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.
More complaints about misleading ads lodged against UK estate agents have been upheld this year than in all of 2016. The Advertising Standards Authority supported 13 complaints in the first nine months of 2017, compared with nine last year. 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.