Dorian Gonsalves, CEO of Belvoir, said: “We have for some time believed that the property portals landscape was ripe for disruption.

“OnTheMarket is the first serious contender for several years to be injecting genuine competition in the interests of agents and property searchers alike.

“It is agents who provide the portals with the majority of their content and income. It is also agents who serve their clients and property searchers on the ground in selling, letting, buying and renting property.

“I’m very pleased to be announcing our strategic support for OnTheMarket as an agent-backed business and am confident that with agent momentum building it will continue to go from strength to strength.”

OTM chief executive Ian Springett said: “While we have already been working with some individual offices within the Belvoir Group, we are absolutely delighted to welcome the entire group to OnTheMarket.

“As an outstanding business with 300 lettings and estate agent offices up and down the UK, Belvoir continues to expand its network.

“Belvoir has an enviable reputation for combining strong central and supportive management with an entrepreneurial culture and high quality local client service.

“Its decision to support OnTheMarket is a strong testament to our success to date in increasing our agent base, our consumer traffic and the value we are creating for agents.”