The advertising watchdog has upheld a complaint that the way Hamptons International showed its letting fees was misleading.

Hamptons – part of Countrywide – has been told it must make its fees clearer in future.

In an Advertising Standards Authority case with implications for a number of agents, Hamptons had displayed its fees on its website: “£1,200 per Calendar Month + £216 incl VAT admin fee per property + other fees may apply.”

The text “+ £216 incl VAT admin fee per property + other fees may apply” was hyperlinked to a document which set out further details about related fees.

The complainant understood that it would not have been possible to rent the property without paying additional fees, and challenged whether information about them was clear.

Hamptons said the administration fee was the only fixed charge.

They pointed out that there was a statement on each property listing that stated “+ £216 incl VAT admin fee per property + other fees may apply”, which was hyperlinked to a PDF document entitled “Charges and Information for Tenants”.

They said the document provided further details about other mandatory charges that might apply, including charges for obtaining references for the applicant.

The document also stated “other charges may be incurred as part of the application process”, which referred to check-in fees.

They explained that the check-in fee would vary from property to property, depending on the size, whether it was furnished or unfurnished and the charge levied by the independent inventory clerk, which reflected factors such as their travel time, of which Hamptons were paid a percentage.

They said the fee was calculated by the inventory clerk in its entirety at a later stage in the transaction and so they could not state the exact cost in either the hyperlink or PDF document. They also explained that there was a reference fee of £54 per person or a fixed price of £120 for a company tenant.

Given that they did not know whether a property would be rented by a company or not, or the number of tenants that would share a property, they could not state the exact charge within the hyperlink itself.

Hamptons also said there was a different fee structure for their Bristol branch, which applied an all-inclusive fee, combining the administration fee, referencing fee and check-in fee, which was the greater of either 35% of the first month’s rent or £420.

However, the Advertising Standards Authority said that consumers would interpret the claim “+£216 incl VAT admin fee per property + other fees may apply” to mean that the administration fee was the only non-optional charge and, while there may be further charges, they did not apply to all or most customers.

The ASA understood, however, that with the exception of the Bristol branch, which charged one all-inclusive fee, there was a check-in charge which applied to all customers and depended on a number of factors.

The ASA noted that Hamptons allowed consumers to search for ‘unfurnished’ or ‘furnished’ properties, and would therefore have an understanding of the scale of the inventory upon check-in.

They would also be aware of the size of a property, including the number of bedrooms, reception rooms, etc, prior to putting it on the market.

The inventory fee was dependent on which third-party check-in clerk was available and their fee, which incorporated their travel time to the property in question, which would not necessarily be known when a property was marketed.

The ASA therefore considered that the check-in charge was a non-optional fee that could not be calculated in advance.

The Committee of Advertising Practice code states: “If a … fee cannot be calculated in advance … the marketing communication must make clear that it is excluded from the advertised price and state how it is calculated”.

The ASA said there were no details about the additional fee, or how it was calculated, on the listing page or in the document that linked to the ad.

The ASA also understood that, for branches other than Bristol, tenants would have to pay a referencing fee which was either £54 per person or £120 per property for a company tenant.

Given that the fees were fixed, the ASA considered that they were calculable in advance.

The CAP code states: “Quoted prices must include non-optional taxes, duties, fees and charges that apply to all or most buyers”.

The ASA said the ‘per person’ and ‘per company’ charges should have been stated alongside the quoted price.

Because the quoted price did not include all non-optional fees that could be calculated in advance, and the ad did not make clear that other non-optional fees, that could not be calculated in advance, applied or how they would be calculated, the ASA concluded that the advertisement was misleading.

The ASA has told Hamptons to change its advertising, to show non-optional charges that can be calculated in advance, and which make it clear if other non-optional changes which cannot be calculated in advance apply, and how they are calculated.