TL;DR

Property hunters in Sussex have told the BBC that AI-generated furnishings in online listings amount to “false advertising” and waste everyone’s time, in a report published on 7 November. Rightmove says AI imagery is permitted on its site if it is clearly labelled, but the BBC found many listings where it was not. Some have nicknamed the practice “housefishing”.

What buyers and renters found

Jessica Otterwell, looking for a flat in Brighton, likened it to expecting a brand-new Mercedes and finding “a Skoda with one wheel”. One property she had excitedly described to her parents turned out to have only “a stained mattress on the floor”. Leyla Ledwith, 31, said that of the dozen rentals she viewed over three months, just two had the furniture shown online. “I don’t understand who is benefiting from the AI photos,” she said.

The BBC saw some listings watermarked “Virtually staged” or “Artificially enhanced”. Many others carried no such disclosure.

The agents’ case

Estate agents defend virtual staging on cost. David Vaughan, director of Sussex agency Aston Vaughan, said physical staging can cost “anywhere from £5,000 on average up to £50,000”, and that buyers find empty rooms hard to judge for scale. Miles & Barr, in East Kent, said using AI and CGI to help people picture a home was long-established. Surrey and Hampshire agency Warren Powell-Richards said it was “not anti-AI” but described the technology as “a tool, and not a substitute for trust”.

The NRLA, which represents landlords, said through its chief policy officer Chris Norris that it was concerned some felt misled, and urged listings sites to apply AI “responsibly to avoid causing confusion”.

The platform’s position

Rightmove, which hosts listings from agents rather than selling or letting homes itself, said agents are responsible for what they upload. It says it acts on misleading images by requiring changes, removing listings or taking further action.

What it means

In our view, the dispute is less about the technology than disclosure. Virtual staging that is labelled helps buyers picture a space; staging that is not labelled sets up a viewing that disappoints. For UK agents, the practical fix is to watermark every AI-altered image and keep an unstaged photo alongside it. For portals, a rule that depends on agents labelling their own images will only work as well as its enforcement.