Material information included in TA6 Property Information Form

Background

The updated form includes the information the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team (NTSELAT) says should be disclosed on property listings in its material information in property listings (sales) guidance.

This guidance is designed to help estate agents comply with the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 by putting key information about a property in marketing materials, so consumers can make better informed decisions when looking for a property to buy.

NTSELAT guidance advises sellers to contact their solicitor at an early stage.

They may therefore ask for help to complete a TA6 Property Information Form earlier in the process, so more information about the property can be used for marketing.

The aim is to make sure buyers know more about what they are buying. It is hoped this will reduce the likelihood of the sale and purchase falling through at a later stage.

About the changes

The fifth edition of the TA6 Property Information Form is published as a single form in two parts:

• Part 1 provides the material information needed by estate agents to market a property. Some of this information will also be used by solicitors and conveyancers in the conveyancing process
• Part 2 asks supplementary questions, providing additional information that may be required for the conveyancing process

The TA6 Property Information Form changes include:

• property details: including the unique property reference number (UPRN) and council tax band of the property
• tenure, ownership and charges: whether the property is freehold, leasehold, shared ownership or commonhold; and details of the costs, such as ground rent and service charges
• parking: including the cost of parking permits and whether the property has electric vehicle (EV) charging
• building safety: providing details of any defects or hazards at the property and whether essential works have been recommended and carried out
• restrictive covenants that affect the use of the property
• flood risk and coastal erosion: to establish what the flood risk is for the area around the property, whether any defences have been installed, and if the property is near the coast, whether there is any known risk of coastal erosion
• accessibility: the adaptations or features that have been made to provide easier access to, and within, the property
• coalfield or mining area: identifying if the property is impacted by any past or present mining activity
• solar panels: providing details about the installation that a buyer or lender will need to know
• services connected: these now include air and ground heat pumps
• drainage and sewerage: additional questions about where the sewerage system discharges to and whether it has an infiltration system
• Japanese knotweed: refinement of the question to incorporate the area adjacent to or abutting the property

The TA6 explanatory notes for sellers and buyers and the TA7 Leasehold Information Form have also been updated.

As the TA6 now includes enquiries about the type of leasehold property and the ground rent that is payable as part of the disclosure of material information, these questions have been omitted from the updated TA7 Leasehold Information Form.

Earlier contact between sellers and their solicitors may provide an opportunity to address any issues (such as title or lease length) that may create delays with the sale.

We hope that the TA6 will help facilitate the flow of information from marketing a property through to the legal process.

The aim is that having better informed buyers could help reduce both the time the process takes and the number of sales that fall through.

Using the updated forms

The forms have only been released to our suppliers, who will be updating their systems in the next few weeks.

They may not be available to use until the work to implement them has been completed.

See a list of licensed and authorised suppliers

The updated TA6 and TA7 forms may be used from whenever your supplier can make them available to you.

Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) firms need to start using the new forms by Tuesday 25 June 2024 at the latest.

More information

Our Conveyancing and Land Law Committee will be monitoring use of the forms in practice.

We welcome feedback – email forms@lawsociety.org.uk with any suggestions.

Details of any equivalent forms for CQS firms that have met certain criteria and passed our independent assessment process will be set out on our equivalent forms page.