A rental listing video is a short narrated, captioned video of one property to let, built from its listing photos and facts: the rent and how often it is paid, the deposit, the available date, furnished or not, bills, pets, the energy rating and the council tax band, each stated only as listed. Lettings turn over fast, so each video is tied to the listing reference, re-rendered when the rent or date changes and retired once the property is let.
What renters decide on, and what the video states
A rental listing video states the facts a renter shortlists on, exactly as the listing gives them, and nothing the listing does not.
Our lead guide to real estate listing video covers photo order, the workflow from listing URL to video and the price policy. This page covers what changes in a property to rent video, for letting agents, property managers, build-to-rent operators and rental platforms.
| Fact | What the video states | What to check in review |
|---|---|---|
| Rent and frequency | One figure with its period in words: an illustrative £1,450 pcm is read as “one thousand, four hundred and fifty pounds per calendar month” | Same figure and period as the advert; no range |
| Deposit | The tenancy deposit, and a holding deposit if listed | Matches the listing; in England, query anything above the caps of one week's rent for a holding deposit and five weeks' rent for a tenancy deposit (six where annual rent is £50,000 or more) |
| Availability date | “Available from” and the date | Not already past; “available now” only if listed |
| Furnished or not | Furnished, part-furnished or unfurnished | Old photos may show the last tenant's furniture |
| Bills | Which bills are included, if any | Only the bills listed |
| Pets | The pet policy, as listed | In England, check a blanket “no pets” line (see below) |
| Energy rating | The certificate's rating letter | Read as “energy rating C”, not spelt out |
| Council tax band (UK) | The band letter | As listed; Northern Ireland uses rates instead |
| Anything else | Parking, outside space, floor, lift, broadband | Only as listed; shared or private as stated |
If a field is blank, drop the line rather than guess. Set pcm, pw and local building and street names once in the brand's pronunciation lexicon.
Rental wording rules in England and the US
State the rent as the advert does and keep the narration to the listing's facts. This is a starting point, not legal advice; check with your compliance lead or trade body.
England: rent, material information and fees
- The rent, as a specific amount. GOV.UK's guidance on rental bidding says a written advert or offer must state the rent as a specific amount, not a range, and counts online adverts, social media posts, emails, texts and direct messages as written adverts. The National Trading Standards Letting Agency Team's guidance on payments dates this from 1 May 2026. Neither mentions video, so state the same figure in the video and in the post or message that carries it.
- Material information. The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team's Part A guidance lists the rental price and council tax as material for all properties. The video ends by sending viewers to the full listing for the rest.
- The energy rating. GOV.UK's energy performance certificate guide for England and Wales says adverts in the commercial media, which includes the internet, must clearly show the energy rating where one is available. Put the letter on the facts card.
- Fees. The Letting Agency Team's guidance on publishing fees says an agent's fees must appear on its website and on third-party sites used to advertise lets in England, such as property portals and Facebook, or be linked from them. Put that link in the video's description or post.
- Children, benefits and pets. GOV.UK's rental discrimination guide says landlords in England, and agents acting for them, must not make a tenant less likely to rent because they have children or get benefits. GOV.UK's tenancy guide says a pet request cannot be refused without a fair reason. Keep “no children”, “no benefits” and blanket “no pets” out of the narration unless your compliance lead has cleared the wording.
US: fair housing advertising
The Department of Housing and Urban Development says discriminatory housing advertisements are illegal under the Fair Housing Act, which bars adverts indicating a preference based on race, colour, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin. Its examples include “no children” and “no wheelchairs”.
Describe the property, never the renter
The narration says what the property is and has, never who it suits. Add phrases like these to the brand's banned-phrases list, so a draft that uses them is caught:
- “ideal for professionals” or “professionals only”
- “perfect for a couple” or “suits a young family”
- “would suit a student” or “great for sharers”
- “no DSS”, “no children” or “no wheelchairs”
Relets, rent changes and let properties
Lettings turn over faster than sales, so tie each video to the listing reference and treat every change of rent, date or status as a reason to re-render or retire it.
- Let agreed. Retire the video from the portal, your site, YouTube and social, so it stops drawing enquiries.
- Rent or date changes. Update the listing and render again. The rebuild is saved as _v2 beside the original, and the ledger records each version, builder, reviewer and status. Re-rendering the same video in the same month is free.
- The date passes. Re-render with “available now” once the listing says so, or retire the video.
- Relet. Start from the new listing, not the old video, and check the photos still show the property as it is: redecorated rooms, or a flat once let furnished and now unfurnished. Reshoot what has changed.
- One link per reference. On the Custom plan (from 1,500 videos a month), listing delivery can be one stable link per reference that only plays a cut that passed review and switches when a rebuild is approved. Otherwise, replace the link by hand after each rebuild.
Once a month, export the ledger to CSV, match it against live lets and retire any video for a property already let.
Build to rent video for multi-unit buildings
A building with many similar units needs one apartment listing video per available unit, each plainly a different unit, plus one building overview video.
Send the available units as rows of a CSV or JSON file and each row becomes one video; batch runs start on the Growth plan. See bulk video creation from a CSV for the file. Illustrative only: Harbour Yard is a fictional building.
| Unit video | Building overview video | |
|---|---|---|
| Leads with | Unit number, floor, rent and period, available date | Building name and location |
| Pictures | That unit's own photos | Exterior, entrance and the shared spaces listed |
| States | Bedrooms, bathrooms, furnished or not, bills, deposit, energy rating, council tax band | Shared facilities, on-site management and pet policy, only as listed |
| Changes when | Its rent or date changes, or it is let | A facility opens or closes |
| File name | HY-0407_9x16_v1.mp4 | HY-BUILDING_16x9_v1.mp4 |
- Unit number and floor first. On screen and in the narration, so a renter comparing two one-bedroom flats knows which is which.
- Its own photos. Where units share show apartment photos, label them as the show apartment; never present them as the unit.
- Its own rent. Each row carries its own figure and date, even for matching layouts.
- A check per batch. Compare the unit number on screen with the file name and listing reference. A rejection takes a defect code, such as specification or photo.
- Build and approve separately. A workspace can require the approver to be someone other than the builder, so the leasing team builds and a compliance lead signs off.
Marketing a scheme before completion, from computer-generated images and a show home, is a different job: see new development video. If you run a rental listing platform, marketplace listing video covers quality gates and review at volume.
Where rental listing videos go
Put the 16:9 cut on your listing page and on portals that take video, the 9:16 cut on social, and an unlisted YouTube link in replies to enquiries.
- Your own site. A static HTML site built from a GitHub repository can have the approved video published into the listing page with player, transcript, captions and VideoObject markup. Otherwise download the MP4, or fetch it by reference or address through the read-only API (Growth).
- Rental portals. Check each portal's help pages first, including whether lettings follow the same rules. Rightmove's customer FAQ says Rightmove Plus users add a video link under Additional media, with YouTube and Vimeo embedded on the property page, while feed users send it through their feed. Zoopla's help centre takes a link from an approved player such as YouTube, with embedding allowed, and does not accept YouTube Shorts, so link the landscape cut. OnTheMarket's help centre takes an .mp4 or .mov file up to 150MB, or a URL. For US rental portals, check each one's help pages the same way.
- Replies to enquiries. Upload the 16:9 cut to YouTube as unlisted and paste the link into your reply. YouTube's help says anyone with the link can watch and reshare an unlisted video, and it stays out of search unless added to a public playlist. In England, emails and texts count as written adverts under the rent rule, so put the rent in the reply too.
- Social. The 9:16 cut with captions burned in; estate agent social video covers what to post.
- Your records. Google Drive delivery (Growth, rolling out) puts both cuts in a folder you own, with a sheet listing every property.
When Videngine is the wrong tool for rental video
Videngine narrates a listing's existing photos and facts; it does not film, scan or join a live call.
| Job | Why Videngine does not fit | Better fit |
|---|---|---|
| A live virtual viewing | It renders a finished file; nobody is there to answer questions or open a cupboard | The agent on a video call, walking the property with a phone |
| A 3D tour | No 3D capture and no tour the renter can move through | A 3D capture and tour platform your portals support |
| A filmed walkthrough | It creates no footage; it moves across still photos | Your team filming on a phone, or a property videographer |
| Narration in another language | Narration is in English only | A voiceover artist or a tool that speaks the language |
| A unit with no photos yet | The pictures come from the listing | Photograph the unit; meanwhile send the building overview video |
These complement each other: a live viewing for the renter who asks, and a rental listing video for every let.
Questions letting agents ask about rental listing video
What should a rental listing video include?
The rent and how often it is paid, the deposit, the available date, furnished or unfurnished, which bills are included, the pet policy, the energy rating and, in the UK, the council tax band, each only as the listing states it. Show the property's own photos and end with how to enquire.
Do I need to state the rent in a letting video?
In England, GOV.UK's guidance says a written advert or offer must state the rent as a specific amount, and counts online adverts, social media posts and messages as written adverts. It does not mention video, so state the same figure in the video and in the post or message that carries it.
What happens to the video when a property is relet?
Make a new version from the new listing. Check the photos still show the property as it is, render again with the new rent and date, and replace the old link everywhere it was used. In Videngine the rebuild is saved as _v2 beside the original.
Can I make a video for every flat in a build-to-rent building?
Yes, as a batch from a CSV or JSON file with one row per available unit. Give each row its unit number, floor, rent and own photos so no two videos look alike, and make one building overview video for the shared spaces.
Is a rental listing video the same as a virtual viewing?
No. It is a finished, narrated video built from the listing's photos, which a renter watches in their own time. A live virtual viewing needs an agent on a video call, and a 3D tour needs a 3D capture of the property.
Choose your next step
Go back to the lead property guide, or read the pages for the other property jobs.
Start with one let.
Bring a typical rental listing, one unit from a larger building and their photos. Agree a scene set, a pronunciation list and the rent wording, then apply them to every property you let.
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