Seller & landlord listing guide

Before you start

A good listing answers a visitor’s practical questions: what is it, what does it cost, how is it laid out, what is included and what should I know before arranging a viewing?

Gather your facts first

• Property type, correct location and postcode, bedroom and bathroom counts, and an asking price or specific rent.
• For a sale: checked tenure and, where relevant, lease length, current service charge and ground rent.
• Council tax band, EPC rating and certificate or details of a relevant exemption.
• A room-by-room list, measured dimensions, current photographs and an authorised floorplan if available.
• Heating, parking arrangements, outdoor space, ownership or access restrictions and other facts a visitor should understand.
• For a rental in England: rent period, deposit, furnishing, available date, bills and licence information.

Use this order

1. Walk through the home and make notes, including limitations and anything needing checking.
2. Measure and photograph each space, using the same room names throughout.
3. Fill in the structured form fields, then write the description from those facts.
4. Save a draft, preview the advert and correct it before submitting.

Keep a private note of where you checked each important claim and when. A document saying something several years ago may need updating. Keep private papers off the public listing.

Standard listings are free, including multiple properties. Featured placement and Viewing Manager are optional; they are not required to complete the form.

Further guidance: GOV.UK: selling a home in England and Wales (new tab).

The form, section by section

These sections follow the current Property Elfs form. On a laptop the help sits beside the form. Select a field or use the help selector to move between sections.

1. Listing title

   • Say what and where: bedroom count, property type and area.
   • Example structure: “Three-bedroom semi-detached home in [area]”.
   • Keep the price, phone number and long sales pitch out of the title.

2. Description

   • Start with a short overview, then explain the layout, outside space and location.
   • Use short paragraphs and the editor’s bold or heading controls.
   • Describe verified facts and known limitations. Check the generated opening line before using it.

3. Property, category & price

   • Choose For sale or To rent before entering the asking price or advertised rent.
   • Use your documents to check tenure. Freehold and leasehold are ownership types.
   • Count actual bedrooms and bathrooms; describe a separate WC clearly in the description.
   • Rental amounts use the weekly or monthly period selected under Rental information.

4. Location & postcode

   • Use the correct town or neighbourhood and the property’s postcode.
   • Check any map location before publishing. Do not substitute a more desirable area.
   • Location and postcode are property information, not private contact preferences.

5. Contact details & privacy

   • Supply a working phone number or email for the listing form.
   • Messages only is the default. Public contact details require your explicit choice further down.
   • Calling times are guidance, not a call blocker or a confirmed viewing.
   • Avoid putting private contact details in text or photos if you want messages only.

6. Council tax & EPC

   • Check the council tax band and current Energy Performance Certificate.
   • Use an exemption only where it actually applies; do not guess a rating.
   • Unknown information can be gathered while the listing is a private draft.
   • The EPC upload is public. Do not upload identity, mortgage or private legal papers.

7. Rental information

   • Complete the property nation, rent period, furnishing, deposit and available date.
   • Explain included bills and costs paid separately. Use a specific rent, not a range.
   • Check licensing with the council and energy-efficiency requirements before submitting.
   • Read the landlord acknowledgement carefully. English rental publishing is the current supported scope.

8. Features, sizes & documents

   • Enter up to eight factual key features, one per line.
   • Use a checked source for total internal area; do not add room rectangles to invent a property total.
   • Lease years, ground rent and service charges should match current documents.
   • A blank means unknown; enter zero only when the charge or quantity really is zero.

9. Feature image & floorplan

   • Choose a clear, current lead photo that represents the property accurately.
   • Upload an image floorplan you own or are permitted to use. Check its labels and measurements.
   • Remove private papers and personal information before photographing.
   • Keep original room proportions: no stretched rooms, hidden defects or invented scenery.

10. Room photos & details

    • Work through the property in a consistent order and put each photo in its matching room.
    • Enter measurements like “4.20 x 3.60 m”. The listing can display feet and inches alongside metres.
    • Describe recesses, sloping ceilings and irregular shapes separately.
    • Add observable features and check socket counts. Add another room for spaces such as a study.

11. Draft, preview & submit

    • Save draft to keep work privately while gathering facts. There is no automatic saving.
    • Preview as Buyer saves a private draft and opens the listing preview in another tab.
    • Check photos, numbers, charges and contact visibility before submitting.
    • Submitting can publish or send the listing for review, depending on site settings.

Some fields need extra care

Bedroom and bathroom counts

Keep the count consistent with the room list. Do not present a study, unapproved conversion or separate WC as something it is not. Describe facilities and use clearly.

Total internal area and plot area

These are different measurements. Use a reliable measured source, say what it includes and do not enter the garden size as internal floor area. Uploading a floorplan does not fill these fields automatically.

Contact preferences

Select Messages only or explicitly choose the details you want everyone to see. Contact information written in the description, a photograph or a poster is separate from that setting.

Price qualifier

For sales, choose the phrase that matches your asking price. Rental adverts need a specific advertised rent and payment period, rather than an invitation to bid.

Write your description

Give people a clear picture of the property. Plain, specific writing is more useful than a string of superlatives. Write the description after checking the structured fields, so the two agree.

A practical structure

1. Opening: property type, bedroom count, area and two or three checked selling points.
2. Layout: explain how the rooms connect, floor by floor. Mention stairs, access and unusual layouts.
3. Outside: describe the garden, parking and storage, and say whether anything is shared.
4. Location: give named amenities and measured distances with a source. Separate walking, driving and straight-line distances.
5. Important details: explain charges, restrictions, known issues and what is included. Put significant information where it can be noticed.

Make it easy to read

Use a short opening paragraph and a few meaningful headings. Use bold for a useful label, not entire paragraphs. Room dimensions and features have their own fields, so you do not need to repeat every measurement in the description.

Check any generated wording

The form’s Generate opening line button is a writing aid, not fact-checking. Check every statement it produces. Never add a school catchment, approval, view, charge, completion date or room use simply because generated text suggests it.

A phrase such as “details to be verified” does not make inaccurate information acceptable. Correct the information itself and ask a suitable professional about uncertain legal or technical points.

Further guidance: Trading Standards guidance: property descriptions in England (new tab).

Take useful photographs

Photographs should help someone understand the home as it is today. Aim for a consistent set, not just a few flattering details.

Before you take the first photo

• Get permission to photograph and publish, especially if a tenant or another occupier lives there. Arrange access respectfully.
• Tidy, clean windows, open curtains and use daylight. Turn lights on if helpful and keep lighting reasonably consistent.
• Remove letters, bank papers, screens showing private information, keys and security codes from view. Check mirrors and reflections.
• Clean the lens. Use the original camera files rather than screenshots or compressed copies from messaging apps.

Take the room in properly

• Hold the camera level, roughly at chest height. Keep door frames and walls vertical.
• Start with the normal phone lens. Step back where safe rather than stretching the room with an extreme wide angle.
• Take a clear landscape view from a doorway or corner, then another angle if it explains the room better. Do not stand on furniture or lean out of windows.
• Show the main rooms, bathrooms, kitchen, exterior and relevant outside space. Include useful context for limitations; a photograph does not replace a written explanation.
• Review each image at full size for blur and privacy before uploading.

Choose and organise the set

Pick a strong, representative feature image, often the exterior or main living space. Put the rest into the matching room boxes. Use room names that match the description and floorplan. A useful sequence is exterior, main living spaces, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms and outside areas.

Edits that keep the picture honest

A modest crop, straightening or exposure correction can help. Do not stretch dimensions, remove defects, change a view, add features or use an old image that no longer represents the property. Do not present an AI-generated interior or virtual staging as an unaltered photograph. Prefer current, unaltered property photos; any illustration needs a clear label and must not conceal the real condition.

Only upload images you own or have permission to publish. Do not copy photographs from another listing. A professional photographer can help if you need a new set; property photography is outside the current Elf website-support role.

Further guidance: Trading Standards guidance on photographs and property descriptions (new tab).

Measure rooms & floorplans

Measure carefully, record your method and describe awkward shapes. Mark owner-measured dimensions as approximate. “Approximate” is not a reason to guess.

A repeatable room-by-room method

1. Use a tape or suitable laser measure and record in metres to two decimal places. Check that the tool is set to metres.
2. Measure between the finished internal wall faces, at a consistent height. Keep the tape straight and level; make sure a laser is reading the intended surface.
3. Measure length and width, then repeat the readings. Note whether a bay, recess, chimney breast or built-in cupboard is included.
4. For an L-shaped room, record the main dimensions and describe the recess or separate areas. Do not imply that the maximum rectangle is all usable floor space.
5. Note sloping ceilings, restricted headroom and steps. Use a professional measured plan where the shape or floor area is uncertain.
6. Enter the same dimensions against the correct room and check them against the floorplan.

Use the room field consistently

For example: 4.20 x 3.60 m. The listing displays imperial dimensions alongside recognised metric room sizes, rounded to the nearest inch. The conversion is not another measurement, and does not make an approximate figure more precise.

Total internal area is a separate fact

Do not calculate the home’s total internal area by adding room length × width. That can miss circulation space, mix measurement methods and overstate irregular rooms. Use a suitable measured floorplan or other reliable source, identify what it includes and ask a qualified provider if unsure. The form does not extract a total automatically from an uploaded plan.

Prepare the floorplan

Upload a readable JPG or PNG image you are authorised to use. Show floor labels, room names and dimensions that match the advert. Check the layout yourself, including doors, stairs and unusual areas. A drawing made from a few room sizes cannot establish the real layout. If using an app or separate provider, check device support, export quality, current prices and terms before starting.

Further guidance: Trading Standards guidance on measurements (new tab).

Features & accurate wording

Choose up to eight useful facts, one per line. Lead with what differentiates the property and can be evidenced: room layout, outside space, parking arrangements, storage, heating or accessibility details.

Replace vague promises with facts

Do not hide information behind good features

Consider anything that could affect a decision to view: known condition problems, flooding history, shared access, restrictions, charges, tenure and building-related issues. Explain significant limitations plainly. Ask your conveyancer or other appropriate adviser what needs explaining and how to describe an uncertain fact; this list is not a complete disclosure checklist.

Only claim no onward chain, ownership of a parking space, approvals or included fixtures when you can support it. Give dates and sources where information can change. A disclaimer does not fix a misleading advert.

Further guidance: Trading Standards: accurate descriptions and misleading omissions (new tab).

Rental listings in England

This chapter covers preparing a residential rental advert for England, the current rental-publishing scope of Property Elfs. It does not establish that a particular tenancy or property is compliant. Other UK nations are not enabled for rental publishing in this release.

Fill in the money and availability clearly

• Choose To rent. Enter a specific rent and select the matching weekly or calendar-monthly period in Rental information.
• State the tenancy deposit, or enter zero if none is requested. Check the applicable legal limit; do not confuse a tenancy deposit with a holding deposit.
• Choose the genuine available-from date and the correct furnishing description.
• Say which bills are included and which are paid separately, including council tax, energy, water and any other recurring costs.
• Use an accurate status: available, let agreed or let. Update it when the situation changes.

Before you invite enquiries

Check your landlord responsibilities, property licensing, safety and energy-efficiency requirements with the relevant authority or qualified adviser. Supply the EPC rating and explain any applicable exemption accurately. A licence application is not the same as a licence already granted.

For tenancies covered by England’s rental-bidding rules, written adverts must state a specific rent; landlords must not encourage or accept rent above the advertised amount. Do not use “offers over”, a bidding range or a higher-rent competition.

Further guidance: GOV.UK: rental bidding in England (new tab).

Describe the home, not your preferred type of person

Describe facilities, access, space and objective terms. Do not use discriminatory wording or blanket exclusions such as “no children” or “no benefits”. Check current requirements on pets and the terms you may lawfully apply instead of inventing restrictions in the advert.

Use the contact settings to choose messages or your selected public details. You manage enquiries, appointments and tenancy decisions yourself. Property Elfs does not collect rent or deposits or select tenants. Viewing Manager is optional; a prospective tenant does not pay Property Elfs to enquire or request a viewing.

Further guidance: GOV.UK: landlord responsibilities (new tab).

Further guidance: GOV.UK: current renters’ rights in England (new tab).

Review, publish & update

Read the preview as if you were seeing the property for the first time. The form can check some missing or invalid values; it cannot verify your claims, legal position or measurements.

Before you submit

• Title, description, property type, tenure and room counts agree.
• Price or rent is correct, with the right qualifier or payment period.
• Location, postcode and any map point identify the right property.
• Charges, known limitations, shared arrangements and included items are clear.
• Room dimensions, total area and floorplan do not contradict each other.
• Photographs are current, correctly labelled, permitted and free of private information.
• Council tax, EPC and any relevant rental or licence facts have been checked.
• Contact visibility matches your choice; private details do not appear elsewhere by accident.
• Rental bills, deposit, furnishing and availability are complete, where relevant.
• Any draft prompts, brackets or fictional example text have been removed.

Use the actual save controls

Save draft

Keeps the listing private while you gather information. Save deliberately before leaving; there is no automatic saving.

Preview as Buyer

Saves a private draft and opens its preview in a new tab. This is how a visitor can see the content; it is not confirmation that the advert is accurate.

Submit Listing / Update Listing

Submits the listing for publication or review according to the site’s settings. Use it when the details are ready to be public.

After it is published

Check the public listing once more. Respond to enquiries, keep details and availability current, and correct errors promptly. If the price, rent, charges, condition or included items change, update the advert and tell people already relying on the earlier information where appropriate. Manage your own viewings and use professional advice for the sale or tenancy.