A multi-branch estate agency in Lancashire has agreed to change an advert following a complaint that it wasn’t clearly a marketing communication from a member of the public.

Petty Real Estates, which has three high street branchs including an HQ in Burnley (main image) was approached by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over the ad after the complainant said it breached rules on the use of consumer data.

An informal resolution was reached between the ASA and Petty Real, which is part of the Real Big Estates Group, once the ASA had been satisfied with its response.

Breached rules

A spokesperson for the ASA says: “We received a complaint about a marketing email from Petty Real Estate Agents. The complainant challenged whether the ad breached the advertising rules on marketers’ use of consumer data and also if it was obviously identifiable as a marketing communication.

“We approached the advertiser about the issues that had been raised and they agreed to resolve these without being subject to a formal ruling. On that basis, we closed the case informally.”

Remove photos

Petty Real is not the only agency to get into hot water with the ASA. Earlier this year, Haart agreed to remove photos from a property listing after a complaint to the ASA was also resolved informally.

The complainant claimed the images were misleading because they didn’t show the current condition of the property.

The ASA raised the issue with Haart, which is part of the Spicerhaart Group, and the estate agency responded by saying that the pictures were from a previous listing to protect the privacy of the sitting tenant.

Haart then agreed to take the pictures down until they could replace them with more recent photographs, and the ASA closed the case.

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