Over 133,000 homes on Britain’s housing market have been listed without providing complete material information, despite the requirements from the National Trading Standards, research from Moverly reveals.
Material information in property listings is 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 and Part C – Information that may or may not need to be established, e.g. flood risk.
Not only does material information 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 and prevent unnecessary viewings.
But despite CPRs meaning that an agent’s failure to properly provide material information can be treated as a criminal offence there are still hundreds of thousands of properties on the market for which material information has not been fully provided.
NON-COMPLIANCE
Gemma Young, Moverly Chief Executive, 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.”
CONCERNING
And she adds: “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.
“It’s fair to say that everyone involved with property transactions wants to see sales progress with the maximum possible efficiency, but until we start seeing a stronger buy-in to material information provision, too many easy wins are being passed up.”
