Shelter again with latest TV advert!

The quango Advertising Standards & Charity Commission are pathetic waste of spaces

A few days ago Shelter seemed to have pulled the video advert. The appeal coming up on my social media feeds now is a static, different photo of a woman. Clicking on the link today, I see they have also removed all references to 'NHS workers' or 'NHS tenants' being told to leave by their 'landlord'. The image of the guy in the original video is there, but the video has gone. Interesting?
They also make reference to 12 million private renters but don't mention social renters. The suggestions I've seen for Coronavirus-related arrears in social housing range from 20% to 40%. Are none of those tenants worried about their future? Or does Shelter decline to help those tenants?

As always, nicely stated Annie. I enjoy your erudite and intelligent posts.
I'd like to presume that when landlords act collectively to challenge the mendacious claims made by Shelter, and expose them for the biased and opportunistic and mercenary organisation they are, we earn their attention. There can be no doubt that they regularly investigate the postings on Property118 🙂
Compare the sterling work done by St Mungo's to home and sustain the needy, to the rabid but hollow rhetoric disseminated by Shelter ostensibly claiming to be doing the same, and it is simple to discern who is the genuine charity. And St Mungo's manage to achieve more on a much smaller budget.
So today I'll stand on my doorstep and bang on a pot for Property 118 and all its members.

Reply to the comment left by DALE ROBERTS at 17/04/2020 - 10:08
Shelter are just a duplicate source ( part Tax-payer funded ) Legal Aid service for the small proportion of bad tenants who breach their Tenancy agreements.

They are far more malignant than that.
They encourage private rogue tenants to behave even more badly under their specific brand of anti-landlord prejudice by supporting them in evading legitimate eviction.
They also encourage private tenants, who would ordinarily abide by their tenancies, to become truant by loudly and broadly trumpeting their anti-landlord "tenancy rights".
And that "small proportion" of bad tenants you mention cost the private landlord over GBP9billion in lost rental last year.
And I was one of them.

Reply to the comment left by DALE ROBERTS at 17/04/2020 - 12:36
I've paid a part of that £ 9.9 Billion too Dale ( and by the way, those were 2015 figures ! )

Following my complaint I have just received this reply:
Thank you for contacting us about Shelter’s advert and for your patience while your complaint was considered.

Given the concerns raised, we asked the ASA Council to look at the issues you and others raised. After careful consideration, however, they have decided that no further action should be taken this time. Please find more information below.

Your complaint

We received 51 complaints:

1.) The majority of complainants challenged whether the ad was offensive as they objected that the charity was using the coronavirus pandemic to raise funds. Several complainants challenged whether the ad used the example of the NHS worker losing their home to exploit current good-feeling towards NHS workers in order to garner more donations.

2.) Some complainants challenged whether the ad was misleading because they understood that the UK Government had banned evictions whilst the coronavirus pandemic was ongoing.

3.) Other complainants, some of whom were landlords, challenged whether the ad was offensive to landlords as many were helping their tenants during this time, such as by offering rent reductions.

Our rules

Advertisements should contain nothing that is likely to mislead or cause serious or widespread offence. We base our decisions on the content of the ad, when and where it appears, the audience and the type of product or service being advertised. This article explains more about how we assess cases in this area https://www.asa.org.uk/news/bad-taste-or-offensive.html.

The ASA Council’s decision

1-3) Council acknowledged the complainants’ concerns and agreed that ads that referred to the coronavirus must be handled sensitively and should not play on the public’s fears. However, Shelter was a housing charity that provided information to those facing homelessness and other issues related to housing and accommodation, and Council considered that the ad made clear that they were taking calls from people worried about these sorts of issues. They considered that viewers would understand the ad referred to an example of the type of phone calls the charity was receiving and that it would be unlikely to be interpreted as a statement about all landlords. As such, Council concluded that the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence, or mislead for the reasons suggested.

Action taken

We have made the advertiser aware of the issues that you and others brought to our attention in case they wish to take on-board the information provided when creating their ads in the future.

Although we won’t take further action this time, we will keep a record of your complaint for reference in our future assessments. We will also take your complaint into account in our regular, proactive ‘intelligence gathering’ sweeps, where we analyse a range of information – including complaints made to us – to report on issues, even when they have not broken the advertising rules, that have caused concern.

We hope this helps to explain our decision, and thank you again for contacting us.

Reply to the comment left by Mike T at 17/04/2020 - 16:42
Well done, we need to do this for all their adverts, as their pretty much the same.

Received the same letter from ASA and good to learn Shelter have revised the advert. Although disappointing that only 51 complaints to ASA given the disingenuous nature against landlords.

Reply to the comment left by Mike T at 17/04/2020 - 16:42
"We have made the advertiser aware of the issues that you and others brought to our attention in case they wish to take on-board the information provided when creating their ads in the future."
It obviously did the trick!