Agents should routinely tell buyers about air pollution, says NAEA

Last week we covered a story, broken by The Times, about a new website allowing users to discover the air quality of any property they intend to buy - and now estate agents have been called upon to play their part.

The National Association of Estate Agents has told members that they should routinely disclose air pollution figures to home buyers.

Mark Hayward, chief executive of NAEA Propertymark says: “Air quality is now public information. It is important that agents make all information affecting a property available to buyers, and environmental consideration are vital in offering consumers an informed choice.”

The association says that providing this information should be standard practice for agents. 

People are spending longer in their homes, and the quality of the environment is more important than ever, particularly to those raising a young family. 

The Times last week revealed that a non-profit making body called the Central Office of Public Interest was using a new website - addresspollution.org - to show data from King's College London on nitrogen dioxide levels per postcode. 

The service will start in London but will rapidly roll-out to cover other major UK cities.

The NAEA says it has championed the use of air quality information for some time. 

Speaking in 2017 to BBC Radio London, Mark Hayward said: "I think anything that would affect someone's decision to buy should be there to be seen by the public. What we are saying is it will now factor into somebody's wish list in terms of what and where they want to buy. I don’t think it will be long before it is compulsory to display pollution information on listings."