Zoopla, the UK's second-largest property portal, is cashing in on British house envy as it pivots towards serving existing homeowners who want to check the value of other people's homes.

New chief executive Paul Whitehead has shifted the property site away from its traditional emphasis on transactions, aiming instead to attract homeowners who use the platform more frequently and can be served a range of financial services. The strategy reflects a broader challenge for property portals: revenues tied to listings and transactions are sensitive to swings in housing market activity, whereas homeowners who are not actively moving can be engaged repeatedly and monetised through data and financial products.

As part of the group's reinvention as a property valuation portal rather than a housemoving site, Zoopla has launched a new advertising campaign designed to appeal to the home envy of existing owners. One advert, running on an Elizabeth Line train bound for Oxfordshire, reads: "Want to know the value of your home? …and your boss's second home in the Cotswolds?"

Whitehead, who joined the firm from used-car website Cazoo last year, told City AM: "Our marketing approach this year has been predominantly around valuation.

"We've been doing that on a hyper local level, postcode by postcode. You pull customers in with a valuation message that then becomes an ongoing relationship.

"And then you build the brand trust over time with consumers, and then they're going to come to you when it comes to thinking about a move. That one creative example, and we have many more, is about hooking in consumers."

Return to profit

Zoopla says its new approach underpins its return to profit. The privately-owned firm posted a £13.3m pre-tax profit in 2025, having fallen to a £5.2m loss in the previous year, owing to a near-£20m write-down of Yourkeys, the estate agent it bought in 2021.

The number of homeowners using Zoopla grew by 39 per cent to 5.4m in 2025, and has since jumped by another 1m. The group's revenue slipped by one per cent to £83.2m.

Zoopla's profitability, while rising, remains a fraction of that of its rival Rightmove, which posted a £290m pre-tax profit in 2025. Rightmove grew its revenue by nine per cent to £425m over the same period. Rightmove has long dominated the UK portal market by traffic volume, and Zoopla's valuation-led strategy represents an attempt to differentiate rather than compete head-on for the same listing revenues.

"We're taking a different approach [to Rightmove]," Whitehead said. "The traditional portal approach […] has been monetising the activity that happens and the huge volumes of traffic that you have.

"We're much more focussed on driving lead quality, driving data insights, driving return on investment to the partners that work with us across a broad spectrum."

Seven in ten consumers mention Zoopla before its competitors when asked to name a home valuation portal, the group said.

Zoopla works with a number of estate agents and housebuilders, including Connells, Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon. It delivered 25 per cent more valuation data to its partners in the first quarter of this year.

Homebuyers 'have become more resilient'

House prices and property market activity are declining, but Whitehead said Zoopla's new approach is not solely designed to insulate the firm against a subdued market.

"I think UK consumers have become more resilient. I certainly don't see huge, volatile swings in terms of numbers and traffic [on the platform]," he said.

The property portal was bought by Silver Lake Partners for £2.2bn in 2018. The American private equity firm also holds a stake in the owner of Manchester City.