Trading Standards: Material information rules should be seen as positive

Material information requirements should be seen by agents as a positive change, a Trading Standards investigator has claimed.

Speaking to The Guild of Property Professionals chief executive Iain McKenzie on the network’s latest The Home Stretch podcast, Guy Welfare said the material information rules aren’t new.

Welfare, an investigator at National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team, said: “This is guidance on a pre-existing legislation and there have been cases where people have not given this information and have gone to private courts, where huge amounts of money have been ordered to pay back.

“It goes to the redress schemes on a frequent basis where they deal with a lack of upfront and material information that can cause huge fines to agents and huge penalties.

“Try and see this as a positive change as opposed to going, ‘I don't want to do that’, because you will need to adhere at some point. You might as well embrace it in your business from now and start making changes to your procedures and policies to try and embed this in the day-to-day work.”

The more consumers know up front, the less wasted time agents have, Welfare said, adding: "There will be less fall-throughs and less difficult conversations coming further down the line when something comes out in searches that was known beforehand. It's just to make it a much more transparent, smoother process for everyone involved.”

Listen to the latest episode on The Home Stretch podcast.