Advertisment
The advertisement appeared on a property website and featured images of a house which was detailed as being detached, 100 m², and having three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The written description described the property as being “an attractive part brick fronted semi-detached family home originally constructed as a three-bedroom property and now laid out with two large bedrooms.” The text further stated that this had been done in such a way that “it could easily be reinstated as a three-bedroom property if required.”
Complaint
The complainant considered it misleading to advertise a house as having three bedrooms when it only had two.
Response
The advertisers explained that the house in question was constructed in the 1980s as a three-bedroom home, as were all properties in that residential estate. They said that the current owner had re-configured the property to suit their own need.
The advertisers stated that the amendment to the property was done in such a way that the door into this room still remained and that the advertisement was therefore an attempt to clarify that the house was fundamentally constructed as a three-bedroom property and could be used as such.
The advertisers emphasised that it was never the intention to mislead consumers by mis-representing the property but rather a genuine attempt to clarify a full description of the house and the layout of the property.
Conclusion
Complaint Upheld.
The Complaints Committee considered both the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response.
While acknowledging that the property had originally been constructed as a three-bedroom house, the Committee noted that the property had since been re-configured to a two-bedroom house and that it was in this latter configuration at the time of advertising. Furthermore, the Committee noted that as the house was categorised within the subheading of the advertisement as being a three-bedroom house, this would have led to it appearing when consumers specifically searched for three-bedroom houses. In the light of this, the Complaints Committee considered that the advertisement had the potential to mislead consumers and therefore had breached the Code at sections 4.01, 4.04, 4.09 and 4.10.
ACTION REQUIRED:
The advertisement must not reappear in its current form. Care should be taken by advertisers to ensure that the initial description of a property being advertised is not contradicted in the more detailed information provided under the property description information.
