A representative of the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agents team has told agents to accept new rules about material information in property details.

In a podcast with The Guild of Property Professionals, NTSELAT investigator Guy Welfare tells agents: “Try and see this as a positive change as opposed to going, ‘I don’t want to do that’, because you will need to adhere at some point. 

“You might as well embrace it in your business from now and start making changes to your procedures and policies to try and embed this in the day-to-day work.”

Elsewhere in the podcast he comments:  “Material Information is a term that comes from the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations in 2008 and is defined as ‘information which the average consumer needs to make an informed transactional decision.’ 

“It is really important to look at ‘transactional decision’ as not just whether you’re looking to buy or sell something, it’s also the steps that lead up to that as well.

“… The more consumers know up front, the less wasted time you have. There will be less fall-throughs and less difficult conversations coming further down the line when something comes out in searches that was known beforehand. It’s just to make it a much more transparent, smoother process for everyone involved.

“…It is really important to say that this isn’t a new law that we’ve brought out or a legislation that’s been introduced. This is guidance on a pre-existing legislation and there have been cases where people have not given this information and  have gone to private courts, where huge amounts of money have been ordered to pay back. 

“It goes to the redress schemes on a frequent basis where they deal with a lack of upfront and Material Information that can cause huge fines to agents and huge penalties.”