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Estate agent’s ‘misleading’ Help to Buy ad prompts regulator action

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  • 12/06/2019
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Estate agent’s ‘misleading’ Help to Buy ad prompts regulator action
An estate agent has agreed to amend its advertising, which suggested that people purchasing homes using the Help to Buy scheme could get the property at a lower price.

 

Luscombe Maye had been promoting a development of new homes in Devon, and included text in its ad which stated: “from £345,000 or £276,000 with Help to Buy”.

A complaint was raised with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), over concerns that the ad did not make clear that the lower price involved a government loan, as well as whether the advert was misleading.

In response Luscombe Maye said future ads would not suggest the purchase price of a property would be reduced for those buying through Help to Buy, as well as including further details about the scheme such as the use of a government loan and eligibility requirements.

As a result, the issue was resolved informally.

 

Letting agent ad issue

A second complaint was raised against online letting agent Upad.

The issue centred on an ad on the firm’s website, which stated “UPay on Success”.

The complainant argued this was misleading, as it did not make clear that a charge is still due to landlords if they take their property listing down without having found a tenant through Upad.

In response, the firm agreed to amend the page, and so the complaint was informally resolved.

Mortgage Solutions has contacted both firms involved.

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