Material information: are you telling buyers and tenants enough?

What's happening

Last week we asked whether you'd buy a haunted house. This week, the serious version: what do you actually have to tell buyers and tenants?

For several years, agents worked from the National Trading Standards guidance on material information, the familiar Parts A, B and C. In April 2025 that guidance was withdrawn, when the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 replaced the old consumer protection regulations.

The duty itself hasn't gone anywhere. Leaving out information that the average buyer or tenant needs to make an informed decision is still a misleading omission, and it's unfair if it's likely to change their decision. What's gone is the checklist. As the Government's own consultation put it last autumn, the law "does not include a prescribed list of material information specific to residential property transactions". New guidance has been promised, but it hasn't been published yet.

In my experience, most agents who haven't been trained simply didn't notice the change.

Who it affects

Everyone in sales and lettings who writes listings, conducts viewings or answers questions from buyers and tenants. The Government's promised guidance is for sales only, so letting agents have even less to go on.

The Good

The law is simpler than it looks. Strip away the checklists, and it comes down to one question:

Would this information materially affect someone's decision to take this property?

If the answer is yes, or even "probably", tell them. Buyers and tenants who get the full picture up front are far less likely to pull out later, and far more likely to trust you.

The Bad

Without a checklist, agents have to use their own judgement, and the evidence suggests many were struggling even when they had one. When iamproperty looked at 150 Rightmove listings in early 2025, none had fully compliant material information. Only 7.5% mentioned utilities, 21% said nothing about parking, and none covered building safety or risks.

The Ugly

This is where it gets uncomfortable, because real life doesn't come with a checklist.

What would you do? Someone died in the property.

The accepted industry approach, set out in Property Ombudsman advice, is that a recent violent death, such as a murder or suicide, should be disclosed. An event long in the past usually isn't treated as material, but if a buyer or tenant asks you directly, you must answer truthfully. Apply the test: would a recent tragedy affect most people's decision? Almost certainly.

What would you do? There's been a recent burglary.

There's no specific guidance, so the test does the work. A single break-in years ago is unlikely to change anyone's mind. A string of burglaries on the same street last month is a very different matter. If you'd want to know before signing, so would they.

And the stakes are higher than they used to be. Since April 2025, the Competition and Markets Authority can fine businesses directly, up to 10% of worldwide turnover, without going to court.

What to do now

1. Teach the test. Make sure everyone in the office knows the one question, and uses it.
2. Ask the seller or landlord early. Use your own questionnaire at instruction, covering the property's history as well as its features.
3. Don't drop the basics. Council tax band, tenure, price or rent, parking, utilities and known risks still belong in every listing.
4. Write it down. Record what you disclosed, and why you decided something wasn't material.
5. If in doubt, disclose. It's far easier to explain why you told someone than why you didn't.

Still waiting to hear

• When the Government's new listings guidance will be published, and what it will include.
• Whether letting agents will get guidance of their own.

Material information is one of those areas where knowing the "why" makes all the difference, and it's covered in depth in the Propertymark Qualifications Level 3 Certificate in Property Agency.

Questions? Email claudia@letiq.co.uk

Sources: DMCC Act 2024, section 225, DMCC Act 2024, section 227, GOV.UK consultation: Material information in property listings, Propertymark: violent deaths advice, iamproperty research (Estate Agent Today)

Claudia Brown, Director, LETiQ