New guidance has been published on the information required in property listings.

Put out by the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team, the guidance has been developed in partnership with industry players including major property portals such as Rightmove, Zoopla, and OnTheMarket.

It comes as part of a three-phase process to improve the information available in listings, including such details as price and council tax band.

The property portals have been working to include new data fields on their sites, many of which are now in place, said NTSELAT. If these new fields are left empty by an agent, this is flagged on the listing so consumers can see what information is missing.

‘For years, agents have been calling for clarity around the disclosure of material information and it’s brilliant to see the property industry coming together to deliver a better service for consumers looking to buy or rent a home’, said NTSELAT senior manager James Munro.

Zoopla executive director Richard Donnell said his firm supported ‘any proposals that will improve transparency for consumers when it comes to buying or renting a home.

‘To ensure this transition to more transparency is as seamless as possible, we’ve been collaborating closely with both our customers and NTS to implement these new changes’.