A property portal is marking its first anniversary today, after transitioning from its original purpose as a private sales site to one that agents can also use.

The HouseShop, formerly the Little House Company, says that in the last year it has become particularly popular with smaller agents.

On the site, agents can list homes for free, while DIY sellers and landlords are charged a fee.

The portal says it is proving increasingly popular with those smaller agents who “struggle to afford the months costs of the big agent-only portals like Rightmove and Zoopla”, and are now planning to grow this audience further.

The main issue the HouseShop says it has come across in acquiring new agents to list is convincing them that it really is free.

Co-founder Nick Marr said: “We speak to agents every day who are looking for low cost marketing options to top up the exposure for their clients’ properties, and the one question we consistently receive is ‘What’s the catch’.

“Put simply, there is no catch.

“Our model does not involve charging agents any kind of subscription cost to market their properties and we will be maintaining TheHouseShop as a free listing platform for all estate agents.

“We want our thousands of visitors to be offered the biggest possible range of sales and rental listings and that is why it is so important for us to work closely with estate agents as well as individual home owners.”

The site said it is attracting over 1m page views per month, with more visitors looking for rental listings than sales stock.