Two property company’s websites investigated by advertising watchdog
An estate agent in North London and builder Crest Nicholson are asked to amend their websites.
How creative can an agent get about its company’s history?
That question has been put under the spotlight after an agent in North London was reported this week to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for claiming on its property website that it has been in business for a decade even though it was not incorporated until October 2015, Companies House records show.
Huddletons, which operates out of an office above a restaurant in Camden and one director, appears to have changed its website to reflect the ASA request to amend its claim, now stating the more subtle point that it “has developed organically over the past decade from concept through to where it currently stands as a business”.
Huddleton is not listed on either the NAEA or ARLA websites as a member but it is signed up to the Property Redress Scheme.
But the company is not the only one investigated this week by the ASA over claims made on its website.
Builder Crest Nicholson had an advert for one of its developments challenged by a complainant, who said an image was misleading because it showed a detached property when, on further investigation, it turned out to be semi-detached.
“The advertiser confirmed that they had removed the image from the listing,” says the ASA.”
Read about more recent investigations by the ASA.