ASA rules against We Buy Any House

The Advertising Standards Authority has declared claims on the website of a fast home buying' company as misleading.

We Buy Any House claimed it wasn't an estate agent. Claims on its website included: "Economic or time constraints can often lead homeowners to seek out companies that buy houses for cash. We Buy Any House should not be compared with an estate agent because we buy properties direct from the seller, so avoiding expensive estate agency fees. We offer a free service and legal representation. The offer we present is the amount you will receive on completion without deductions. We will typically pay up to 90% of the market value for a house, depending on the property type, its condition and location.

We Buy Any House was ruled to having misled the public because it suggested it bought properties itself directly from sellers - when it actually lined up investor buyers.

Eclectic Financial Solutions Ltd, which trades as We Buy Any House, said its service differed from a traditional estate agency because of the value of the offer made to the vendor, the speed at which a transaction took place and there were fewer costs involved.

It said it would usually expect to complete a sale within six to eight weeks and that speed attracted vendors to services such as theirs. Their properties appealed to investors who were interested in purchasing houses at a discount and were able to 'complete' within their desired timeframe.

We Buy Any House claimed it was clear in its advertising material that investors might wish to view a house before purchasing it and consumers were also made aware of that when signing up. If potential investors were unable to view a property, it was possible they would move onto another in their desire to complete a transaction quickly. They said the vast majority of their customers were able to sell their property within the relevant timeframe and therefore save on the costs associated with selling through a traditional estate agency.

The ASA found the claims on We Buy Any House's website breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 (Misleading advertising).

The ASA noted the website included various claims such as "we guarantee to help find the right solution and if the right solution is a quick house sale, we will make the sale as easy and stress free as it can be", "we buy any house in any condition throughout the UK.

The regulator said: We considered the overall impression of the ad, in conjunction with the company name, We Buy Any House, suggested elements of the traditional estate agency process, such as the property being advertised or viewings from potential buyers, would not be necessary before the purchase was complete, because the advertiser would purchase property directly from consumers who desired a fast and convenient sale. We understood that We Buy Any House did not generally purchase properties directly from consumers and therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.