Estate agents and portals accused of failing consumers

The HomeOwners Alliance (HOA) has released a report that it says sheds light on how compliant property listings are and highlights how consumers are not getting the critical information estate agents are legally required to provide about the property upfront.

The HOA reviewed 150 leasehold property listings across the 3 main portals – Rightmove, Zoopla and OntheMarket and this is what they found.

Too little on leasehold

+ 94% of listings state whether property was leasehold or freehold, and 78% included the number of years left on the lease, a major improvement since we last looked at this in 2016.

+ Less than two-thirds (62%) mention service charges, less than half (49%) include details of ground rent and a small minority (9%) include the date of the next ground rent review.

Poor performance on energy and council tax

+ A quarter (24%) of listings did not include an Energy Performance Certificate rating, despite being a legal requirement since 2013.

+ Only two-thirds (66%) of listings included the council tax band, despite this being required for all listings. London listings were less likely to feature council tax (55%) than in Manchester (77%).

‘Overlooking’ Building Safety Act issues

+ Only 9 out of 45 high-rise property listings made reference to Building Safety Act requirements.

+ At most only 5% of listings include details about accessibility and restrictions on the property.

Comparing the portals

+ Zoopla and OnTheMarket’s listings tended to be more comprehensive than Rightmove. For example, 86% of Zoopla’s listings and 78% of OnTheMarket listings included the number of years remaining on the lease, compared with 70% on Rightmove.

Realising that estate agents were not complying with the Consumer Protection against Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs), the National Trading Standards Estate and Lettings Agency Team (NTSELAT) issued guidance in November 2023 around the ‘material information’ estate agents need to include on property listings. One year on, HOA decided to do a spot check of leasehold properties for sale to see how things have improved for consumers.

Their report, What buyers need to know? reviews 150 leasehold property listings in London and Manchester and across the three main portals – Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket.

Commenting on the findings, Paula Higgins CEO of HomeOwners Alliance, said: “We know location, price and parking are up there as the top things people look for when buying a home. But very quickly after that we want to know about any potential deal-breakers: Is it a flat with only a few years left on the lease or sky high service charges? Is there cladding which means we’ll struggle to get a mortgage and could face unfair costs? Is there a poor energy rating that means the house costs double what it should to run?

“So the industry’s move to do more in providing information that could materially impact our decision to buy a home is very welcome. But a year on, the picture is still patchy and simply not good enough. Homeowners shouldn’t have to wait until they are three months down the line, have spent hundreds on legal fees and surveys, to find the ground rent is due to double, the house will cost more to heat than their current home, and they can’t get a mortgage because of cladding.”

Methodology

A total of 150 sales listings of flats were reviewed for inclusion of material information across the major portals: Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket.

Fieldwork was carried out September 20th – October 15th, 2024.  Half of the listings were from Greater London postcodes and half from Greater Manchester postcodes.  Listings were banded within the average price range for a flat in each city.  New build, high-rise and shared ownership properties were included in the sample on a random basis.

Sample plan as follows: