Rightmove photo rules for 2026: size, text, watermarks, AI edits and video

The rule is short: “Images must not contain text.” The same table repeats it for video, “You must not use text in images or videos (including but not limited to incentives)”, and lists borders, banners and corner flashes on images as misuse of media. Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines, January 2026

That rules out more than prices and offers. Room names written across a photo, a “virtually staged” line burnt into the corner and a logo that has nothing to do with the property are all text or non-property images, and so is a collage: Rightmove wants “one single image” in each image area of the gallery. Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines, January 2026

There is one exception. Where the location of the property, or a feature that matters, is unclear in the image, as in a drone shot, you may mark it “using an arrow or outline (or similar)”. The photo at the top of this page is that exception at work. Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines, January 2026

Watermarks are allowed, within limits. Only white, translucent watermarks may be used on photos, greyscale on floorplans, at an opacity of 30% or lower, and no larger than a quarter of the image. Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines, January 2026

A logo can serve as the watermark, but Rightmove says a watermark exists only to protect copyright “and should contain no further messaging”. A phone number, a web address or “for sale” in the watermark breaks the rule the same way text on the photo does. Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines, January 2026

In practice that means a small mark in a corner, kept away from the parts of the room a buyer is looking at. Anything that competes with the photo for attention is past the limit before it reaches a quarter of the frame.

Since January 2026 Rightmove’s guidelines define two kinds of edit. Light Touch Edits are “minimal editing such as cropping, brightness/contrast adjustments, colour balance, shadow lifting and warming tones.” Enhanced Edits are anything generated or manipulated by AI, CGI, and manual changes “such as adding or removing objects, or making enhancements e.g. changing architectural features.” Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines, January 2026

Both are allowed as long as they do not misrepresent the property. Enhanced Edits carry two conditions, because they “may be perceived as authentic by a consumer”: they must be accompanied by current, accurate images of the room or property, and clearly labelled as being AI or otherwise enhanced. Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines, January 2026

Virtual staging is an Enhanced Edit, and so is a sky replaced with AI, a lawn regenerated to look greener or a photo with the bins taken out. Rightmove reserves the right to remove content it reasonably believes does not comply. Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines, January 2026

The guidelines do not say where the label goes. Read together with the ban on text in images, it cannot go on the photo itself, which leaves the photo’s caption and the description. The unedited photo of the same room goes in the gallery beside the edited one.

Portal rules sit on top of the law. Under the DMCC Act a photo that gives a false impression of the property can be a misleading action whatever the portal allows, which our post on UK law covers in full. DMCC Act 2024, s.226 (misleading actions)

In Rightmove Plus, open the property from the Property List, go to the Media tab, find the section called Additional media, select edit and then add link, and enter the video’s URL with a caption summarising what it shows. YouTube and Vimeo videos play inside the listing; any other secure link opens in a pop-up window. Rightmove Customer FAQ, “How do I add a virtual tour?”

Agents who upload through a property software data feed cannot add videos in Rightmove Plus. The tour goes in through the software, like the rest of the listing. Rightmove Customer FAQ, “How do I add a virtual tour?”

The video has to follow the same rules as the photos, and a few of its own. It must show only the property, carry no direct or third-party advertising, include no contact details or lead forms, and not send viewers to the agency’s website or any other external site. No text may appear in it, including incentives. Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines, January 2026

Before you upload, make sure nobody in it can be identified. The guidelines ask agents to edit out people, photos of people and personal information in the background, to have the owner’s permission, and to keep the quality reasonable. Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines, January 2026

The January 2026 guidelines added a section on accessibility, pointing to the European Accessibility Act. Agents should give every property photo a clear description, avoid alternative text such as “123image.jpg”, add a caption to every property video, and not upload scanned brochures or images of text. Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines, January 2026

The same section asks for plain language and short paragraphs, and warns against links that say “click here”. None of it is hard, and a description that names the room and its best feature serves a screen reader and a searcher at the same time. Rightmove Agent and Developer Technical Guidelines, January 2026

The first photo does most of the work. Rightmove says a property competes with up to 24 others on a results page, and that over 60% of traffic comes from mobile, “where users will only see your first photo.” Rightmove, “The exceptional agent’s guide to property marketing”, 2020

Lead with the property’s best feature, which is not always the front of the house: a kitchen, a garden or the view can be the stronger opener. Rightmove also suggests changing the first photo at least every two weeks, to give regular searchers another reason to look. Rightmove, “The exceptional agent’s guide to property marketing”, 2020

Floorplans matter more than most agents treat them. In the same guide, 82% of vendors said a floorplan was essential or very useful when selling their home, and a floorplan uploaded as a photo does not show in the floorplan tab. Rightmove, “The exceptional agent’s guide to property marketing”, 2020