Advertising watchdog resolves complaint against major housebuilder

The advertising watchdog has informally resolved a complaint against housebuilder David Wilson Homes.

In the case, the complainant challenged whether claims in an email, leaflet and on the David Wilson Homes website that stated that ‘all brand-new homes came with an EPC rating of A or B’ was misleading because properties on the housebuilder’s Riverside Grange Development have an EPC rating of C.

David Wilson Homes told the Advertising Standards Authority that in future it would ensure the statement was removed across all marketing platforms.

An ASA spokesperson told EYE: “We approached the advertiser about the concerns that had been raised and they confirmed that they recently identified that they have a small number of developments that did not achieve an A or B EPC rating and immediately removed this statement from their national messaging and instructed their local marketing teams to only use this message on developments that did all achieve A or B EPC ratings.

“They also confirmed that when removing this messaging from their national activity they missed the webpage that the complainant raised concerns about but reassured us that this has now been removed.”

On the basis that the claims on the webpage had been amended and if further references were found they would be removed immediately, ASA says it “agreed to close the case informally”.

 

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