Location, location, broadband
Rightmove property website is considering adding broadband speeds to its property listings as more house hunters place greater importance on high speed internet access.
The Telegraph has reported that Rightmove will buddy up with BT to list internet speeds for the 1 million homes advertised on its website.
However, when HEXUS called Rightmove it said: "We are looking into it but there is no partnership in place at the moment. We are investigating a number of things and are constantly looking for new ways to improve our website."
If Rightmove does go ahead with the plan, it is thought it will list broadband speeds alongside current essential information such as whether the property has a garage or garden as well as its number of bedrooms.
A spokeman at the company told The Telegraph: "Broadband is becoming one of the most, if not the most, important considerations for prospective buyers. Many people fall in love with a home only to find out it can only get really slow internet. By listing broadband speed with all the other property details buyers will be able to weed out homes that don't have high-speed access."
It also reported that Rightmove, which covers 90 percent of properties for sale in the UK, will list whether a home can receive BT's 40 Mbps Infinity broadband service.
The spokesman reportedly added: "As a leading UK website services like superfast broadband obviously interest us and we have recently looked into how it can benefit us, although we are not currently in any form of partnership with BT."
The news follows a survey last month that suggested reliable super-fast broadband access could increase UK house prices, as home-hunters take it into consideration when choosing their des res.
A poll by ISP Review discovered that nearly 2 thirds of Brits would think twice before purchasing a house without a fast broadband connection, while half of respondents said they would fork out more money for a home that had faster connectivity than their current broadband service.
It seems the link between buying houses and broadband is not only of interest to BT as Virgin Media has reportedly partnered with lots of independent estate agents to list whether or not properties are connected to its high-speed cable broadband network.
