Compulsory material information on property listings

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Compulsory material information on property listings

Trading Standards and the government have jointly announced compulsory material information which must appear on property listings.

A property's council tax band or rate (for lettings and sales) and the property price and tenure information (for sales) must be included on all property listings by 31st May 2022.

What should be disclosed as 'standard' when marketing a property?

These changes represent the first phase of a project by the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team in partnership with industry leaders and major property portals, to define what constitutes ‘material information’ for property listings.

This 3 phase project has been developed in response to estate and letting agent’s requests for clarity on what information should be disclosed as standard when marketing a property.

Part A of this project includes information that is considered material for all properties.

• A property's council tax band or rate (for lettings and sales)  and the property price and tenure information (for sales) must be included on all property listings by 31st May 2022.

1. Tenure (applicable to sales listings only)

If Freehold

• disclose as ‘freehold’

If Leasehold

• disclose as ‘leasehold’, and

• Current ground rent and any review period

• Current service charge information and any review period

• Length of lease

• If Shared ownership, disclose

• details of share being sold, and any additional liabilities or obligations

• If Commonhold, disclose

• details of rights and obligations that apply between the unit holders, and between the

unit holders and the commonhold association

2. Council Tax (England, Wales & Scotland), or Rates (Northern Ireland) - disclose

• council tax band (E, W & S)

• rates payable (NI)

3. Price or Rent

For lettings, disclose

• the monthly rent, and

• any deposit payable

For sales, disclose

• the price expressed as a single amount

(Note: Displaying the selling price, although not prescribed by law, is considered to be material information – its omission would be a breach of the CPRs if it affected the transactional decision of the average consumer.)

Two further phases are being developed which will cover restrictive covenants, flood risk and other specific factors that may impact certain properties.

More information is available on the National Trading Standards website here.

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