For the last 15 years, estate agents and letting agents have been legally obliged not to omit any ‘material information’ from a property listing. This is because potential buyers or renters should have all the information available about a property before they make any legal commitments and move forward with a sale or letting agreement. However, the problem with this is that ‘material information’ was never legally defined.
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, stated that ‘Material information is the information which the average consumer needs, according to the context, to take an informed transactional decision’. Unfortunately, with regards to property sales and lettings, important information could be left out by estate agents, even unintentionally, and this led to sales or lettings needing to be renegotiated or even sales falling through.
What are the new rules around material information?
The National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) has released new guidance to ensure that the rules around material information are used in all property listings. This guidance contains clear information on what exactly a property listing should include and it has been adopted by all the big industry names such as RightMove and Zoopla.
What should a property listing now include?
The guidance on material information is divided into three parts:
Part A includes information for renters and it includes basic information such as the rent amount, how much deposit you need to pay and what the Council Tax on the property is.
Part B applies to both renters and buyers and it should outline what type of property it is, what it is constructed from, how many rooms including measurements, information about all the utilities including water, heating, sewage, electricity and broadband and what parking is available at the property.
Part C should include information about any specific problems such as building safety, rights and restrictions, development and planning permission issues, flooding or erosion risks and any property adaptations.
As these changes are very new, some agents may not have adopted them as yet. For a conveyancing solicitor near me, specialists such as https://www.samconveyancing.co.uk/Conveyancing-Solicitors can help with every stage of the house-buying process.
How these changes will benefit buyers or renters
These changes to the definition of material information will benefit buyers and renters because they will have more information upfront about any prospective properties. It will also benefit sellers and landlords because it will reduce the risk of property sales or letting agreements falling through. It will also help to sell or let a property faster because all the information purchasers or renters need will be available in the listing before they even view the property.