Is it misleading to use old photos?

[ladymeepm]

Went to see a rental listing. It didn’t say anywhere the pictures were old but I knew they were four years old as they were the same as when the flat last sold.

Now the walls are all scuffed and in need of a repaint
No bath as been replaced with shower
No view as tall building blocked all light
Everything repainted a boring (cheap) white paint

It’s misleading to show things that have changed. So if it shows a bath and a view and both have gone it’s definitely misleading.

They should have shown a photo of the current bathroom, agreed. And if the view out of the window has changed drastically it is a bit cheeky of them to use old photos. Probably deliberate. Would you have viewed the property if you'd known? I wouldn't want to be without a bath.

One of the “property highlights” is the view of st pauls! And now there isn’t one.

They’d also taken out all of the nice light fixtures and put in cheapo strip lights.

Well yes it’s a bit misleading but all that’s happened is you wasted some time, as you didn’t put an offer in without viewing presumably? Ultimately a viewing overrides any pictures.

In this instance, I would say it breaks advertising standards rules. But good luck getting the rental portal or the ASA to do anything about it.

It actually breaks advertising laws. When we sold our house they agreed to edit a photo ever so slightly on the promise we would make the alterations (it was a paint touch up job, so no biggy, but without it the advert pic looked shabby). They were really strict and cited legislation. You should definitely take it up with the company.