it identifies as having been held in a status for an excessive period, which is a removal that looks arbitrary from the branch and is not.

The status has to be right as well as timely. Sales flip to sold subject to contract from the point an offer is accepted until completion. Lettings flip to let agreed from acceptance or from the point a holding deposit is taken until the tenancy starts. Only the agent who achieved the status may display it, so on a multi agency instruction the other agents either keep advertising as available because they are still taking offers, or withdraw.

3 timing rules govern relisting, and they exist to stop portal juggling. A property has to have been marked unavailable for at least 14 weeks before a marketing break earns a new added on date and an instant alert. A fall through can be relisted where it has been unavailable for 7 consecutive weeks or more, was made available in the last 7 days, and has had no property alerts in the last 7 days. A reduction only shows as reduced, and triggers an alert, where it is at least 2 per cent of the price, though any reduction still has to be disclosed in the free text with a was and now figure.

How do you get a suppressed branch switched back on?

Correct every listing carrying the fault, brief the team so it does not recur, then tell Rightmove. Visibility returns immediately at the third Category A count, after 3 business days at the fourth and after 5 working days at the fifth. At the final count of either process the suspension is indefinite while the issue is investigated and the relationship is reviewed.

The faster route is to stop generating counts. Audit the template rather than the listing: the watermark preset, the corner flash your designer added, the boilerplate line with the office number in it, the CRM field mapping that drops the first line of the address. Most Category B counts come from a setting rather than a person. The image side of the rulebook is covered in Rightmove and Zoopla photo rules for UK agents and the wording side in property description rules for UK estate agents.

Frequently asked questions

Does Rightmove tell you which count you are on?

The emails and calls track the process, and the escalation steps are written down in the Data Quality Courses of Action document so you can work out where you stand. If a suppression arrives without a clear count, ask which category the issue was recorded under, because Category A and Category B escalate at different speeds.

Can a competitor report our listings?

Anyone can bring an issue to Rightmove's attention, and the process makes no distinction between a user complaint, an internal check and a report from another member. Rightmove also runs its own investigations, including mystery shops, where it believes the terms have been breached.

Is a removed listing the same as a rejected feed?

No. A feed failure means the data never arrived and is a technical problem at your end or your feed provider's. A removal means the data arrived and was taken down. Rightmove can also switch off a feed provider entirely where its actions breach regulations or compromise the platform, which takes every listing from that provider invisible at once.

What happens after a second Category A breach of the same kind?

You get a conversation, a further 3 business days to correct every affected listing, and a written warning that the branch and its listings are at risk of being made invisible. The third occurrence within 12 months hides them without a further warning.

Sources

• Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines, January 2026, Rightmove
• Data Quality Courses of Action, Rightmove
• Rightmove for agents, legal documents, Rightmove
• Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Part 4, legislation.gov.uk
• Zoopla membership criteria, Zoopla

Last verified: 2026-09-02