Letting Agents Advertising Guidance Published

Following the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruling in March, which ruled against a letting agent that had not provided sufficient information regarding fees in their online ads, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) has finally published guidelines for the lettings sector.

The CAP said, “We’ll be closely monitoring ads in all media from November onwards and will consider appropriate follow up action against non-compliant ads from this date.”

The guidance was put together by CAP after discussing the matter with The Property Ombudsman and ARLA, as well as a selection of private landlords and letting agents. Essentially, it says that specific fees must be displayed where there is room. But it does allow leeway if space is limited – for example, in a tweet – so long as fees are mentioned and further details are provided if sought.

Caroline Kenny of the UK Association of Letting Agents said, “We encourage all letting agents to review their property listings across all media platforms before the November compliance deadline in order to ensure they fall in line with the CAP’s guidance.”

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