National Trading Standards has defended its guidance on material information after being accused by furious property lawyers of going beyond its remit by ‘reinterpreting and re-engineering’ the law.

Property agents are obliged under the Consumer Protection Regulations not to omit any material information on property listings and last year National Trading Standards published a full set of guidance detailing the minimum amount of information expected in a property listing.

However, in an open letter to James Munro, senior manager of National Trading Standards' estate and letting agency team, the ‘Property Lawyers Action Group’ (PLAG) said the guidance distorted the legislation beyond recognition.

PLAG said the legislation was designed to protect consumers from unfair practices of traders. ‘Whilst there is no doubt that an estate agent could be classed as a trader in this context, perhaps an unforeseen consequence of the guidance is that material information, conversely, extends those obligations to the individual seller of a property, even if the seller is a consumer. It does this by imposing the obligations on the seller’s agent. However, given that the agent acts on behalf of the seller, much of the responsibility for complying with the guidance would indirectly fall upon the shoulders of the seller themselves in practice,’ the letter said.

PLAG described the material information as ‘simply a reinvention of the ill-fated HIPS [home information packs]’ and an ‘unwanted sequel to a box office bomb’.

The group added: ‘In our experience, most delays and fall throughs are not caused by anything that [material information] would prevent. There are a whole plethora of reasons why sales and purchases become abortive. Sometimes the reason is as simple as “I’ve changed my mind” and no amount of [material information] will change that.’

In a statement to the Gazette, Munro said research by National Trading Standards found that 87% of people who recently moved or were looking to move soon agreed that property portals should include all key information about a home in their property listing and 41% assumed missing information meant something was wrong with the property.

Munro said: 'This guidance is good news for the industry, which is demonstrated by the evidence we received from agents who expressed support for the mandatory disclosure of material information. Benefits agents cited included a reduction in unnecessary enquiries, swifter sales and fewer transaction fall-throughs. These improvements - for consumers and agents - are why successive governments have continued to back the programme.'

National Trading Standards worked closely with the legal profession to develop and refine the guidance, Munro said, but 'always welcome any new information, evidence and ideas that continue to improve compliance and raise standards in the sector'.

He said he had received the PLAG letter 'and will provide a comprehensive response'.

 

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