The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received a complaint about Residential Realtors, an estate and letting agent based in central London, which focused on an advert for a four-bedroom terraced house, featuring four images of the inside of the property.
The complainant argued that the ad was misleading, as the images were not reflective of the actual inside of the property. Residential Realtors admitted they had uploaded photos from a different property, and so removed the ad.
As a result, the complaint has been classed as informally resolved.
Succession of complaints
Estate agents have been the subject of a succession of complaints to the advertising authorities in recent months, with agents repeatedly ordered to amend or remove claims made in their marketing. Just last week two agents agreed to change their websites following probes by the ASA, with the director of one of the agent’s accused of pretending to post a customer review.
Online estate agents have been particularly bad, with consumer champion Which? issuing a warning to homebuyers cautioning them to be wary about outlandish claims made by online agents.