Advertising Standards Authority: Displaying fees on letting adverts
In September, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) set a deadline for letting agents and private landlords to bring their advertising in line with the advertising rules. From 1 November, you must ensure you prominently include information about non-optional fees in your ads for rental properties. While this may herald a change to the way you advertise it doesn’t have to be burdensome for your business.
So, what does this mean for the sector and how can you get your ads right?
This new requirement follows an ASA ruling earlier this year which highlighted the need for more transparent pricing across the letting sector, including ads online and on companies’ own websites. We upheld a complaint about ads for rental properties on Rightmove which were misleading because they didn’t include the compulsory administration charge.
The ruling doesn’t just apply to Your Move Ltd, who was the advertiser in this case: it also applies to all other businesses that advertise in this sector.
Here’s a short summary of how you can make sure that non-optional fees are clear on your website, and in other media (e.g. posters, leaflets, newsletters):
• Non-optional fees that can be calculated in advance should be included with the quoted asking rent. (e.g. a fixed admin fee of £150 per tenant, ads should state “£1500 pcm + £150 admin fee per tenant” or similar).
• Otherwise for non-optional fees and charges that cannot be calculated in advance, and are excluded from quoted prices, you must make this clear in the ad. And must provide enough information to allow consumers to establish easily how further charges will be calculated.
• For tweets or where there is limited space you should provide information on additional fees through a prominent statement on either the website, a link or via a pop-up.
The idea is, of course, to help prospective tenants to make more informed choices and avoid being misled.
Promoting trust in advertising is a big part of our work. As such we, along with our sister organisation, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), are here to help advertisers get their ads right. We place an emphasis on ‘prevention rather than cure’ and have been actively engaged with operators in this sector to ensure they’re aware of the rules and to provide the necessary tools to help comply with them.
We’ve also worked closely with bodies such as the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA) and The Property Ombudsman (TPO) and have written to letting agents and private landlords to outline the new requirements.
We encourage any letting agent or private landlord unsure about what this means for their advertising to get in touch. The CAP website provides a wealth of resources from Help Notes to Advertising Codes and training and events to a bespoke Copy Advice service.
CAP has also recently published a new AdviceOnline entry ‘Compulsory costs and charges: Letting agents’. It sets out what a ‘non-optional admin charge’ is, for instance reference fees (credit checks, bank, guarantor, previous landlord etc) as well as application fees, fees for drawing up tenancy agreements and inventory fees. It also provides, depending on the media in which an ad appears and the space available, examples of the kind of information advertisers should include and to make clear whether charges are per tenant or per property.
It’s fair to say that letting agents and private landlords are coming under close scrutiny.
As from last Friday, November 1, CAP will consider appropriate follow-up action against advertisers who aren’t sticking to the rules.
Moreover, businesses or individuals should be aware that the Office of Fair Trading is also consulting on new guidance on how the law applies to the lettings market and identifying trading practices that could breach legislation.
By taking advantage of the free, expert, up-to-date help and advice resources that CAP provides, operators in this sector can avoid running into problems with the ASA.
Being up-front about charges not only gives consumers a fair deal it also has the knock on effect of being good for business and the reputation of the sector as a whole. Keeping your house in order is ultimately good for your business.
Comments
‘Compulsory costs and charges: Letting agents’. is a dead link.
We've been welcoming this at http://letmeproperties.co.uk - about 50% of our competitors have not bothered to comply, however of those who have it is astonishing to see the range of tenant fees charged, and the size of those charges! No wonder they all drive such expensive cars haha
From what I can see many, many agents are not even attempting to comply.