Purplebricks has seen off challenges as to whether its Local Property Experts really are local and expert.

In the latest encounter with the Advertising Standards Authority, there were four complaints as to whether the term ‘Local Property Experts’ was misleading and could be substantiated.

This morning, in a new ruling, the ASA rejected the challenge, stating that LPEs are both local – even if they don’t live on the patch – and experts.

The complainants included PQD [sic] Estates – in fact, PDQ Estates, the Cornish firm owned by Chris Wood.

Plymouth Trading Standards and property consultant Alexander Dawson also complained. The fourth complainant was not named, as the ASA only identifies businesses or public bodies and not private complainants.

The four complained after the Purplebricks website featured a Meet Our Experts page between September last year and this February.

Text on the page stated: “Our Local Experts are some of the most respected estate agents in their local area.”

Below that, a banner stated: “Find your Local Property Expert, for the very best service.”

The page also featured a postcode search for Local Property Experts.

In response to the complaints, Purplebricks said the word “local” referred to the knowledge of an LPE, rather than their geographic location.

It said it ensured that each LPE possessed the relevant local knowledge in the area where they worked.

Purplebricks told the ASA that LPEs offered an equivalent service to that of traditional estate agents. There was no set radius that an LPE would cover.

Before joining, an LPE would have on average between five to ten years of experience within the property field.

LPEs were told they would need to pass all National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) Technical Level 3 exams and become members if they did not already belong.

Purplebricks provided to the ASA the CVs of all LPEs recruited in the last 12 months, to prove their experience.

In addition, all LPEs are subject to an internal training programme prior to commencing their roles. At the end of this, individuals were subject to a 29-point sign-off sheet, which was completed by the area director for that region. During the role, LPEs were subject to a number of quality control checks.

Purplebricks said that in addition to LPEs, it actively recruited for the Purplebricks Academy, a 12-month development scheme which included classroom training, field shadowing and an exam. This programme was open to people who may have not worked in the property industry before. It did not guarantee progression to the role of a Local Property Expert.

In its assessment, the ASA noted that the postcode search on the Purplebricks site would only display LPEs who worked within the requested local area.

If an LPE was unavailable in that area, the website stated: “We’re not in your area right now but we can notify you when we’ve arrived.”

The ASA said that it considered the word “local” would be understood to refer to an individual’s knowledge of the area, not their physical location.

The ASA reviewed 52 CVs of LPEs and found that 41 had over five years’ experience, nine had less than five years and two had no previous experience.

The majority had been in roles such as branch manager and property valuer.

The ASA also noted the Purplebricks internal training programme where LPEs were tested on their knowledge of the area where they would be working.

The ASA concluded: “We considered that because there was not a single standardised professional qualification within the property field, the combination of property experience, qualifications, professional membership and an internal training programme was sufficient to substantiate the claim ‘expert’.”

It went on to say that LPEs in more rural parts of the country would cover larger geographic areas than those in more urban areas.

It concluded that the title ‘Local Property Experts’ was not misleading because the “local” part referred to their knowledge of the area they served and not their physical location. The ASA said it was satisfied as to their expertise.

This morning, a Purplebricks spokesperson said: “We are delighted that the ASA has found in favour of Purplebricks and agreed that the experience, training and success of our agents across the country fully justifies the title of Local Property Expert.

“We submitted the CVs of 200 LPEs engaged in 2017 to the ASA, who had an average of 12 years of industry experience and all followed an extensive recruitment and training programme.

“Common sense prevailed and the ASA agreed that the years of experience and knowledge gained from selling properties day-in-day-out in any given locality is better proof of local knowledge than where agents sleep.

“Purplebricks seeks to recruit the very best traditional estate agents, who embrace change, understand the flaws in the traditional model and want to offer customers a better deal.”