A provider of digital property packs claims over 133,000 homes are on the market with non-existent or incomplete material information.

Moverly has taken two key areas of Material Information – Tenure Information and Parking Information – and claims to have analysed all current residential listings in Britain to see how many of them are being marketed with the material information included. 

Part A – Tenure information

Tenure Information – which includes information such as whether a property is being sold as a leasehold or freehold – is a core component of Material Information Part A,  but Moverly’s analysis reveals that 96% of the estimated 523,257 properties currently listed in Britain are being marketed with tenure information included, leaving 4% that are not. 

It claims that small figure increases, proportionately, in some big cities – in Edinburgh, 12% of listings lack the relevant data, followed by Glasgow (10%), and Newcastle (7%). 

Part B – Parking information

Moverly claims only 75% of live listings include information about car parking, leaving 25% that do not,  This 25% is an estimated 133,161 properties that are not compliant with material information Part B. In Glasgow, the number of non-compliant listings grows to 36%, while in Newcastle, 31% of listings are lacking the relevant information.

Trading Standards have called for the disclosure of material information in property listings, and this information has been split into three categories:

• Part A – Information which is considered essential for all properties, e.g. price.
• Part B – Information that must be established for all properties, e.g. parking availability.
• Part C – Information that may or may not need to be established, e.g. flood risk.

Not only does material information vastly reduce the time it takes to sell a property, but it is also designed to help estate and lettings agents comply with Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs), prevent failed transactions or wasted costs, prevent unnecessary viewings, and so on.

A Moverly spokesperson says: “This research gives a flavour of how many properties are still being listed without proper compliance with Trading Standards material information guidelines. The level of non-compliance we’re seeing from these two categories alone suggests that too many agents still aren’t taking material information as seriously as perhaps they should. 

“While almost all listings are being provided with important information such as price and physical characteristics, it’s concerning to know that thousands of buyers – in some cases hundreds of thousands – are still not being given the level of detailed information they require to make an informed decision in a timely manner. 

“What’s more, the figures laid out here don’t even delve into Part C of material information which concerns major issues that can impact the desirability of certain homes, including flood and erosion risk. And while these issues don’t concern all homes, given the seriousness of them, Part C is, to certain buyers, perhaps the most important aspect of all material information. Compliance data in this area is hard to come by for now, but if we’re seeing such widespread non-compliance with Parts A and B, we fear Part C is being neglected even more, especially given that it’s the most newly introduced, and most contentious, part of the guidelines.”