Homebuyers spot detail in £100,000 Rightmove house for sale which they can't unsee

Even Dion Dublin would have trouble explaining one glaring fault that's been spotted on a £100,000 house listing.

There has been a rise in estate agents using heavily edited images to advertise properties, with prospective buyers left frustrated when they arrive at a viewing to find something completely different.

Moving house expert and social media influencer, Moving Home with Charlie, shared an image of a bedroom from a real house listing on Rightmove on August 13 that appeared to be heavily edited.

It certainly wasn't real, anyway, unless the laws of physics have changed, as the reflection in the mirror was the complete wrong way around.

Instead of the reflection showing the side of the bed and the chest of drawers against the opposite wall, it was instead reflecting as if the mirror was standing at the front of the bed, creating an uncanny valley effect.

"Estate agents are responsible for checking that all marketing of a property complies with regulations," he wrote in an X post sharing the image.

"So some bright spark actually signed this AI photo off."

Responding to the post, one user added: "I think every estate agent using AI in property photographs should be required to declare this fact prominently above, below or within the photo in a clear manner using an agreed minimum font size. Same goes for holiday accommodation."

While another joked: "That’s not a reflection, it’s the second bed, emphasising the generous proportion of the well-appointed room."

Bridges Properties told LADbible: "The image in question was virtually staged to help potential buyers visualise how the room could look furnished.

"It certainly wasn't intended to mislead anyone about the property itself."

Referencing the mistake in the bedroom, a spokesperson joked: "Clearly the technology hasn't quite mastered mirrors yet!"

Bridges Properties have since taken down the image.

It wasn't the only room to get edited

The property in question is on Quarry Road, Fauldhouse, between Glasgow and Edinburgh and was listed at a price of £100,000 by Bridges Properties, based in Livingston, who described it as having 'fantastic scope for modernisation and personalisation.'

The house has sold, too, and is now subject to contract.

There were 26 images uploaded of the two-bedroom end terrace house, though some of them were edited to show what the rooms could possibly look like one day.

For instance, one image showed the bedroom empty, but a rug, bed, shelf and multiple sets of drawers were added in an edited image.

For the living room, the real red curtains are replaced by grey ones, with a sofa, lamp, mirrors, side table, TV and even logs on top of the fire being added.

Not many items were edited into the kitchen, just a few bowls, a chopping board and a coffee machine, but the bathroom is a completely different story.

Instead of just adding a few bits of furniture and accessories to give an impression what it could look like, Bridges Properties shared an image of a completely redecorated bathroom.

The real lavatory sported green and white tiles, a bare wooden floor and a dated shower, but an edited image showed off a waterfall shower head, a slick new sink and a modern mirror with its own light.

LADbible Group has also approached Right Move for comment.

The rise of AI images in house listings

Bridges Properties at least shared real images of the property alongside doctored ones, but not all estate agents do.

One disgruntled Reddit user complained earlier this year that they went to look at a property after being impressed by the listing, only to discover the house didn't look anything like that in reality.

"The place not only looked nothing like the pictures, but it was not in great condition," user xunextu said of the property, which was in Tooting, London.

"We kind of laughed it off to be fair as it seemed like a joke but then felt quite upset because we took time off from work for this viewing and wasted our time to see this place."

Nina Harrison, of Haringtons, told the Guardian: “AI is simply the latest way of putting lipstick on a pig.

“I know some people now will shoot 10 homes in a day and outsource their editing to cheap studios abroad, where they use AI to keep costs and time down – but that’s where mistakes come in. People want to believe what they are seeing.”

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 covers real estate listings and states: "It is an offence to knowingly or recklessly provide false or misleading information which causes a consumer to take a different transactional decision than they would otherwise have."

But the use of AI or any photo editing tool is not prohibited.