Can I ask my estate agent to redo my listing photos?
Published 21 July 2026 · 8 min read · By Evren Ergin
Yes, and you should ask if the listing is not working. Put the request in writing, say exactly what you want changed and by when, and check the listing yourself first so the conversation is about specifics rather than a feeling.
TL;DR
- •Your agent is marketing your property under your instruction, so asking for better photographs, a floorplan or a rewritten description is a normal request.
- •Presentation matters more this summer because the number of homes for sale is close to a 12-year high for the time of year.
- •National Trading Standards requires the price, the tenure and the council tax band on the first page of every listing, with further material information one click away.
- •Diagnose before you rebuild: lots of views and no viewings points at the advert, while few views at all usually points at the price bracket.
This is a fair thing to ask, and asking it does not make you a difficult client. The agent is working for you, on your property, under your instruction. How your home is presented online is the part of the sale you have the most direct control over, and it costs nothing to change.
Can I ask my estate agent to redo my listing?
Yes. You instructed the agent to market your property, and the marketing material is there to serve that instruction. A reasonable agent will re-shoot, rewrite or reorder a listing when a seller asks, because a listing that is not working costs them their fee as well.
Put the request in writing, be specific about what you want changed, and give a date. "Can we improve the photos?" gets a vague answer. "Please re-shoot the kitchen, garden and main bedroom in morning light this week, and lead with the garden rather than the hallway" gets a booking.
One practical point before you spend your own money on a photographer: ask your agent, in writing, whether you would be able to reuse their photographs if you later changed agent. Do not assume the images are yours to take with you.
Does the listing really make that much difference?
It matters more this summer than it did last year, because buyers have more to choose from. Rightmove reported on 20 July 2026 that the number of homes for sale is close to a 12-year high for the time of year, while asking prices fell 1% in the month to 372,359 pounds and buyer demand ran 4% below normal through the heatwave.
When a buyer scrolls twenty homes in your price bracket, the first photograph decides whether yours gets opened at all. Nothing else in the listing gets a chance until that happens.
Rightmove's own research into floorplans, published in 2013, found that one in five buyers would ignore a listing without one, and one in ten would never book a viewing without seeing a floorplan first. A missing floorplan is one of the cheapest problems on this list to fix.
What should I actually be checking on my own listing?
Open your listing on a phone, as a stranger would, and work down this list. Most sellers find two or three fixable problems in ten minutes.
A listing check you can run yourself in ten minutes.
| Element | What good looks like | Common problem |
|---|---|---|
| Lead photograph | The strongest exterior or the best room, taken in daylight, straight lines, no cars or bins in shot | A dark hallway, a grey-sky front elevation, or a photo taken from inside a car |
| Photo count and order | Every main room plus the garden, ordered the way someone would walk through the house | Six photos, three of them of the same living room, and no garden at all |
| Floorplan | Present, with room dimensions and total floor area | Missing entirely, or present with no measurements |
| Description | Opens with what makes the home different, then the practical detail buyers filter on | Generic estate-agent phrasing that would fit any house on the street |
| Key facts | Tenure, council tax band and price shown clearly on the first screen | Buried, or left as "ask agent" |
| Search filters | Correct number of bedrooms, property type and price bracket | Listed one bracket too high, so it never appears in the searches it should |
That last row catches more sales than sellers realise. A home priced at 375,000 pounds does not appear for a buyer whose maximum filter is 350,000 pounds, even if that buyer would happily have paid 360,000 pounds.
What has to be on my listing by law?
Material information is the set of facts National Trading Standards requires an agent to publish about a property, so that buyers are not misled. It is split into three parts.
- Part A must appear on the first page of every listing: the price, the tenure (freehold or leasehold), and the council tax band or rate.
- Part B must be established for every property: property type, construction materials, number and type of rooms, utilities, and parking.
- Part C applies only where the property is affected: flood risk, restrictive covenants, and similar issues.
- Parts B and C do not have to sit on the first page, but they must be prominent and no more than one click away from the main listing.
If your listing is missing any of it, that is not a stylistic preference you are raising with your agent. It is a gap they are required to close, and pointing at it politely tends to produce quick action.
Is it the listing, or is it the price?
Worth answering honestly before you rebuild the whole advert. The two problems produce different symptoms, and treating one as the other wastes weeks.
Reading the symptoms. Source for the timings: Rightmove House Price Index, 20 July 2026.
| What you are seeing | What it usually means | What to change first |
|---|---|---|
| Plenty of portal views, almost no viewings booked | The listing is being seen and rejected on presentation or detail | The photographs, the floorplan and the description |
| Few portal views at all | The home is not reaching the right searches | The price bracket, the property type and the bedroom count on the listing |
| Good viewing numbers, no offers | Buyers like the home but not at this price, or something in person disappoints | Ask for verbatim feedback, then the price |
| Weeks of silence with no data offered | The agent, not the advert | Ask for the figures in writing, then decide about the agent |
Rightmove's July 2026 figures give you a yardstick for patience. Homes that sold without needing a price reduction found their buyer in 36 days on average, and three quarters of 2026's sales so far took that route. Homes that needed a reduction first took 127 days.
Fix the advert before you cut the price. One of those is free.
Common questions about listing photos and adverts
Can I insist my estate agent changes my listing photos?
You can ask, clearly and in writing, and most agents will act on it. The marketing exists to serve your instruction, and a listing that is not generating viewings costs the agent their fee too. If an agent repeatedly refuses to improve marketing you have paid for through your commission agreement, that is worth raising formally with the branch manager.
Can I take my own photos and ask the agent to use them?
Many agents will use seller-supplied images if the quality is good enough for the portals, which usually means landscape orientation, high resolution, and no people or pets in shot. Ask first rather than sending twenty pictures unannounced. If your agent declines, ask what specifically would need to be different.
Do I own the photographs of my house?
Not automatically. Photographs are normally the property of whoever took them, which usually means the agency or the photographer they hired. Ask your agent in writing whether you could reuse the images if you changed agent later, and get the answer before you need it.
How many photos should a listing have?
Enough to walk a buyer through the whole house without gaps: every main room, the garden or outside space, and the exterior. A buyer who cannot see a room assumes there is a reason they cannot see it, and that assumption is rarely generous.
Does a floorplan actually matter?
Yes. Rightmove research published in 2013 found one in five buyers would ignore a listing with no floorplan, and one in ten would never book a viewing without seeing one. Room dimensions were rated the most important part. It is one of the least expensive fixes available to you.
Should I pay for professional photography myself?
Usually you should not need to, because marketing is part of what your commission buys. Ask your agent what their photography includes before you spend anything of your own. If you do decide to pay privately, agree in writing first that the agent will use the images and that you can keep them.
How long should I give a relaunched listing before I judge it?
Give it two to three weeks of active marketing and measure it against the market rather than your nerves. Rightmove's 2026 data shows homes that sell without a price reduction find a buyer in 36 days on average, so a fortnight of fresh photographs with no movement in views is a signal worth acting on.
Where does ValuQ fit?
ValuQ gives UK homeowners free, side-by-side property valuations from competing local estate agents. You enter your property details once, multiple local agents send their valuation, their fees and their marketing strategy, and you compare every response on one screen before you speak to anyone. It is free for homeowners, always. Seeing how several agents propose to present your home, side by side, is the clearest way to judge which one will actually market it rather than just list it.
Sources
- [1]Rightmove House Price Index, July 2026 · 2026-07-20 · https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/house-price-index/
- [2]Property Industry Eye: Asking prices fall as buyers face summer distractions · 2026-07-20 · https://propertyindustryeye.com/asking-prices-fall-as-buyers-face-summer-distractions/
- [3]National Trading Standards: Full material information guidance published · 2023-11-30 · https://www.nationaltradingstandards.uk/news/full-material-information-guidance-published/
- [4]Rightmove: Maximise the chances of finding a buyer with a floorplan · 2013-06-14 · https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/articles/property-news/maximise-chances-finding-buyer-floorplan/
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