Gumtree introduce fees for landlord advertising

Most private residential landlords have, until now, been able to find tenants via Gumtree without being charged, but now will only be able to advertise twice per year for free. Subsequent advertisements will cost £9.95 per property.

In addition, fees have also been introduced for the popular practise of "bumping". Gumtree lists search results by date of listing, so in order to keep ads visible, many landlords update their ads frequently so they appear as new. Outside London, this will now be charged at £2 per "bump"; in the capital, bumping costs £7.14.

Alternatively, landlords will be able to open a monthly subscription account: fees for these range from £50 for a single month, to £270 for six months.

James Davis, CEO of Upad, the online lettings agent, and a landlord himself, says:

"Gumtree has been a real gift for landlords, giving them easy access to the internet, reaching a wider market than just the newsagent's window, all for free.

"We know landlords who've built their entire business around the free advertising that Gumtree offers. But it's all about to change.

"For those advertising London properties, bumping is going to cost £49.98 a week if you want to do it every day, as you'll need to. 'Free' has just got a lot more expensive, and many landlords will now be asking themselves if the service they were getting for free is really worth paying so much for.

"Upad offers a real alternative for self-managing landlords who are used to managing their own tenancies. We advertise rental properties on the big property sites like Rightmove, Zoopla, FindaProperty, Prime Location and Globrix, without charging a commission on rent to find a tenant.

"We also advertise on Gumtree and 'bump' listings for our landlords twice a day. saving them the hassle of signing into the site to do so, and now saving quite considerably on fees too."