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G15 landlord censured by watchdog over shared ownership advert
A large London housing association has been censured by the advertising watchdog for “misleading” marketing for its shared ownership homes.
G15 landlord censured by advertising regulator over shared ownership marketing #ukhousingNotting Hill Genesis (NHG) commissioned a poster on the London Underground featuring a person boasting: “I own a 2 bedroom apartment and pay less per month than my friends pay to rent a room in a flatshare!”.
However, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) upheld a complaint arguing that the claim about owning the property was misleading – given that shared owners only hold part of a home’s equity.
It said consumers would interpret the poster’s message as “a comparison between the monthly cost of paying rent to a landlord for a room in a shared home and the monthly cost of paying a mortgage on a property, rather than describing any more complex arrangement”.
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The ASA said the impression was emphasised by the words “I own” and “pay less per month” being in bold.
There was also extra text which stated “homeownership starts with us” in capitals while reference to shared ownership was only in small print, ASA added.
The regulator concluded that the advert was misleading because it “did not make clear that the advertised service was a shared ownership scheme”.
Shared ownership sees buyers purchase an equity stake in a leasehold home of between 25% and 75% and pay rent on the rest of the equity. They are also able to ‘staircase’ or buy up to greater chunks of equity over time.
NHG has been told the advert must not appear again in its current form and that its future shared ownership marketing must be clear about “the nature of the scheme”.
A spokesperson for the 55,000-home landlord said: “We strongly disagree with the findings of the ASA on this issue.
“Leaseholders have always been, and still are, homeowners. This view is supported by government, which has a section on affordable home ownership schemes – including advice on how to buy through shared ownership.
“As the pioneers of shared ownership in 1980, we are incredibly proud that it has given so many residents and families the chance to get on the housing ladder.
“The advert itself consisted of a direct quote from one of our shared owners, explaining that she was happy to own her two-bedroom apartment while paying less a month than friends who were living in flat shares.
“That advert was one part of a wider initial campaign to raise awareness of who Notting Hill Genesis sales are and what we do, but the campaign had already moved on to the next phase prior to us being contacted by the ASA.”
NHG had argued when first informed by ASA of the complaint that it works with specialist legal and financial advisors to make sure buyers of its shared ownership homes make “an educated purchasing decision”, and that it was inappropriate to “enter a potentially complex level of detail in the ad”.
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