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Trading Standards has defended the introduction of ‘material information’ requirements on details of properties for sale, after a conveyancer warned landlords that the new measure may add to costs when selling up.
On Friday we covered the comments of Simon Nosworthy, head of residential conveyancing at Osbornes Law. He warned that the new requirement for additional details on property descriptions - online and in print - would require earlier engagement between sellers and conveyancing solicitors, and could add hundreds of pounds to the sales cost.
Nosworthy said: “Effectively sellers will have to engage with a conveyancing solicitor before they list their property and not when they have received an offer. This means that if a homeowner lists their property and fails to sell it, they will have already spent a decent amount of money on fees and searches. Overall this could mean homeowners spending hundreds of pounds more.”
However, the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agents Team has defended the new requirements.
James Munro, Senior Manager of the NTSELAT, has told Landlord Today: “Of all the decisions we take in our lives, deciding where we live is undeniably one of the most important. It can have a profound impact on our health, happiness and wellbeing – and buying or renting a home is one of the biggest purchasing decisions we will ever make.
“That’s why it’s important to work towards a future where more material information about a property is available earlier in the buying, selling and renting process.
“The recent guidance will prompt all players in the property market to do things a bit differently, and sellers may find that bringing conveyancers on board at the outset helps ensure all information is available for marketing, and issues with things like restrictive covenants or boundaries can be addressed earlier. For buyers, a better understanding of why certain information such as a property’s tenure is important will enable them to make informed decisions when they embark on a property search.
“Efforts to improve the provision of material information have been worked on for some time and change has been long overdue. The progress that’s been made in recent months has been widely welcomed and I’ve been encouraged by the overwhelming positive response the new guidance has received.”
The release of the new guidance on material information has come in two phases.
Around 18 months ago the first part (part A) required property listings to include price, council tax band and whether the property is freehold or leasehold. Most estate agents already included this information.
In November last year two further sections (parts B and C) were announced. Part B relates to information such as details of utility supplies, heating and parking. Part C, which includes material information mentioned above, represents the most drastic change and will mean sellers need to employ a solicitor before they list their property.
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This proposal WILL add both substantial extra cost and delay to the property sales process. It delivers little more than is already available to buyers.
It’s simply another example of ‘interfering Big Gov’ and exactly the opposite of what is needed. The process needs simplifying not ‘red taping to a stand still’.
Of course those who will sell even more of their time before a house is even sold will support such changes.
I've lost count of the number of times I have put a property on the market to test the market but haven't followed through to sell it.
About the only thing sensible done by the SNP and their little Green helpers is to keep the home report and single survey system which England abandoned due to lobbying by surveyors wanting to do multiple surveys on every property.
Paradoxically, when the SNP moan about higher house prices, the single survey facilitates multiple offers, greater competition from buyers and thus higher house prices.
Discouraging sellers from testing the market by making the pre sales process more complicated and expensive will also hike up prices and do nothing to increase housing supply or turnover.
Discouraging sellers encourages owners to extend instead of moving and in turn reduces the supply of smaller cheaper starter homes.
The number of ugly buildings with totally unsuitable extensions is often the result, doing nothing to improve the quality or availability of housing.
Every government initiative or interference in housing just makes things worse for those it claims it wants to help.
Let market forces do their job and everyone will benefit much more and much faster.
That's a bit rich, I know all the details mentioned above in respect of any properties that I own and certainly would not need a solicitor to provide that information.
I wonder whether the law of unintended consequences is going to kick in here?
Following these new rules, a landlord selling up will still be able to proceed and may add a little to his selling price, but ultimately it will be the seller's cost.
What about those at the other end of the spectrum who want to sell their house due to cost pressure and lack of affordabiity? Someone faced with a potential repossession won't even be able to advertize their house cheaply for a quick sale.
I guess time will tell.
The buyers solicitor is never going to believe anything provided by the sellers solicitor without double checking it for himself so both sides will be paying for a duplication of work.
The supply side will suffer enormously, which will increase prices. How many people put their house on the market to see if it will sell? If they get a good offer and a sensible timeframe they will go ahead. If not they will keep it. Those houses simply won't get listed if the sellers have to shell out up front. Isn't that mainly why the HIP was scraped?
Do you mean that generally Solicitors can't be trusted as you say that they don't trust their own profession?
Jo I've come across many solicitors that simply can't be trusted
Not many CAN be trusted.
At least half the lawyers in any trials are lying, and getting paid well for it.
My old granny said it never paid to tell lies, but then she probably never met any lawyer!
Incidentally I have two lawyers in the family, assuming what they're telling me is true!
This might work quite well if it linked into the offer being binding. If you provide the information up front and then someone offers on it then that should be an agreed deal and could stop those (unscrupulous) people that leave it right to the last minute and then say they want a reduction in price, knowing most will agree because you've already spent so much time and money (and emotion!) getting to the point where you are about to exchange! Of course, the biggest delay in house buying lately has been the conveyancing so lets add more work and slow everything down even more.
Just more money for the solicitors. I remember pre Covid a Conveyance taking around six weeks. Now a conveyance takes at least 12 weeks. I think enough information is provided in the TA6 Property Information Form which the seller completes at the outset of the conveyance.
Sold one last year before this came in, so it will be interesting to see what's actually changed in a few weeks, when I put the next one on the market!! I guess the forms will have changed to include anything that was missing, also the forms only came into use once an offer was accepted, so presumably there will be a new form to be completed at an earlier stage. More paperwork, how joyous.
Maybe things like Coal Mining report will only need to be done once under this scheme - instead of every time the house is sold! If the report stays with the house it could end up saving money!
I can never understand why house sales take so long. In this age of digitisation and the internet you would think the process would be much quicker. Remember when cheques used to take 7-10 days to clear, now bank transfers are instant.
I've agreed a purchase on a Monday and completed on a Friday lunch time, I was lucky in having a solicitor that did what I told him to do
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