More complaints about misleading ads lodged against UK estate agents have been upheld this year than in all of 2016. A ruling against a rival, HouseSimple, also found that its claim that ­selling a house would cost “just £495” was misleading because if homebuyers used their own conveyancers or ­mortgage brokers they must pay an ­extra fee. The number of complaints has risen by more than a third from the same period last year, according to figures obtained under Freedom Of Information laws. The increase comes amid a surge in the growth of online property agents: Purplebricks had six of its ads banned in the past 18 months for exaggerating how much customers would save by using its service, and rival HouseSimple was found also to have misled homebuyers over its charges.
More complaints about misleading ads lodged against UK estate agents have been upheld this year than in all of 2016. The number of complaints has risen by more than a third from the same period last year, according to figures obtained under Freedom Of Information laws. The increase comes amid a surge in the growth of online property agents: Purplebricks had six of its ads banned in the past 18 months for exaggerating how much customers would save by using its service, and rival HouseSimple was found also to have misled homebuyers over its charges.