Advertising body updates guidance on display of letting agents' fees

The body which issues codes of advertising has issued new guidance for letting agents on how to publicise rental fees in accordance with the law.

The Committees of Advertising Practice - which writes and maintains guidance on advertising which is then administered by the Advertising Standards Authority - has issued the guidance following a complaint regarding a letting agent’s advertisement posted on Rightmove, but which did not include a compulsory administration charge.

The guidance is thorough and written in plain English, setting out two types of fee information which must be included in advertising material:

- CAP Code 3.18 which makes it clear that all non-optional fees relating to a property that can be calculated in advance, and which apply to all or most tenants, need to be included beside the monthly rent. This must be displayed prominently, and not in ‘the small print’.

- CAP Code 3.19 which covers other fees which may not be compulsory and which will depend on the consumer’s circumstances. These should be signposted with a claim like “£1000pcm + other fees apply" or “may apply”.

In addition the guidance addresses agents “advertising on a property portal like Rightmove and Zoopla” which says a “fees apply” pop-up (containing the full fees) should be included in the advertisement.

The guidance concludes by saying that if there is no rental price in the advertisement, there is no need to include the fee information.

It’s a handy guide, and you can see it here.