For a few years, UK property agents had a clear checklist of what every listing should say, published by National Trading Standards in three parts. That guidance has now been withdrawn. The legal duty behind it has not: adverts still must not leave out information that buyers and tenants need to make a decision.
This guide explains what material information means today, what the old guidance covered and why many agents still use it as a checklist, how the price and review rules affect listings, what is different for lettings, and what the government has promised next. Statuses are as we found them on 23 October 2026.
What material information means
Material information is information an average consumer needs to make an informed decision. The old Trading Standards guidance applied the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which forbade leaving such information out (archived guidance, November 2023). From 6 April 2025, those regulations were replaced by the unfair commercial practices rules in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, and the Competition and Markets Authority can now decide breaches itself, without going to court, and fine firms up to 10% of global turnover (CMA, 7 April 2025).
Property is covered. In the CMA’s guidance, “product” includes the sale or lease of land (CMA207). The legal duty not to omit material information continues under the new Act, which is the starting point of the government’s 2025 consultation on listings (MHCLG, 6 October 2025).
What happened to Parts A, B and C
National Trading Standards published Part A of its material information guidance on 12 July 2022, and Parts B and C, with full guidance for sales and for lettings, on 30 November 2023. Property portals added matching data fields along the way.
After the new consumer law took over in April 2025, the guidance was withdrawn. Propertymark reported the withdrawal on 9 May 2025 (a secondary source), the National Trading Standards page no longer hosts the guidance, and the government has confirmed that “no sector-specific guidance has been produced since the DMCCA has come into effect” (Propertymark; National Trading Standards; MHCLG). The same consultation cited Trading Standards data that “only circa 35% of listings contain adequate information”.
The checklist agents still use
With no official replacement yet, many agents keep working from the structure of the old guidance. It is a sensible checklist, but treat it as the former guidance, not as current law. Here is what each part covered (National Trading Standards, 30 November 2023).
| Part | Applied to | What it covered |
|---|---|---|
| Part A | Every property | The price or rent, the council tax band (domestic rates in Northern Ireland) and, for sales, the tenure |
| Part B | Should be established for every property | Property type, construction materials, number and types of rooms, utilities (electricity, water, sewerage, heating, broadband, mobile signal or coverage) and parking |
| Part C | Only where the property is affected | Building safety, restrictions and rights or easements, flood and coastal erosion risk, planning permission or proposed development, accessibility or adaptations, and coalfield or mining areas |
The sales guidance also included notes on new builds, covering council tax and price.
Prices, fees and reviews
Showing the total price
An invitation to purchase must show “the total price of the product”, which includes any fees, taxes, charges or other payments the consumer will necessarily incur. If part of the price cannot be worked out in advance, the advert must explain how it is calculated, as prominently as the price. This has applied since 6 April 2025 (DMCC Act 2024 s.230).
The CMA’s price transparency guidance lists administration fees, “however described, such as booking or processing fees”, among the mandatory charges that belong in the total (CMA209). How this applies to each of your own fees depends on how they are charged, so take advice before you change your terms.
Two property examples from the CMA
The CMA’s guidance on unfair commercial practices uses two property examples: an agent making materially inaccurate claims about recent local sales, and an advert describing a home as having three bedrooms when it has two bedrooms and a box room (CMA207). Both are the kind of detail a listing template can get wrong without anyone meaning to mislead.
Reviews
Writing, commissioning or publishing fake reviews, or hiding that reviews were incentivised, is a banned practice. Anyone who publishes reviews must take reasonable steps to prevent fake reviews and remove them (CMA208, April 2025).
Lettings adverts
One rent in every advert. Since 1 May 2026, landlords and agents in England must include a specific rent in written adverts, which covers online and printed adverts, social media posts, emails, texts, direct messages and handwritten adverts. A price range is not allowed, and nor is a second advert for the same home at a higher price. “To let” boards are excluded (GOV.UK rental bidding guide).
Fee lists, including on portals. Letting agents must display a list of their fees at each office where they deal with people face to face and publish it on their website, with each fee described clearly and shown inclusive of tax. The list must name the agent’s redress scheme and, in England, its client money protection scheme. Since 1 June 2019, an agent letting homes in England that advertises on a portal must make sure the fee list is published there too, or that the portal links to it (Consumer Rights Act 2015 s.83). The maximum penalty is £5,000 (s.87).
What is coming
The government consulted from 6 October to 29 December 2025 on new guidance for residential sales listings, with lettings to follow “at a later stage”. Its response on 19 June 2026 promised non-statutory guidance “later this year”. We found no sign that it had been published by 23 October 2026 (GOV.UK).
The wider home buying and selling reform roadmap, published on 19 June 2026, sets out three stages.
- Now (2026): the non-statutory listing guidance, a Code of Practice for property agents, voluntary sales pack information and a call for evidence on a smart data scheme.
- Next (2027 to 2028): a consultation on mandatory qualifications for estate and letting agents in 2027, a property professionals charter, and logbooks and sales packs required in government home ownership schemes from 2027.
- By the end of this Parliament, “when parliamentary time allows”: legislation to require sales packs before a home is listed, including searches and a property condition report, digital sales packs and logbooks, and binding conditional contracts. Contracts legislation will only come into force after sales packs are embedded.
The government estimates the package will cut buying time by around four weeks and save first-time buyers an average of £650 (GOV.UK news, June 2026). None of the sales pack or contract changes is law yet, and no dates have been set.
Capture it once
The practical answer to all of this is to collect the information once, when you take the instruction, and reuse it everywhere. The portals already expect it. Rightmove’s data feed specification added council tax band, ground rent, service charge and shared ownership fields in April 2022, and utilities, broadband, parking, restrictions, flood risk and accessibility in November 2023 (Rightmove Real Time Data Feed specification v1.4.1). Conveyancing forms have moved on too: the Law Society’s TA6 6th edition replaced the 4th and 5th editions for Conveyancing Quality Scheme firms on 30 March 2026, and the questions added to match the Trading Standards guidance were removed (Law Society, a secondary source).
| Check | Why |
|---|---|
| Price or rent, council tax band and tenure | The core details the former Part A treated as always material |
| Room count and descriptions match the floor plan | The CMA’s “3 bedroom” example |
| Utilities, broadband, mobile coverage and parking | Covered by the former Part B and carried by portal feeds |
| Flood risk, rights, restrictions, planning and safety where relevant | Covered by the former Part C |
| Any compulsory fees inside the advertised total | Total price rule since 6 April 2025 |
| One specific rent in every lettings advert | Rental bidding rules in England since 1 May 2026 |
| Fee list on your site and on each portal | Consumer Rights Act 2015 s.83 for letting agents |
| Claims about local sales can be backed up | The CMA’s inaccurate local sales example |
| Reviews are genuine and moderated | Fake reviews are banned |
New guidance for sales listings is expected, and the lettings version will follow later, so expect this checklist to change. Take advice from your redress scheme, your trade body or a solicitor on how the rules apply to your own adverts.
Where software helps
Material information is easiest to get right when it is captured once, at instruction, and then flows to every place the home appears: your website, the portals, the brochure and the sales file. A listing checklist inside your CRM or admin panel shows what is missing before anything goes live. That is what BozApps builds for estate and letting agents.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Material information in property listings consultation · updated 19 June 2026
- GOV.UK, Home buying and selling reform roadmap · updated 19 June 2026
- legislation.gov.uk, Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 s.230 · in force 6 April 2025
- CMA, Unfair commercial practices guidance (CMA207) · updated 18 November 2025
- CMA, Fake reviews guidance (CMA208) · April 2025
- CMA, Price transparency guidance (CMA209) · 18 November 2025
- National Trading Standards, Full material information guidance published · 30 November 2023
- National Trading Standards, Material information · checked 23 October 2026
- Propertymark (secondary), Material information guidance withdrawn · 9 May 2025
- GOV.UK, Rental bidding: a guide for local authorities · 13 November 2025
- legislation.gov.uk, Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.82 · checked 23 October 2026
- legislation.gov.uk, Consumer Rights Act 2015 s.83 · current to 20 October 2026
- Rightmove, Real Time Data Feed specification v1.4.1 · November 2023
This guide summarises the law and official guidance as we understand it on 23 October 2026. It is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and individual situations differ, so check the sources above or take advice from a solicitor, accountant or your trade body before acting.