FDI images in property listings is false advertising, house-hunters say

The BBC approached a number of estate agents for comment about their use of FDI-generated images in listings.

David Vaughan, director of Sussex-based estate agents Aston Vaughan, said the firm used FDI staging to “solve a problem for both sides”.

“For owners, it’s a huge cost saving – physical staging can cost anywhere from £5,000 on average up to £50,000 just to show a property with furniture in,” he told the BBC.

“And buyers have told us empty rooms are hard to read for scale, and virtually dressing a room makes it much easier to understand how you would actually live in it.”

Meanwhile, Warren Powell-Richards, an estate agency based in Surrey and Hampshire, says the future of the industry will involve FDI.

“The challenge for estate agents is ensuring they don’t get carried away with the possibilities at the expense of the customer experience,” it said.

“We are not anti-FDI. Taking that position would be madness in a world that’s becoming increasingly dependent on it. However, we believe that it’s a tool, and not a substitute for trust.”

A spokesperson from Miles & Barr, an estate agent based in East Kent, said the use of FDI and CGI to help prospective buyers and tenants visualise a property had been common practice for some time.

Rightmove said agents were responsible for the content they uploaded.

“It’s critically important that people see accurate representations of properties on our platform,” a spokesperson added.

“We take action where images are found to be misleading, including requiring amendments, removing the listing from our platform and taking further action where necessary.”

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