Material information and listing videos: UK rules under the DMCC Act

A listing video is often the first thing a buyer sees and the part of your marketing that feels least like a regulated document. It is still marketing. In the UK, the rules on misleading adverts and material information apply to a 60-second film just as they apply to the written details, and the legal framework behind them changed in April 2025.

This is general information, not legal advice. It covers UK consumer and advertising rules in general terms. For decisions about specific listings, speak to a qualified adviser or your professional body.

What changed on 6 April 2025?

Part 4, Chapter 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (the DMCC Act) came into force, repealing the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (the CPRs) and giving the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) direct enforcement powers. The material information guidance agents had worked to since 2023 was withdrawn.

Propertymark reported on 9 May 2025 that NTSELAT's Parts A, B and C guidance had been withdrawn from official channels, because the CPRs it was built on had been repealed. Propertymark summarises the new position this way: omitting material information "is now automatically considered an unfair commercial practice, regardless of whether the omission affects the consumer's decision". It adds that the CMA can impose fines or take action without a court process, that Trading Standards' role has not formally ended, and that at the time no sector-specific guidance had been issued.

The wording of the Act is more layered, and worth knowing. Under section 225, omitting material information from an "invitation to purchase" is unfair in itself, while other misleading omissions under section 227 are unfair if they are likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision they would not otherwise have taken. Section 227 defines material information as "information that the average consumer needs to take an informed transactional decision". Whether a given advert is an invitation to purchase is a legal question; the safe working assumption is that material information must never be missing.

Does a listing video count as marketing?

Yes. A film promoting a property is a commercial practice under the DMCC Act and a marketing communication under the CAP Code, so the same standards apply as to your written details and photos.

Two CAP Code rules matter most. Rule 3.1: "Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so." Rule 3.3: "Marketing communications must not omit material information or information required to be included by law." Rule 3.3 adds that this includes providing information "in a way that is unclear or untimely, or in a way that the consumer is unlikely to see or hear it".

Both the Act and rule 3.3 take account of the limits of the medium, such as time and space, and of steps you take to provide the information by other means. That is the key to video, in our reading: a 60-second film does not have to recite the council tax band, but the information must be clearly available where the buyer will find it, and nothing in the film may contradict it. Remember too that pictures make claims: framing, edits and narration all shape the overall impression.

Where should material information live if the film cannot carry it?

In the written listing, in full, with the film linked to it and consistent with it. Treat the film as a trailer for the listing, not a substitute for it.

• Keep the full Parts A to C information in the portal listing and on your own website's listing page.
• When the film travels on its own, on social media or by WhatsApp, put the price and a link to the full details in the caption or message.
• Choose channels where the film sits next to, or one tap from, the listing (our distribution checklist covers the options).
• When a material fact changes (price, tenure, availability), update or withdraw the film as well as the listing.

Parts A, B and C: what your film must not contradict

The Parts A, B and C guidance is withdrawn, but it remains a useful checklist of information buyers treat as material. National Trading Standards published the full guidance on 30 November 2023, developed with Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket and PropertyPal. Its categories map onto film content like this:

10 things a listing film must not imply

Most problems come from what a film implies rather than what it states. Check each film against this list before it goes live:

1. A shared drive, garden, path or pool is private. The ASA found an estate agent's ad in breach for claiming a "private drive" that was shared with other residents.
2. A view the property does not have, such as a sea view taken from a communal roof terrace or a neighbouring plot.
3. Features that have been removed or are not included, such as a hot tub or garden room that has gone since the photos were taken.
4. More space than exists. Wide-angle framing and slow camera moves can make rooms feel bigger, so narration must not add size claims the measurements do not support.
5. A different number or type of rooms from the floor plan and written details.
6. Land beyond the boundary. Aerial or extended shots must not suggest the plot includes a neighbour's field or garden.
7. Better condition than reality, such as edits that hide damp, cracks or a damaged roof.
8. Parking that is not included, or on-street parking framed as allocated.
9. Quiet or seclusion you cannot evidence. CAP rule 3.7 requires you to hold documentary evidence for objective claims before publishing.
10. An out-of-date price or status. Replace or withdraw films when the price, tenure or availability changes.

If a film includes AI-generated viewpoints or extended edges, check those against the real property too; enhancement or misrepresentation? covers where AI edits cross the line.

How Echoflicks handles facts in a film

Echoflicks is designed to keep a film consistent with the listing it was made from, but you remain responsible for checking it. Felix, our AI film director, reads the listing page itself, and facts must appear on that page: numbers it cannot find on the listing are dropped rather than guessed. Every shot is instructed to keep architecture, layout, fixtures and furniture as photographed.

Every film is also identified as AI-made: it carries machine-readable metadata marking it as AI-generated, and a visible "AI-generated" label is on by default in the web studio. Vertical films are extended at the top and bottom with AI outpainting, and aerial orbits for houses are generated from the photos rather than filmed by a drone, so check both before publishing. If anything is wrong, a free re-cut lets you rewrite or drop a narration line, change a title card or swap a photo. For EU labelling rules, see the EU AI Act and AI-generated property videos.