The announcement last week by the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) that agents are to be compelled to list more ‘material information’ about sales and lettings properties within their portal listings has been warmly welcomed by most property professionals.

Writing for EYE, James Munro, head of NTSELAT, said the move was “a significant first step to defining what constitutes basic material information”.

He also described the move as “a major milestone on the road to mandatory disclosure of all basic material information”, and that includes factors that are specific to individual properties.

We know that the new material information rules will hopefully help raise in the standards within the property sector, and in turn increase consumer confidence in the industry, but what other benefits can agents expect as a result of the changes?

Gazeal will host a webinar with the NTSELAT tomorrow, which will include a live Q&A with agents.

The webinar, taking place this Wednesday March 2 at 10am, will feature guests from NTSELAT, along with Boomin, and Shaun Adams, CEO at Cooper Adams.

By the end of May, all property listings must include a property’s council tax band or rate (for lettings and sales), as well as the property price and tenure information (for sales). Over the coming weeks, data fields for these particulars will start to appear on the portals.

In partnership with industry leaders and major property portals, the changes from NTSELAT represent the first phase of a project to set out what constitutes ‘material information’ for property listings. The new required information is the first of three phases, with a further two phases being developed which are set to incorporate further material information such as restrictive covenants, flood risk and other specific factors that may impact certain properties.

Bryan Mansell, CEO of Gazeal, said: “While the news has broadly been welcomed, and many agents already do lots of what has been requested, there will undoubtedly still be doubts, uncertainty and questions marks about what is being introduced and why. Having a webinar where agents can put their questions directly to Trading Standards is therefore invaluable.”

“We understand that not every agent will be as up to speed with upfront information and we want to give those agents a helping hand so the industry moves forward together in a positive, collaborative manner,” he added. “Hence why we are running this all-important webinar.”

You can register for the webinar by clicking here.

New material information rules a major step towards mandatory disclosure in listings