The short answer
The rules changed on 6 April 2025. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act replaced the old regime, and leaving out information a buyer needs is now treated as an unfair commercial practice in its own right, rather than something judged by whether it changed your mind. In practice: read a listing for what it does not say, and ask directly rather than assuming.
What changed, and why the old advice is out of date
For a few years, agents worked to guidance from National Trading Standards that split what had to be disclosed into Parts A, B and C: council tax and tenure in one group, property type and utilities in another, and things like flood risk, cladding and rights of way in a third.
That guidance has been withdrawn. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act came into force on 6 April 2025 and replaced the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 that sat underneath it, and Propertymark records the withdrawal alongside that change.
The practical effect is stricter rather than looser. Under the new Act, omitting information a consumer needs is automatically an unfair commercial practice, regardless of whether the omission actually affected the decision. What has not yet arrived is sector-specific guidance from the CMA, so the burden currently sits with individual agents to judge what buyers need to know.
For you as a reader, that means two things. A listing that is silent on something significant is a weaker position for the agent than it used to be. And you should not assume that silence means there is nothing to say.
Read it for the gaps
A listing is written to sell. The interesting content is therefore usually in what has been left out rather than what has been included.
- ✓No floor plan: ask for one before you book. It is the fastest way to understand a house you have not seen.
- ✓A room described but not photographed: there is usually a reason.
- ✓Tenure absent or vague on a flat: ask for the lease length, the ground rent and the service charge before anything else.
- ✓No council tax band: it is public information and easy to check yourself.
- ✓Photographs that never show the outside of the building, or never show the street.
Photographs, in the order they are shown
Agents lead with the strongest image, so the order tells you what they think is best about the house. If the fourth photograph is already a bathroom, the house may be smaller than the headline suggests.
Wide-angle lenses are standard and not dishonest, but they do make rooms look larger. The floor plan is the corrective: read the dimensions rather than the picture.
Ask in writing
If something matters to you and the listing is silent, ask the agent by email rather than on the phone. It costs nothing, it is a reasonable request, and it produces a written answer that exists later.
Good questions are specific and closed: what is the council tax band, what is the lease length, has the property flooded, is there a right of way across the garden.
Quick answers
Does the agent have to tell me if the property has flooded?
Under the current Act, omitting information a buyer needs is treated as an unfair practice in itself. Flood history is exactly the kind of thing a reasonable buyer needs. Ask directly and in writing, and check the flood zone yourself, which is free.
Is the old Parts A, B and C list still useful?
As a checklist of things worth asking about, yes. As a statement of what an agent is currently required to publish, no: that guidance has been withdrawn and the Act that replaced the underlying regulations sets a stricter and less prescriptive standard.
What if the listing turns out to be wrong?
Raise it with the agent in writing first, then with their redress scheme, which every agent must belong to. Keep the original listing: take a screenshot when you first see it, because listings are edited.
Put this guide to work
General information for England & Wales, not financial or legal advice. Costs are typical 2026 ranges and vary by region and circumstances.