More than half the rental listings on Facebook Marketplace are likely to be scams, according to an investigation by Generation Rent.
The tenants’ group compared 300 rental property adverts around the UK between October 2023 and April 2024 and found that 56% were properties lifted from other sites, including Booking.com and Rightmove, with variations in price, location or credibility that made it likely they weren’t legitimate.
Almost three quarters (74%) of listings contained at least one indicator that the advert was suspicious or a scam, according to Meta’s guidance such as the seller’s profile was created within a year of the advert being published, or their profile picture was found to be of someone else, the rental price of the listing was significantly below the average rent for the area, or property photos had been lifted from other sites.
Generation Rent reports that major cities were found to have a particularly high proportion of these scams, with 66% in Birmingham, 62% in London and 60% in Cardiff. When compared to the average rental prices in their respective areas, the proportion of listings advertising properties for less than two thirds of these prices were 86% in London, 54% in Edinburgh and 40% in Birmingham.
The group says at a time when people are struggling to find homes to rent through conventional letting agents, there can be a temptation to turn towards sites like Facebook Marketplace in the hope of finding somewhere affordable.
It adds: “It is vital that the government takes the initiative in building more affordable and social homes across the country, to protect renters from poverty and desperation. Online websites are also responsible for making sure that their content is moderated and that their users are kept safe from scammers.”
LandlordZONE has approached Meta for a comment.
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