Ombudsman welcomes new guidance on material information for property sales
617 consumers raised complaints about information given during home sales in 2024
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The Property Ombudsman welcomed the Government’s plans to clarify what estate agents should disclose in sales as part of reforms to the home-buying process.
The independent ombudsman service investigated 617 cases related to material information and details which consumers felt would have affected their decision to purchase a property.
A consultation from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was opened on Monday (6 October) to discuss the scope and detail of proposed reforms. Currently, around 1 in 3 transactions fail, costing buyers and sellers around £400m per year in wasted costs.
Previous guidance on material information was based on Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations published in 2008, subsequently replaced by the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.
Since this change, there is no established list of information that must be disclosed in a property listing. Property Ombudsman Lesley Horton said: “We welcome any moves to make such an important and complex transaction clearer for consumers. Speaking to businesses, the industry is also supportive of clear guidance which is explicit about what information agents and sellers must disclose.
“Our casework shows that hundreds of buyers and sellers are falling foul of inconsistent practice every year, resulting in added costs and aborted sales.”
Issues not disclosed during purchases included the condition/dimensions of a building or land, flood risk, restrictive covenants, utilities supply, access rights, service charges and planning permissions. Examples include an investment property misrepresented and a fire damaged property sold without warning. The Government consultation runs until 29 December 2025.
Number of information-related casework breaches of the Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents in 2024 (Code paragraph reference)
• Material information: Pictorial 31, Verbal 74, Written 242 (paragraph 7i)
• Particulars Agreed with Seller: 180 (paragraph 7j)
• Leasehold: Years Remaining 4, Restrictions or Covenants 23, Tenure 13, Circumstance/Event 3, Event fees 1, ground rent 5, Other Fees/Charges 3, Service charges 17 (paragraph 7k)
• Liability of incorrect information 14 (paragraph 7m)
• Marketing - legal, decent, honest and truthful 7 (paragraph 7n)
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