AI-Beautified Home Photos Are Misleading UK House Hunters

According to the BBC, 'housefishing' — using AI to fake or beautify home listing photos — is becoming more common in the UK. Some agents and sellers heavily edit photos with AI to make homes look bigger and more modern, often without telling buyers that AI was used. One woman in London picked a five-bedroom home on the listing site Rightmove. When she visited in person, the rooms were much smaller, the decor was totally different, and even the walls and windows didn't match. She took real photos to compare and confirmed the listing pictures had been AI-enhanced. The host of a UK social media show has noticed a clear rise in AI-beautified listing photos over the past six months. Some photos even removed a pillar or added a window that doesn't exist. He says using AI to clear clutter or add furniture to empty rooms is fine, but misleading buyers is not. One real estate agency has now set a new rule: all AI-beautified listing photos must be clearly labeled, to help buyers picture a home's potential without changing what it really looks like.