Many of us will be shocked to learn that regulators believe that some estate agents are 'stretching the facts'.

The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) writes the rules which regulate non-broadcast marketing communications, and which are then applied by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) - both being government regulatory bodies.

In this case, the ASA has found that estate agents may give misleading information about property for sale; for example, a flat in Liverpool was described as having "beautifully maintained grounds", when in fact, it had building work taking place outside.

The CAP says that it will take enforcement action if things do not improve in 2018 and that any estate agent that does not comply with its instructions could face criminal prosecution. Which, if successful, could end up spoiling one of the better examples we can use for teaching assymetric information.....