The Property Ombudsman has welcomed the UK authorities’s latest proposals aimed toward growing transparency within the home-buying course of. The reforms search to make clear the data property brokers should disclose throughout property gross sales, addressing longstanding points which have contributed to transaction failures and client dissatisfaction.
In 2024, the Property Ombudsman investigated 617 circumstances the place customers felt that materials info—particulars that might affect their resolution to buy—was not adequately disclosed by property brokers. This underscores the necessity for clearer pointers and practices throughout the business.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Native Authorities launched a session on 6 October 2025, inviting suggestions on proposed reforms. These embody mandating the upfront provision of important property info, corresponding to situation studies, leasehold charges, and planning information, to cut back the danger of failed transactions and related prices. At the moment, roughly one-third of property transactions fail, leading to an estimated £400m in wasted prices yearly.
The session additionally explores the introduction of binding pre-contract agreements and the potential for requiring property brokers to reveal their monitor data and {qualifications}. These measures intention to reinforce client confidence and streamline the home-buying course of.
The Property Ombudsman continues to advocate for reforms that enhance transparency and accountability within the property sector, guaranteeing that customers are well-informed and guarded all through their home-buying journey.
Property Ombudsman Lesley Horton stated: “We welcome any strikes to make such an essential and sophisticated transaction clearer for customers. Talking to companies, the business can be supportive of clear steerage which is express about what info brokers and sellers should disclose.
“Our casework reveals that a whole lot of consumers and sellers are falling foul of inconsistent follow yearly, leading to added prices and aborted gross sales.”
Points not disclosed throughout purchases included the situation/dimensions of a constructing or land, flood threat, restrictive covenants, utilities provide, entry rights, service prices and planning permissions. Examples embody an funding property misrepresented and a fireplace broken property bought with out warning. The Authorities session runs till 29 December 2025.
Variety of information-related casework breaches of the Code of Follow for Residential Property Brokers in 2024 (Code paragraph reference):
• Materials info: Pictorial 31, Verbal 74, Written 242 (paragraph 7i)
• Particulars Agreed with Vendor: 180 (paragraph 7j)
• Leasehold: Years Remaining 4, Restrictions or Covenants 23, Tenure 13, Circumstance/Occasion 3, Occasion charges 1, floor hire 5, Different Charges/Prices 3, Service prices 17 (paragraph 7k)
• Legal responsibility of incorrect info 14 (paragraph 7m)
• Advertising and marketing – authorized, respectable, sincere and truthful 7 (paragraph 7n)
