Lettings Property Description Examples (and What Must Go In)

What a description is for

A lettings description has one job: get the right people to book a viewing, and let the wrong people work that out before they do. More enquiries is not the goal. Twenty enquiries from people who needed parking you do not have is twenty replies and a few wasted viewings.

So a good description is mostly facts, in the order a renter checks them, with one or two sentences that make the place feel like somewhere to live.

The opening line

Portals and search results often show only the first line or two. Put these in it:

1. Type and size: "Two-bedroom first-floor flat".
2. The one best feature: a garden, a second bathroom, parking, a big kitchen. One, not four.
3. Location, in useful terms: walking time to the station, a named high street, a school catchment only if you know it is right.

"Two-bedroom first-floor flat with a private balcony, eight minutes' walk from the station" does more than "Stunning apartment in a sought-after location".

Five worked examples

All five properties below are invented for this post. The rents, deposits and bands are examples, not market figures. The deposits use the English cap in the Tenant Fees Act 2019: five weeks' rent where the annual rent is under £50,000 (legislation.gov.uk, Tenant Fees Act 2019, Schedule 1, checked September 2026). Five weeks is the most you can take; you can take less.

1. A flat

Two-bedroom first-floor flat with a balcony, eight minutes' walk from the station

A bright two-bedroom flat in a purpose-built block of twelve, with a south-facing balcony off the living room. The kitchen was refitted in 2024 and has a dishwasher and washer-dryer. Both bedrooms take a double bed; the second has a built-in wardrobe. Gas central heating. Allocated parking for one car, bike store in the courtyard.

Rent £1,300 per calendar month. Deposit £1,500. Council tax band C. Leasehold. Unfurnished. Available from 1 November. Pets considered on request.

2. A terraced house

Three-bedroom terraced house with a garden, close to two primary schools

A three-bedroom Victorian terrace on a quiet residential street, with a through lounge-diner, a separate kitchen and an enclosed garden of about 40 feet. Two double bedrooms and a single. Bathroom upstairs, downstairs WC. On-street parking with a residents' permit scheme. Ten minutes' walk to the high street.

Rent £1,560 per calendar month. Deposit £1,800. Council tax band C. Freehold. Unfurnished. Available now.

3. A room in a shared house

Double room in a five-bedroom shared house, bills included

A furnished double room with a new mattress, desk and wardrobe, in a shared house with four other tenants. Shared kitchen with two fridges, two bathrooms, a lounge and a small garden. Rent includes gas, electricity, water, broadband and council tax. Fifteen minutes by bus to the city centre.

Rent £650 per calendar month, bills included. Deposit £750. Council tax band D (included in the rent). Freehold. Furnished. Available from 15 October. If the house is a licensed HMO, say so and give the licence details.

4. A rural cottage

Two-bedroom stone cottage with a wood burner and parking for two cars

A two-bedroom end-of-terrace cottage on the edge of the village, with a wood burner in the sitting room, a farmhouse kitchen and a garden backing onto fields. Oil-fired central heating. Parking for two cars. The village has a shop and a pub; the nearest station is a 15-minute drive. Broadband is standard ADSL, and mobile signal is patchy indoors.

Rent £1,170 per calendar month. Deposit £1,350. Council tax band B. Freehold. Unfurnished. Available from 1 December.

Note what that last line of description does: a renter who works from home on video calls needs to know about the broadband before the viewing, not after the move.

5. A new-build

Three-bedroom new-build semi with two bathrooms and an EV charger

A three-bedroom semi-detached house completed in 2025 on a development at the edge of town, with an open-plan kitchen-diner, an en-suite to the main bedroom, a family bathroom and a turfed rear garden. Driveway with an electric vehicle charger. EPC rating B.

Rent £1,820 per calendar month. Deposit £2,100. Council tax band D. Freehold. Unfurnished. Available from 1 November. There is an estate management charge on the development, paid by the landlord.

The facts every advert should carry

A description reads well when the facts sit together in the same order every time. For a letting, that means at least:

• The rent, as one figure, and what it covers (bills or not).
• The deposit.
• The council tax band.
• The tenure.
• Furnished or unfurnished, the available date, and parking.
• Anything a renter would reasonably want to know before deciding to view: shared access, no mobile signal, a service or estate charge, an HMO.

That last point is not just good manners. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 treats leaving out material information as a misleading omission, where material information means what the average consumer needs to take an informed decision (legislation.gov.uk, DMCC Act 2024, section 227, in force since 6 April 2025, checked September 2026).

The detailed material information guidance National Trading Standards published for property listings was withdrawn on 8 May 2025, after the DMCC Act replaced the law it was written under. Trading Standards notes the guidance has been withdrawn, and the duty not to leave out material information remains (London Borough of Bromley, Trading Standards: property descriptions for sale or let, checked September 2026). So there is no official list to tick off today; there is a duty, and your judgement about what a renter needs. Our material information checklist is a practical starting point, not an official list.

Words that date, mislead or exclude

Stated rent and no bidding (England)

Since 1 May 2026, a written advert for most private lettings in England must state the rent as a specific amount, and landlords and agents must not invite, encourage or accept offers above it. We go through what that means for adverts, with a before-and-after example, in writing lettings adverts under the Renters' Rights Act. This is general information, not legal advice.

Using AI to draft, and why you always edit

AI tools are good at a first draft from a list of facts. They are also good at "stunning", at inventing a feature you did not mention, and at describing a garden as "landscaped" because gardens often are. Use the draft for structure, then check every factual claim against the property and cut every adjective you cannot point at. The facts block at the bottom should be yours, typed from the tenancy paperwork, not generated.

Where Loftfolio fits

Loftfolio gives you a lettings website with a page per property. UK listings get material information fields built in: price, tenure, council tax band, and the deposit on a letting, so the facts sit in the same place on every listing. It does not decide what is material for a particular property, and it does not check your wording.

On Pro and above, it can draft listing copy from a one-sentence description, which you always edit, and flag low-resolution and near-duplicate photos with a suggested order. The rest of this post works in any tool. For more on the listing as a whole, see reducing vacancy with better listings and the photo order checklist.

Your next step

Before the next advert goes out, run it against the UK material information checklist. It takes a few minutes and catches the omissions that turn into awkward conversations at the viewing.