A 'misleading' advert from Lloyds Banking Group has been banned amid claims the lender misled readers over its financial commitments to social housing. 

The Lloyds advert, which appeared in The Times newspaper in March 2025, featured a photo of a large black horse galloping past new homes with building work underway. 

Underneath the image of the horse galloping across new-build homes was large text stating: '£19.5 billion for social housing. And that's just the start.' 

Smaller text underneath stated: 'Everyone deserves a safe place to call home. That’s why we’ve provided £19.5 billion to the social housing sector since 2018. Helping Britain Prosper Search Lloyds Banking Group social housing.' 

After the newspaper advert was published, a complaint to the Advertising Standards Agency alleging it had wrongly implied that Lloyds had donated £19.5billion to social housing projects. 

Following a probe, the ASA concluded the advert was 'misleading' as it 'gave the overall impression that the sum of money had been donated to the social housing sector', rather than via commercial arrangements like loans and investments. 

The watchdog said: 'In the absence of further qualification, we considered readers were likely to interpret the claims to mean that LBG had made a significant financial contribution to the social housing sector.' 

The ASA upheld the complaint in part and said the advert breached CAP Code rules on misleading advertising. 

According to the ASA, Lloyds claimed the newspaper advert formed part of a wider campaign which aimed to highlight their commitment to social housing within the context of their broader sustainability purpose. 

The banking giant told the ASA,that while the advert was published in The Times, it was not aimed at the general public, but the lender's corporate stakeholders, political groups, journalists and competitors.  

The bank reportedly told the ASA that the advert was intended to demonstrate its role as a leading commercial supporter of the sector. 

The ASA said the lender suggested that readers of The Times 'were typically more sophisticated with a strong awareness of business, economic and public affairs issues'. 

The watchdog said: 'On that basis, they said that the average reader of The Times would have understood that LBG was a major UK banking group, not a charitable or philanthropic organisation, and that the claim did not imply the £19.5 billion was given as a donation.'

It added: 'The ad appeared in The Times, which was read by both consumer and business readers. The ASA therefore considered that members of both those groups would see the ad.'

As a result of the ASA's findings, the advert must not appear again in the form complained of. 

The ASA concluded: 'We told...Lloyds Banking Group not to misleadingly imply that they had donated money to social housing projects when that was not the case, and to ensure future ads did not mislead by omitting significant information that put claims into context.'  

A Lloyds Banking Group spokesperson told The Daily Mail: 'We acknowledge the ruling but respectfully disagree with this specific decision. 

'We believe the advert was clear, aligned with the ASA’s standards of responsible advertising and will have been understood by any reasonable reader. 

'It accurately reflected our commercial support for the social housing sector, and we remain committed to communicating this impact in a way that is transparent and easily understood by all audiences.' 

Labour's social housing push 

In February 2025, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said there were 1.3million households in England on local authority housing waiting lists. 

Amid the government's plans to build 1.5million new homes in England by the end of parliament, the Chancellor reiterated the aim of delivering the aim of delivering the 'biggest boost in social and affordable housing in a generation.' 

In July, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, a keen advocate of social housing, unveiled details of a £39billion house building drive for the next 10 years aiming to deliver around 300,000 new social and affordable homes.