Spelling & writing

Writing an honest rental listing: words to avoid

Spelling & writing · By the Letterbench editorial team · Published 2026-10-24

A rental advert is a short piece of writing with an unusually demanding reader: someone deciding where to live, often from a phone, often in a hurry. Every vague word costs them a wasted viewing. Some words also break the law.

This note is about the words. It covers the estate-agent vocabulary that hides more than it says, the phrases that discriminate against tenants, and the rules on accuracy that apply in the United States and the United Kingdom as of October 2026. It is writing advice, not legal advice: if you let property for a living, check the current rules where you work.

The words come second to the figure, though. Before you write anything, look at what similar flats nearby are let for: an asking rent you can defend makes the rest of the advert easier to keep honest.

Why the wording matters legally

Three sets of rules are worth knowing before you write a line.

• Misleading adverts (UK). Since 6 April 2025, the unfair commercial practices provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 have replaced the 2008 Consumer Protection Regulations. A listing must not mislead by what it says or by what it leaves out, and the Competition and Markets Authority can now fine a business directly, up to 10% of its worldwide turnover. Its guidance, Unfair commercial practices (CMA207), covers misleading actions and omissions in detail. Advertising generally is also covered by the CAP Code, which the Advertising Standards Authority enforces; its section 3 deals with misleading advertising.
• Rent and discrimination (England). Since 1 May 2026, under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, a written advert for most private lets must state an asking rent, may not give a price range, and the landlord or agent may not invite or accept offers above it; councils can fine up to £7,000 for a first breach, according to the government's guidance on rental bidding. Sections 33 and 34 of the same Act make it unlawful to stop people from enquiring, viewing or renting because a child would live with or visit them, or because they receive benefits, or to apply a criterion that puts them at a disadvantage. The Act has similar provisions for Wales and Scotland.
• Fair housing (United States). The Fair Housing Act, at 42 U.S.C. § 3604(c), makes it unlawful to publish any notice or advertisement for the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates a preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap (the statute's word for disability), familial status or national origin. HUD's regulation, 24 CFR § 100.75, lists examples, including words, phrases, symbols and photographs. Notably, the small-landlord exemptions elsewhere in the Act do not cover this advertising rule. Many states and cities add further protected characteristics, such as source of income.

The common thread is simple enough to write by: describe the home, not the people you would like to live in it, and do not leave out what a tenant would reasonably want to know.

Vague words, and what to write instead

These words are not illegal. They are just weak, because readers have learned to decode them, usually unkindly. Replace each with a fact.

Exaggeration works the same way. Stunning, luxury and must be seen carry no information, and a viewer who finds an ordinary flat feels misled even if nothing false was said. Let the photographs and the measurements do the persuading.

Phrases that describe people, not the property

This is where rental adverts most often cross a legal line. The fix is almost always to turn a statement about who should apply into a statement about the home.

• "No DSS", "no benefits", "no children", "no kids". In England these now run straight into sections 33 and 34 of the Renters' Rights Act. In the US, "no children" or "adults only" signals a familial-status preference unless the property qualifies as housing for older persons under the Act.
• "Professionals only", "suit young professional couple". Read as a coded way of excluding families, students or people on benefits. Describe the home instead: "quiet building, no communal lounge".
• "Perfect for a single person", "ideal for a mature couple". Familial status and age in disguise. Write "suits one or two people" only if it is a fact about the space, and better still, give the size.
• "Christian household", "English speakers preferred", "great for Indian families". Religion and national origin, explicitly. Neighbourhood descriptions should stick to places: "five minutes from St Mary's church" describes a location, not a preference.
• "Not suitable for wheelchair users", "able-bodied tenants". State the access facts instead: "second floor, no lift, 14 steps to the front door". Tenants can then decide for themselves.

Before and after

Before: "Bijou garden flat in up-and-coming area, minutes from transport. Recently refurbished, full of character. Bills included*. Would suit young professional. No DSS. Offers over £1,100 pcm."

After: "One-bedroom ground-floor flat, 38 m², with a private rear garden (5 × 4 m). Station 10 minutes on foot. New kitchen and bathroom in 2025; original fireplace (decorative). Rent £1,150 per calendar month; water and broadband included, gas and electricity metered. Deposit five weeks' rent. Available 1 December. Ground floor, one step at the entrance."

The second version is longer, but every added word answers a question a tenant would otherwise have to ask, or travel to find out. Notice the deposit: in England, the Tenant Fees Act 2019 caps it at five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000.

Before you settle on a rent, read how comparable flats in the same neighbourhood are described and priced: it keeps the figure honest and shows which details tenants already expect to see.

A final read-through

1. Circle every adjective. Keep it only if a stranger could check it with a tape measure, a map or a photograph.
2. Search for people words: professional, single, couple, family, mature, student, DSS, children. Each one should describe the space, or go.
3. Check the price line: one rent, the period it covers, the deposit, and what the bills include.
4. Look for omissions: stairs, a shared entrance, a busy road, a meter in the flat, a short tenancy. If it would change someone's mind at the viewing, it belongs in the advert.
5. Proofread last. A spell checker will not catch stationary for stationery or principle for principal; see the homophones note, then run the text through the spell checker.

Facts a listing should carry, not just avoid

Cutting the wrong words is half the job. The other half is making sure the advert contains the facts a tenant needs before deciding to view. In England, two sources set out what those facts are.

• Material information. The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team has published guidance on "material information in property listings": Part A in May 2022, and Parts B and C in November 2023. For lettings, Part A expects every listing to state the rent and any deposit payable, and the council tax band, including whether council tax is included in the rent. The guidance asks for this information to appear prominently and early, not to be held back until a viewing. Parts B and C cover further facts, such as the type of property, utilities, parking, and known risks like flooding, which should be easy to find from the listing.
• The energy rating. Under regulation 11 of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, the energy performance rating from a property's certificate must be stated in any advertisement for its rental in commercial media. Separately, the government's guidance on the minimum energy efficiency standard (GOV.UK, "Domestic private rented property: minimum energy efficiency standard") says a landlord cannot let a covered property rated below E unless a valid exemption is registered. A line such as "EPC rating C" is short, required, and answers a question tenants increasingly ask about heating costs.

Outside England the details differ, and in the United States they vary by state and city, but the principle carries over: if a fact would change a tenant's decision, it belongs in the advert, in plain words, near the top.

A fill-in template

A template keeps the facts in a predictable order, which is what a tenant scanning ten listings on a phone wants. Fill in each line with something a stranger could check, and delete any line that does not apply rather than padding it with an adjective.

1. What and where: type of home, number of bedrooms, floor, and street or neighbourhood. "Two-bedroom second-floor flat, Elm Road."
2. Size: total floor area in square metres and square feet, and the size of the main rooms.
3. Money: the rent and the period it covers, the deposit, and exactly which bills are included.
4. Dates and terms: the date it is available, and anything unusual about the tenancy.
5. Getting there: measured walking times to the station, the bus stop and the nearest shop.
6. Access: stairs, steps at the entrance, a lift or no lift, and where bicycles or prams can go.
7. Energy and running costs: the EPC rating, the type of heating and, where relevant, the council tax band.
8. Outside space and storage: private or shared, with dimensions where you have them.
9. Known drawbacks: a busy road, a shared entrance, a small second bedroom. Saying so now saves everyone a wasted viewing.

Writing for a phone screen

Most listings are read first as a preview: a photograph, a price and a line or two of text, cut off mid-sentence. That first line does more work than the rest of the advert. Open with the facts that filter, such as the type of home, the size and the rent, rather than with a description of the light or the "lifestyle". Keep sentences short, put one fact in each, and use numerals for measurements and money so they stand out when someone scrolls. Avoid capital letters for emphasis and strings of exclamation marks; they read as shouting and push useful words out of the preview.

Finally, keep the advert and the reality in step. If the rent changes, a room is redecorated or the available date moves, update the text the same day. An honest listing is not only one that avoids misleading words when it is published, but one that is still true when a tenant reads it.

Read next

More in Spelling & writing

Spelling & writing

Homophones spell checkers miss

Their, there, they're: real-word errors no dictionary lookup can catch.

Spelling & writing

Commonly misspelled words

Accommodate, separate, definitely: the traps they set and the tricks that fix them.

Spelling & writing

American and British spelling

The handful of patterns behind color and colour, center and centre, -ize and -ise.