Social Media for Estate Agents: What to Post and the Rules That Apply

Social Media for Estate Agents: What to Post and the Rules That Apply

Most estate agent social media feeds are a second shop window: new listings, price reductions, the occasional team photo. That makes them easy to run and easy to ignore. Buyers already have the portals, and a vendor deciding which agent to instruct is not scrolling your listings for reassurance.

There is also a compliance angle that many feeds miss. Consumer protection law obliges agents not to omit material information from property adverts. Trading Standards' detailed guidance on what that means was withdrawn in May 2025, but the duty to give the information was not. A Facebook post advertising a flat for sale is still an advert.

So what should estate agents post, what rules apply to social posts, and how does social media help win instructions rather than just fill a feed?

What should estate agents post on social media?

Post what a vendor or landlord would want to see before they instruct you. That is proof that you sell and let homes on their street, at a good price, in a reasonable time.

• Results. How a property sold or let: how quickly, how many viewings, what made the difference. Ask the vendor's permission before you name the street or the price.
• Local market updates. What sold nearby this month and how long it took. This is the content homeowners share with each other.
• The process. What happens between offer and completion, and how your team keeps a sale together. Sellers worry about fall throughs more than they worry about marketing.
• Your people. Who will answer the phone. Instructions go to people, and a face makes a letter or a valuation call easier to accept.

Listings still have a place. They should not be the whole feed.

A benchmark makes a result post stronger. In Q3 2026, homes took 69 days from first listing to sale agreed across the areas Propalt covers, and 73 days in Greater London. If your listings agree sales faster than your local figure, that is the result worth posting.

In Propalt, Market Insights shows the average asking price, live listings, sales in the last 30 days, average days on market and the 12-month trend against national for each property type in your area, which gives you that local benchmark.

"A vendor choosing an agent is looking for proof, not photos."

Do material information rules apply to social media posts?

Yes, when the post advertises a specific property. Since 6 April 2025, the consumer protection rules in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 have required traders not to omit material information from property adverts. The Competition and Markets Authority can now fine businesses directly, without going to court.

The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team's three-part guidance on what that information is was withdrawn in May 2025, but the duty remains. Parts A, B and C are still the most practical checklist. Part A covers the price or rent, the council tax band (or rates in Northern Ireland) and, for sales, the tenure. Parts B and C cover utilities and the matters that apply only to some properties.

Our guide to material information reports covers how to gather this information for each property. Propertymark members can also request a free basic Propalt material information report with each Connect referral, as set out in our Propertymark Connect announcement. The basic report does not by itself meet the agent's material information duty.

The concession: a post about your team, a local event or general market trends is not a property advert. The rules bite when a post invites people to buy or rent a particular home.

How should an agency plan its social media?

Plan it monthly, around the same postcodes you prospect by letter. A homeowner who has seen your sold results on social media is more likely to open the letter that follows.

1. Pick your patch. Choose the postcodes where you want instructions, not the whole branch area.
2. Plan one result post a week. Use completions and lets from those postcodes, with the vendor's or landlord's permission.
3. Publish a monthly market update. Sold prices and time to sell for the patch, in plain numbers.
4. Check every property post against the Part A checklist before it goes live, including posts made by individual negotiators.
5. Join it up with your letters. Use the same message, the same streets and the same timing, so the channels reinforce each other.

Propalt's Location Analysis maps every property in your patch with sold prices and market activity, which gives you the numbers for step 3 and the streets for step 5.

Is social media enough to win instructions?

On its own, rarely. Social media builds recognition among people who already follow you or who see your paid local posts. It does not reach a specific homeowner at the moment they decide to sell. That is the job of addressed mail and direct prospecting, covered in our guide to direct mail for estate agents.

The agencies that get the most from social media use it as the second touch. The letter arrives, the homeowner looks you up, and your feed shows that you sell homes on their street.

That sequence works because people rarely act on one message, the idea behind our guide to the rule of seven. Propalt's 20:20 Campaign sends letters to neighbouring and comparable homes around a new instruction or sale, which puts the letter in place before the homeowner looks you up.

Key takeaway. Social media for estate agents works best as proof: results, local market knowledge and the people behind the agency, timed to support letters to the same streets. Any post advertising a specific property needs the same material information as a portal listing, starting with price, council tax band and tenure. Propalt is built on the principle that every channel works harder when it is aimed at the right streets.

Sources and data references

1. National Trading Standards (12 July 2022). 'National Trading Standards publishes guidance on Part A material information for property listings.' Three part process, developed with Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket and PropertyPal. source
2. The Negotiator (12 July 2022). 'Trading Standards releases full details of material information rules.' Part A requirements: price, council tax band or rates, tenure. source
3. Property Industry Eye (30 November 2023). 'Trading Standards publishes Material Information guidance.' Parts B and C published; obligation not to omit material information on property listings. source
4. Property Industry Eye (12 July 2022). 'Next phase of material information rules will be announced shortly.' Legal basis in consumer protection law and the industry steering group. source
5. RICS Property Journal (accessed 27 October 2026). 'Material information disclosure: National Trading Standards.' Part A covers inescapable costs; listings without it are flagged on portals. source
6. Propertymark (9 May 2025). 'Material Information guidance withdrawn as the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act takes over.' NTSELAT guidance on Parts A, B and C withdrawn; DMCC Act rules apply from 6 April 2025; the CMA can fine without going to court. source
7. Today's Conveyancer (12 May 2025). 'NTSELAT material information guidance withdrawn, but duty to report remains.' Withdrawal effective 8 May 2025; the duty to give material information remains. source

Propalt data. Propalt (21 October 2026). Quarterly market statistics, Q3 2026 (July to September): days from first listing to sale agreed, national and Greater London.