Virtual staging in the UK

United Kingdom · Portal rule · In force · Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines (January 2026), para 10 'Use of Property Image Carousel and Videos'

Rightmove permits 'Light Touch Edits' (cropping, brightness, colour balance) and 'Enhanced Edits' (AI-generated or AI-manipulated content, CGI, or manual changes such as adding or removing objects) provided they do not misrepresent the property. Enhanced Edits must be accompanied by current, accurate images of the room or property and clearly labelled as AI or otherwise enhanced.

Disclosure

Each Enhanced Edit must be clearly labelled as being AI or otherwise enhanced. The guidelines do not say where the label must sit.

Original photo

Yes. Enhanced Edits must be accompanied by current, accurate images of the room and/or property.

Penalty

Rightmove reserves the right to remove non-compliant content.

Effective

January 2026

Last verified

October 23, 2026

“any Enhanced Edits uploaded or otherwise to Our Platforms must be – • accompanied by current, accurate images of the room and/or property; and • clearly labelled as being AI or otherwise enhanced.”

Source: Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines, January 2026

The guidelines never use the words 'virtual staging'. Virtual staging adds furniture, so it appears to fall within 'adding or removing objects' in the Enhanced Edits definition. The same paragraph also requires images to be only of the property, the immediate locale or (for some member types) occupier lifestyle, and that they 'may in no way be deemed misleading'.

United Kingdom · Portal rule · In force · Zoopla Members Terms and Conditions (updated 1 December 2025), clause 5.1 (Content Obligations), 5.1(c) point 2; also 5.1(a) and 5.1(d)

Members must make it clear when photograph content was produced, fully or partly, using autonomous technology, machine learning or similar technology. Zoopla may decline to upload such content where Applicable Law requires it or to protect the integrity of its websites. Separately, all content must be accurate, up to date and not misleading.

Disclosure

The member must 'make this clear' when photographs are produced fully or partly by AI or similar technology. No placement or wording is specified.

Original photo

Not specified

Penalty

Zoopla may decline to upload such content. Other remedies under the member terms were not reviewed.

Effective

December 1, 2025

Last verified

October 23, 2026

“where the Photographic Content is produced using autonomous technology (fully or partial), machine learning or other analogous technologies the Member will make this clear;”

Source: Members Terms and Conditions - Zoopla

Medium confidence: see the note below.

Direct download was blocked (HTTP 403), so the text was read through a fetch tool that returns only short excerpts. The quote was pieced together from two overlapping verified fragments. The clause covers AI or machine-learning output only. Virtual staging done manually without AI falls only under the general 'accurate ... not misleading' obligation. The terms do not mention virtual staging.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland · Industry code · In force · TPO Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), TPOE27-9, para 7i

TPO members must take all reasonable steps to make sure every statement about a property, whether oral, pictorial or written, is accurate and not misleading, and must not omit material information. The Code does not mention photo editing or virtual staging.

Disclosure

Not specified

Original photo

Not specified

Effective

June 1, 2019

Last verified

October 23, 2026

“take all reasonable steps to ensure that all statements that you make about a property, whether oral, pictorial or written, are accurate and are not misleading.”

Source: Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), TPOE27-9 (March 2026 print)

The Code is mandatory only for TPO members. TPO states that it does not enforce legislation. Para 7i still cites the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which have since been revoked and replaced by the DMCC Act 2024. Scotland has a separate TPO code, which was not reviewed.

United Kingdom · Regulator guidance · Guidance · UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising (CAP Code) rule 3.1; CAP News 'A picture says a thousand words. Avoiding misleading imagery in ads' (11 Sep 2025)

Marketing communications must not materially mislead. CAP says the ASA judges the overall impression, including images, and that images giving an inaccurate impression of what consumers will receive (including showing extras) are likely to mislead. The guidance is general rather than written for property, though the ASA tags it under property sales and lettings, and it does not mention virtual staging.

Disclosure

Not specified. The same article says small-print qualifications are generally unlikely to stop misleading gameplay imagery from misleading, but it says nothing about property photos.

Original photo

Not specified

Effective

Not stated

Last verified

October 23, 2026

“Images which give an inaccurate impression about the product consumers will receive, for example, by featuring the wrong product, including extras, or by exaggerating the quality or size of the product, are likely to mislead.”

Source: A picture says a thousand words. Avoiding misleading imagery in ads - ASA | CAP

We found no published ASA ruling on virtual staging or AI-edited property photos. The ASA rulings search could not be queried programmatically, so the absence is not conclusive.

England · Regulator guidance · Guidance · Assured Advice 40 (Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards Service, with TPO and Propertymark), published 5 June 2024

Trading Standards advice says each image must be assessed every time it is used to make sure it accurately represents the property. An image that is no longer accurate must not be used, and reusing an image of a refurbished room across different properties is almost certainly misleading. The advice covers stock images, out-of-date images and artist impressions, not virtual staging.

Disclosure

Not specified

Original photo

Not specified

Effective

June 5, 2024

Last verified

October 23, 2026

“If an image / photo is not an accurate representation of the property it must no longer be used.”

Source: Assured Advice 40: Use of stock images or artist impressions | Propertymark

Medium confidence: see the note below.

Primary Authority assured advice protects only Propertymark member businesses that follow it, and it is labelled for England. It applies the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, since replaced by the DMCC Act 2024. It is hosted on Propertymark's site, not a government domain.

United Kingdom · Law · In force · Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Part 4 Chapter 1, ss. 225-226 (offence: s. 237)

Unfair commercial practices are prohibited. A practice is a misleading action if it gives false or misleading information, or an overall presentation likely to deceive the average consumer, and that is likely to cause a transactional decision the consumer would not otherwise have taken. The Act does not mention photographs or virtual staging. Whether an edited listing photo breaches it depends on the overall impression it gives.

Disclosure

Not specified

Original photo

Not specified

Penalty

Engaging in an unfair commercial practice that involves a misleading action under s. 226(1)(a)-(c) is a criminal offence (s. 237(1)). Penalty levels were not reviewed.

Effective

April 6, 2025

Last verified

October 23, 2026

“an overall presentation which is likely to deceive the average consumer about a matter relating to a product, a trader or any other matter relevant to a transactional decision”

Source: Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, section 226 (legislation.gov.uk)

This Act replaced the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which legislation.gov.uk shows as revoked from 6 April 2025 by DMCC Act 2024 s. 251(1), with transitional provisions. Much industry guidance (TPO Code, NTSELAT, Propertymark) still cites the 2008 Regulations.

United Kingdom · Law · In force · Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, s. 227 (offence: s. 237(2))

A commercial practice is a misleading omission if it omits material information, meaning information the average consumer needs to take an informed transactional decision. The section does not mention images. Failing to say that a photo has been altered could only be a misleading omission if that fact is material in the circumstances.

Disclosure

Not specified. Material information must not be omitted, but the Act does not say that image alteration is material information.

Original photo

Not specified

Penalty

Engaging in an unfair commercial practice that involves a misleading omission is a criminal offence (s. 237(2)). Penalty levels were not reviewed.

Effective

April 6, 2025

Last verified

October 23, 2026

“a commercial practice involves a misleading omission if, considering the matters mentioned in subsection (3), the practice— (a) omits material information,”

Source: Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, section 227 (legislation.gov.uk)

Applying this section to virtual staging is an inference. No UK regulator text we read says virtual staging must be disclosed as material information.

United Kingdom · Regulator guidance · Guidance · National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team, 'Material Information on Property Listings: Industry Guidance' (July 2022), section 4

NTSELAT's guidance is about which material information (price, tenure, council tax and so on) listings must contain. It says agents must consider the accuracy of everything they give buyers and tenants, including virtual viewings. It contains no rule on edited or virtually staged photographs.

Disclosure

Not specified

Original photo

Not specified

Effective

July 2022

Last verified

October 23, 2026

“You must also consider the information you provide to prospective buyers and tenants at all stages of the transaction and in all forms of communication with them. This can include the accuracy of virtual viewings”

Source: Material Information on Property Listings: Industry Guidance (NTSELAT, July 2022)

Medium confidence: see the note below.

This guidance predates the DMCC Act 2024 and cites the 2008 Regulations. The later full guidance ('Material Information in Property Listings (Sales) v1.0', Nov 2023) is no longer served at its NTS URL and was not read. The NTS material-information page now refers only to MHCLG's planned home-buying reforms.

United Kingdom · Regulator guidance · Guidance · CAP AdviceOnline 'Property: New build and off plan homes'; CAP Code rule 3.17; ASA ruling Taylor Wimpey UK Ltd, 14 November 2012 (as summarised)

An image showing features that are not included at the advertised 'from' price is likely to mislead. Where no image of the advertised specification exists, an upgraded image is acceptable only with a 'from' price and adjacent qualifying text. This concerns show-home upgrades, not virtual staging, but it is the nearest ASA position on images that show things the buyer will not get.

“it is acceptable to use an image featuring upgrades that could be purchased, provided that the price is clearly prefixed with “from” and qualifying text is placed next to the image stating “image includes optional upgrades at additional cost”.”

Source: Property: New build and off plan homes - ASA

This is an analogy only. The label wording applies to new-build price advertising, not to virtually staged furniture. The Taylor Wimpey ruling was read only as summarised on this page, not in its original text.