The basis of environmental claims must be clear and should not mislead, even if it’s for homes. So, before you carve your greener home claims in stone, here are six tips to make sure your ads stand on solid ground.
1) Circle of life: Take into consideration the full lifecycle
You’ll need to have robust full lifecycle analysis to support any unqualified “environmentally friendly” or “sustainable” claims you want to make. This analysis will need to show that from manufacture to disposal the product or service you are advertising has no detrimental impact on the environment.
2) Avoid exaggeration and ambiguity or you might land yourself in hot water
To avoid the risk of exaggeration, marketers should be wary of making absolute claims like "The greenest stoves on earth” which are likely to be impossible to substantiate (Clearview Stoves Ltd, 11 April 2012). Instead, try using qualified claims or comparative claims such as “cleaner” and “greener” (Rule 11.3).
3) Be solar with your intentions
Marketers purporting to advertise solar panels or double glazing who are actually using customer information to generate leads should note that disclaimers and footnotes are unlikely to be sufficient to avoid creating a misleading impression. In order to avoid a breach of the CAP Code you should be upfront with consumers about your commercial intent.
The ASA has previously ruled against paid ads on social media and websites promoting ‘solar funding schemes’ and ‘grants’, suggesting that homeowners could qualify for free or heavily subsidised solar panel installations, and encouraging consumers to check their postcodes and “Apply Now”. Aside from the fact that the advertisers could not satisfy the ASA that the ‘funds’ and ‘grants’ they promoted were genuine, it was also ruled that the ads misleadingly created the impression that solar panels and associated funding options were directly available from the advertiser, when that was not the case. As those ads were principally for lead generating companies, rather than for a solar panel installation company and/or funding scheme, the ASA concluded that the marketers had falsely implied that they were acting for purposes outside their profession and therefore breached the Code ( Rock Paper Click Ltd t/a Government Solar Checker, 13 November 2019).
Don’t leave your customers shocked by the final bill: Be clear about your prices
Ads quoting prices for green home initiatives like solar panels should be accurate and give a realistic indication of what consumers are likely to pay for a product, and that headline prices must be truthful and clear.
The ASA previously ruled in Contact Solar Ltd (27 August 2025) that the claim “£5,995 Fully Installed Solar - No Deposit Needed” had not been substantiated and was likely to mislead. They considered consumers would understand from the absolute pricing claim that Contact Solar charged no more than £5,995 for solar panels and their installation. The quoted price was considered to be misleading as it did not include a qualification about the relevant solar panel package or any complexities upon which the price was dependent.
Make sure you hold robust substantiation
Robust analysis will also be needed for any green disposal claims, which prove to be a continual source of new rulings. These have included claims relating to ‘plastic free’ and ‘biodegradable’ cleaning products; ‘compostable’ coffee capsules and bags or ‘recyclable’ synthetic grass.
Be careful about how you refer to access to Government funding
Ads must be clear about the eligibility criteria for government funding for installing heat pumps, solar panels and home insulation - this is material information that should be included in the ad itself. The ASA has recently ruled that by omitting information about eligibility criteria in their ads, advertisers gave the impression that consumers would be automatically eligible to receive a government grant when this was not the case (Aira Home UK Ltd (6 August 2025), EDF Energy Ltd t/a EDF (6 August 2025) and Energystore Ltd (6 August 2025)).
To summarise; make sure environmental statements are substantiated, clear, contextualised and do not mislead. If you’re ever unsure, the CAP Copy Advice Team are always on hand to help ensure your ads get the green light.
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